Inch Plant Is One of the Easiest Houseplants to Grow—Here's How to Do It

Jamaludin Yusup / Getty Images

Inch plant, also known as tradescantia zebrina, is a creeping perennial with oval-shaped green leaves striped with shades of purple. This fast-growing member of the spiderwort family is native to Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America but does well indoors in temperate climates with the right conditions.

Give inch plant bright, indirect light, well-drained soil, and temperatures between 65°F to 85°F. Thanks to its trailing growth habit, it makes an excellent planting in hanging baskets. Here’s how to grow and care for inch plant.

Inch Plant Care

• Put in a place with bright, indirect light.
• Plant in moist, well-drained potting mix.
• Water to keep the soil consistently moist.
• Fertilize every other month during the growing season.

Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best-growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more!

Light

Inch plants require bright, indirect light to keep their coloration and maintain their vigor. Putting the plant in an east-facing window or several feet from a west-facing or south-facing window can work well.

Avoid putting plants in direct sunlight, which can burn the leaves. Too little light can cause plants to look dull and leggy and their purple coloration to revert to green.

Soil

Plant tradescantia zebrina in a moist, well-drained potting mix. Standard houseplant mix works well. You can also make your own potting mix by blending equal parts peat moss or coconut coir, perlite, coarse sand, and compost.

Water

Water your inch plant regularly, allowing the top two inches of the soil to dry out between waterings. Water less frequently during the winter months. Overwatering can cause root rot, which can kill the plant.

Temperature and Humidity

Inch plant prefers temperatures are between 65°F and 85°F, though they can handle warmer temperatures. This plant thrives in high humidity but can handle average indoor temperature and humidity well.

Fertilizer

Tradescantia zebrina doesn’t really require fertilizer since it’s such a fast grower, especially if the potting mix you use is rich in compost. However, you can feed the plant with an organic liquid houseplant fertilizer diluted to half strength a few times during the growing season.

Feed the plant when you first see new growth in spring, then every two months through summer. Avoid fertilizing in fall and winter.

Trimming

Because inch plant can grow quite vigorously, it’s a good idea to trim plants every once in a while to shape their foliage and keep them healthy. Snip any vines that are missing leaves, growing too long, or looking leggy.

You can encourage a bushier growth habit by pinching back the tips of your inch plant’s vines at a node, which will encourage multiple stems to grow. Take care not to remove more than about 25 percent of the plant’s growth at once.

Propagating Inch Plant

Tradescantia zebrina is easy to propagate using stem cuttings, which you’ll have in abundance if you’re trimming it regularly. You can propagate this plant by rooting cuttings in water or potting mix. Here’s how to propagate inch plant.

1. Gather a healthy mother plant, sterilized shears or scissors, and a small plant pot and fresh potting mix if you’re propagating in soil. If you’re propagating in water, you’ll need a clear glass or jar.
2. Snip off a healthy portion of stem that’s at least four inches long, making the cut just below a node. Remove the leaves on the lower half of the stem.
3. If rooting in soil, fill the pot with potting soil and moisten it well with water. Use your finger to make a hole in the soil about two inches deep. Plant the cutting in the hole, patting the soil around the stem to keep it in place. If propagating in water, put the cutting in the jar and add water so that the lower nodes on the stem are submerged.
4. Put the cutting in a warm place with bright, indirect light. Keep the soil evenly moist for soil cuttings. For rooting cuttings in water, maintain the water level and replace the water if it starts to look murky or cloudy.
5. Cuttings should root in a few weeks. On cuttings propagated in soil, new leaf growth is a sign that the new plant has rooted. For water propagation, wait until roots are at least one inch long before potting them up. Once cuttings have rooted, you can care for the plant as usual.

Potting and Repotting Inch Plant

Because they don’t mind being a little root bound, it’s not necessary to repot inch plant regularly. Signs that it’s time to repot include roots growing out of the holes in the bottom of the container, roots filling the soil surface, and a generally dull appearance and lack of growth.

When repotting, use fresh potting mix and a container that’s only 2 inches larger in diameter than the previous pot. Choose a pot that’s nonporous, such as glazed ceramic or plastic, rather than terra cotta, which can wick away moisture too quickly. Make sure the pot has adequate drainage holes. Tradescantia zebrina is a good candidate for hanging baskets.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases 

Inch plant can fall prey to common houseplant pests like spider mites and aphids. Inspect plants regularly for signs of pests. Treat infestations with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. Overly wet soil can lead to fungal issues like root rot.

Common Problems With Inch Plant

Leggy Stems

Without adequate light and regular trimming, inch plant can become leggy and scraggly. Prevent this by keeping the plant in a place with bright, indirect light and routinely cutting back excess growth. You can fill out a specimen with bare or leafless stems near the base of the plant by rooting stem cuttings in the pot.

Leaves Turning Yellow

Yellowing leaves are commonly caused by overly wet conditions. Check the soil moisture. If it’s very wet, allow the plant to dry out fully before watering again. After that, wait until the top two inches of soil have dried out to water.

Browning Tips

Browning tips are typically caused by very low humidity, particularly when the brown areas are edged with yellow halos. Too much sunlight can create dry, brown patches on leaves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should inch plants be grown indoors or outdoors?

Inch plants can thrive indoors year-round in temperate climates. In summer or in warmer climates year-round, you can keep plants in containers outdoors. Because inch plants are considered invasive in some parts of the Southern US, it’s best to avoid planting them in the ground.

Where should I place inch plants?

Place your inch plant in a spot with bright, indirect light. In a window that gets morning sun or several feet from a window that gets all-day or afternoon sun is ideal.

Should I mist my inch plant?

There’s no need to mist inch plants, as misting doesn’t actually raise the humidity in the air around your plant. Inch plant can grow well in average indoor humidity conditions. If your space is particularly dry, you can boost humidity by grouping your inch plant together with other houseplants or by running a small humidifier nearby.

Read the original article on The Spruce.