Here’s everything you need to know about Growing Tradescantia in Hanging Baskets so you can bring their purple cascading beauty to your home!
Tradescantia or wandering jude or dude, whatever you call it, it can become a perfect trailing plant for hanging baskets! Its leaves feature stripes and hues of silver, green, and purple on both sides. And what better way to showcase its dainty, multicolored foliage than to let it cascade in full glory?
Why Grow Tradescantia in Hanging Baskets?
Also called the Wandering Dude, it produces blooms in pink, white, purple, and blue. But this appealing houseplant is cherished more for the flourish and fountainous flair of its foliage, making it perfect for hanging baskets!
This cascading vine comes alive when it has room to flow and roam but doesn’t necessarily take up floor space. Especially for those with crowded homes, you can quickly spruce up a boring corner with this picturesque houseplant dangling down from a basket while strutting its best foliage for everyone to admire.
An easy-to-grow creeper, the wandering dude doesn’t need much care—just air circulation and indirect light. And what better way to let it breathe than suspending it from a basket? And the best part is you can display it this way both indoors and outdoors.
Best Tradescantia Varieties for Hanging Baskets
- Inchplant (Tradescantia zebrina): The classic “Wandering Jew” known for its purple, silver, and green striped leaves that love to free fall. It’s a great choice if you want a lush, overflowing basket of Tradescantia.
- Tradescantia fluminensis ‘Variegata’: Another lovely choice for an indoor hanging basket, this variety has creamy white variegation on its deep green foliage.
- Fantasy Venice (Tradescantia nanouk): With purple undersides, you can see the dark pink and purple hues of its leaves every time you look up at the basket. Here’s how to grow it. If you want more options, we have more varieties in this listicle!
Best Baskets for Tradescantia Plant
When selecting a hanging basket for Tradescantia, there are only a few things to remember. Ensure that there is sufficient room to grow because it’s a fast-growing plant, air to flow, but the spot is not very windy, and that the baskets are firm and hangers are strong.
Go with a wire basket with a coco liner that allows proper airflow. Also, the coco liner will retain moisture easily. And you can begin with an 8-10 inch basket, so there is ample room for its roots to spread without becoming fragile or cumbersome to hang.
Tips for a Decorative Tradescantia Display
If you are someone who likes to experiment with textures and colors, this is the plant for you. For a bohemian vibe, you can hang these beauties in a macrame plant hanger or something sleek, like a ceramic pot.
Group your Tradescantias with other trailing plants to make a beautiful hanging plant display. Ferns with soft, feathery fronds and philodendrons are excellent companions to Tradescantias.
Breathe new life into vintage finds with an upcycled birdcage or a rustic watering; turn these into hanging baskets, and you will need nothing else to set a kitschy impression!
Care Tips for Tradescantia in Hanging Baskets
- For healthy growth, place your plants in bright, indirect sunlight—preferably near a window where they can receive filtered light.
- If you’re hanging them in the garden, the best spots are under the trees and east or north-facing parts of the garden.
- Water your plant regularly while allowing the top inch of soil to dry out between waterings. This is a must to prevent root rot. Here’s how to grow Tradescantia.
- Don’t be afraid to prune! Pinch back the leggy stems to encourage bushier growth and maintain a cascading shape. This trick will also ensure the right colors for your wandering dude.
- Group your vine with other humidity-loving plants to create a microenvironment with higher humidity, which will benefit all the plants involved.
And the most important tip 👇🏻
6. As this plant is a fast grower, keep checking on its growth once the basket is very full. Signs are that the plant has been overgrown or rootbound or the leaves appear to fade. Take it out of the pot for division and remove half of its section, including both top and root growth. Once half of the growth is removed, repot it in the same basket while adding fresh soil.
That is it for this one of the easiest yet showiest foliage plants in the world. Now that you know everything about growing Tradescantia in hanging baskets, get started!
