Okayy. I rescued this tradescantia from my work because her dirt was hard as a rock. Yesterday I soaked her in a bowl of 1:4 hydrogen peroxide and water to kill any bugs she may have and worked to break up her roots and soil with a chopstick. I had her soaking for a couple hours and the soil was so compact it still did not reach the center of the root ball.
I hate to admit she lost quite a few roots in this process but it really couldn't be helped given her situation. After I manhandled her yesterday, I put her back in the pot she came in (since she lost so many roots) after drilling some new holes in the bottom. I figured she would perk back up with some water and light… but she never did. I am now worried I shocked her so bad she's going to die because she was pretty "fluffy" and had a few blooms despite growing in what might as well have been a cement block.
I dead-headed several of her leaves and stems yesterday and cut the ends of the stems with blooms as they were beginning to dry up. I'm thinking since she lost so many roots I should probably cut some more leaves and stems off, but wanted to get some feedback on if it is worth it. I do all I knew to do, but I am scared for her.
by TinySenpai
18 Comments
Many of the yellow leaves you can see were yellow before the transplant. She was really in a state even though she was blooming.
These are very hardy, and if you cut off healthy stems and place them in water, they should root. A root growth hormone shouldn’t hurt either. Plants can get shocked fairly easily to new environmental stresses. Moving locations and changing its watering might make it regress and slow down growth for a while. I had a pothos that took nearly 2 years in a new environment before it began to flourish. Good luck! Hopefully someone with more experience than I can comment
She doesn’t look too bad to me, but I generally need to cut mine back over the winter because they start to get crispy. They propagate in water incredibly easily. You could always take some cuttings just in case.
I didn’t know you could kill them unless you put them in a freezer lol you could pull all that growth up cut it at the soil level stick it in more dirt and have a whole other plant
I have this plant and forgot about it for like a year and I think it’s still alive somehow
Salvageable
You have definitely not killed her… These are very hard to kill. But a good chopping back is in order! If I leave mine, it gets very leggy and trails rather than the nice bushy leaves you see in the shop. If you want the bushy leaves, you need to chop back regularly to encourage the right growth. I’ve only just figured this one out myself and now have a lovely bushy full plant rather than one that looks like yourself, but it took me a while to figure that one out
Honestly this plant will keep growing anywhere… When I chop mine back I just pop the chopped ends into another pot and it keeps growing, don’t even need to let it grow roots in water first (although that would probably be better).
I would cut off the growth and just discard the roots. Chop them up and put them in fresh soil and they will root. I don’t even bother trying to root them in water.
That plant does not look dead or dying.
Sounds like you really put it through the wringer, so it makes sense that the plant looks like it’s recovering right now, since it’s recovering right now.
It doesn’t look that bad to me. After having some roots break and stuff you might want to prune a little and then just let it chill for a while and see what it does.
Would someone be willing to tell me what looks bad about this plant? lol
Terrifying title until I saw the sub
Yeah I killed one of these before, that guy is sound just adapting
Prune it, and take the cuttings and propagate them in water and you’ll have a brand new plant in a couple of weeks 🤷 Cutting it back will also stimulate new growth… Probably also wouldn’t hurt to repot it with fresh soil to get it some much needed nutrients
Honestly looks completely fine, what is making you think it’s dead?
Not sure you CAN kill those. Give her some water and light, and she’ll fill a room in a few months. Mine is about 30x larger than it was 3 months ago.
It looks great! If it’s still growing at the tips it’s good. The older leaves tend to fall off naturally. It droops like that because it’s naturally a ground cover plant. I have one on a shelf and the benches sit along the edges horizontally, he’s loving it!
Definitely not I’m gonna be honest I knew one of these that sat without water for three weeks so definitely not if you are worried start cutting and putting in water with a pinch of peroxide