hii so my plant was gifted to me today, iāve never owned a plant before and the gifter dosnt know what kind of plant it is and i have zero clue of course haha. iām wondering if you could maybe let me know what it is, and maybe like a general guide for me to best care for it! iām super new so please donāt make fun of me for being ignorant or unknowledgeable lol. I can take more photos and post them if you need š
by Crafty_Rhubarb_6212
4 Comments
itās kinda waxy and a little bit succulent esk? at least thatās my guess. again idk anything about plants truly so iām excited to learn!
I think it’s a turtle vine??? I remember seeing this at a plant shop
That is a very pretty callisia repens bianca āŗļø
The most important thing is to make sure it has drainage holes, because these don’t like to keep their feet wet. When the leaves start looking a bit pale and feel less firm, that’s when you need to water. You can also follow the finger/wooden stick technique of course but the root system is really thin and most likely well developed so you’d have to be a bit careful with it. Third option : if it’s in a nursery pot, weigh it in your hands and water when it feels very light. When it’s thirsty, water from the bottom by putting the pot in a bowl of water, the leaves don’t like to be wet ! And for this reason ideally you remove the pot from the bowl just before the water reaches the top of the soil. Also, don’t water on a schedule, one can’t know how slight changes in light or temperatures can affect the speed at which it consumes the water; a plant recovers much easier from a bit of underwatering rather than overwatering. It sounds like a lot but i promise once you get the hang of it it’s really easy !
I would also remove the soil ball from the pot to assess how rootbound it is. If you take as many stems in your hand and gently pull on it it should come off clean without breakage, but I remember how scary it used to feel haha
Now for the light it’s easy : if you want to keep the beautiful pink variegations you need to give it the brightest light you can, and even a few hours of direct sun will be good (preferably morning or evening sun though)
It doesn’t really need higher percentages of humidity, it will grow fast, and *in case of an issue* they are super easy to propagate !! For example if the oldest leaves dry you can trim it, propagate it and put them back in the pot to make the pot look full again
Callisias/tradescantias are really fun ones to have and they’re beautifully decorative, welcome to the cult and good luck š
What a beautiful succulent! The rule with all succulents is to only water when the soil is completely dry. Always give it at least a few days (a week Iād say) to dry out before giving it a watering!