Q&A for How to Take Care of a Wandering Jew Plant

It might be root rot. You want to keep the soil damp, but not too damp- it's a delicate balance. Try to take a cutting from a healthy part and discard the rest. Next time, make sure to check the soil with your finger before you water. If the soil is dry 2 inches down, give it some water. If it's damp up by the top, leave it alone and check the next day.

Although the Wandering Jew Plant is not toxic and therefore safe to eat, I would not recommend eating it.

The Wandering Jew Plant is typically grown for its foliage rather than its flowers.

Yes. They can be grown hydroponically.

It depends on the zone you live in. The article says it grows best in zones 9-11.

They will do fine, but as with most plants that get sunlight at a particular time of day, they should be rotated occasionally.

They do. The flowers are also purple, but not as deeply hued as the leaves. The foliage is the star of the show. The flowers are incidental.

No, The wandering Jew plant is actually fine around cats/dogs but if its sap gets on your cat, watch for any irritation or constant scratching from your pet.

Don't water it a lot. Also, get apple cider vinager in a cup, and cover it with foil; poke a few holes in the foil. This trap will attract and kill your flies. So the fungus gnats won't spread, keep your Wandering Jew away from your other plants.

Divide it. Take it out of the pot, use a large knife to cut the rootball into quarters, and pot the smaller plants. Loosen the packed roots before planting your divisions. This sounds brutal, but it will work. It's almost impossible to kill these plants.

Put them all together because then you'll have a nice, bushy plant.

Yes, they can. Find a mild, quickly biodegradable pesticide to lightly spray, then be sure to mist the leaves often. Do not mist the leaves to the point of saturation, or to the point of leaving standing 'pools' of water at the base of the leaves or in the cup in the center of leaves.

Yes, the plants are naturally quite brittle. They are easily broken when handled.

They can get very large, even producing other plants, if cared for properly!

I put my Wandering Jew under a bushy palm tree that is south facing. It seems to like the warm, humid weather. Just make sure it gets some shade.

It might be because your wandering jew isn’t getting enough light. You can try moving it to a brighter place with half direct light and half filtered light.

After it blooms and is starting to wilt, just cut it off.

Dig them up, roots and all. If you leave roots behind, they might return. Or you can replace the soil.

Yes. Morning sun is not too harsh for a wandering Jew. They love morning sun.

The biggest mistake you can make is not changing out the water frequently. If you are not changing the water frequently, it becomes still and stagnant, losing the natural mineral components that encourage new root growth.

As it says in the article, if the plant color is fading out or turning back to green, it is not getting enough sunlight.

No a wandering Jew plant takes in water through its roots, rather than by storing the water in the leaves like most succulents do.

Discard all of the dead leaves. Dead heading gives more energy to the plant, plus it looks better too.

The crown is the center-most part, where all of its main stems emerge from the roots. You want to avoid watering this spot, because water can become trapped between the stems and cause mold or rot over time.

Cut it back so it fills out. Decide how you want your plant t be and cut it back a couple inches shorter. Continue to cut it back every so often and shoots will grow out from the original stems.

Yes. You can plant it directly into the soil and then follow the watering schedule for wandering Jews planted in soil. You don’t have to wean it. It is, however, recommended that you use a terra-cotta pot with a good generous handful of perlite added to the soil.

Move it further away from the window. It is getting too much direct sunlight, most likely.

Its most likely that your plant is getting too much sunlight. Try reducing the time it has access to sunlight or move it to a location that gets less sunlight or move it to a place where the sun rays are less focused on your plant (i.e. move it away from a window). You also might want to consider misting your plant or watering at a slightly greater frequency as that is known to be of some help in the recovery stage. These symptoms happen in every plant that gets too much sunlight.

Are you watering it enough? This plant is quite susceptible to spider mites, which cause leaf browning, thinning, and eventually death. Spider mites mostly invade a plant when the weather is warm and the plant is dry/underwatered. If the damage is too extensive, you may have to grow a new plant from cuttings. Cut several of your healthiest shoots from your plant, wash them well to remove any mites, and set them in water to root. When they sprout roots (this should take about a week), plant them in soil.

You will have to manually detangle it about once a week to keep it from growing that way. This plant is meant to tangle.