Help with Tradescantia Pallida

September 8, 2009 5:16 AM

Can I safely place a pot of Tradescantia pallida outdoors without it overrunning the garden?

So this is possibly a waste of a question, but I'm a novice gardener and Googling hasn't turned up too many useful results. I love the beautiful leaves of Tradescantia pallida (wandering jew) and also the fact that it's apparently unkillable and a good first-time plant for a plant noob. I want to buy a potted one, but I can't keep it indoors. It's going to have to be outside in the garden path/garden area.

I know this plant is highly invasive and considered a pest in some areas - is it likely to overrun the garden even from a pot? I intend to manage the spread/shape of it by cutting back sections - will this help? I am a complete beginner, in case that wasn't glaringly obvious.

posted by Ziggy500 to home & garden (4 comments total)

If it gets into the soil, it will have a much bigger chance of rooting. Once it does that, it's "in the garden". The pot is no longer important at this point.

Wikipedia says that "In areas throughout the southern United States and Australia, it is considered an invasive weed and has defied many attempts at control or eradication."

I wouldn't take the risk. There are lots of other plants out there with purple leaves that look nice.
posted by Solomon at 5:27 AM on September 8

Ziggy appears to be in the UK, where I don't think it can be guaranteed that tradescantia will survive the winter (though if it's in a pot, and you give it a bit of protection, and you're not actually in the Cairngorms, I should think you might be alright), so I reckon it's OK. But IANAG.
posted by Phanx at 5:36 AM on September 8

This is a plant that propagates by growing roots at each joint between the viney stalk and the leaves. If you have this plant in a pot outdoors, that means you must cut each vine before it's long enough to reach the ground. It will then split off branches above the cut point, giving you two vines you must trim back before they reach the ground. Soon you will have a lot of bushy plant to trim back, and the problem that there's not a lot of range that is "long enough to look pretty" but still short enough that it's not able to get roots into the ground. Then you get sloppy about cutting it when you're gone a week or busy with work, and you've got roots in your garden that are very very difficult to get out. The key here is to think of this plant, not as a beautiful thing to be nurtured, but as a raging beast that you can hack and slash at viciously without killing- always cut it back "too short".

My suggestion would be that the success of your plan depends on where you put it. If you keep the pot on a tall stand so that you've got a meter of drape area between the pot and the ground, you can have a half meter of lovely plant and be pretty safe. If you can put this plant stand on the path or patio, then there's even less to worry about. Above all, no matter how big the pot is, don't just set it in the grass and plan to cut it back. Roots will grow out the bottom of the pot, find their way through drainage holes, and then when you bring the pot indoors for the winter there will be the ripping sound of the plant leaving its roots in your garden. (speaking from experience, but with mint not tradescantia) Not good.

Anyway, I'd say go for it, so long as you know what the risks (it will grow invasively and be hard to kill unless you live somewhere that freezes hard for extended time, every winter) and rules (do not let the leafy parts touch ground, do not let roots grow out the bottom of the pot and touch ground) are, and are willing to take that on.
posted by aimedwander at 6:20 AM on September 8

I've grown numerous invasive plants in pots as have other gardeners of my acquaintance. The question you have to ask yourself is, "Do I have the discipline to check on this pot every day or two?" If you are an obsessive person or would be passing by/sitting next to this potted plant every day, then you shouldn't have any problems. But if you are the sort to be madly obsessive only to lose interest-- then you probably should not do this.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:14 AM on September 8