Wandering Jew Plant Care

Common Name: Wandering Jews
Scientific Name: Zebrina pendula
Lighting: Bright to Moderate
Watering: Moderate to Heavy

Wandering Jews is a houseplant that many claim to be one of the easiest houseplants to grow. The Wandering Jew is a vining plant with leaves characterized by white, silver and purple foliage with stripes down the length of the leaves. Since the plant tends to vine, hanging baskets or areas where it can trail down are the perfect locations for the Wandering Jew. Wandering Jews do flower with flowers colors ranging from purple, white and even some pink varieties.

This houseplant does best in bright sunlight, with a combination of direct and filtered sunlight. If the foliage color doesn’t seem to be as dramatic as it used to, your Wandering Jew probably isn't receiving as much light as it would like.

Wandering Jews prefer moderate to heavy watering. Aim to keep the soil moist most of the time, however not soggy. Allow it to try ever so slightly in between watering. They also prefer a slightly higher humidity level.

Wandering Jews also prefer to be more root bound, so typically you don’t need to repot much, in fact barely at all. One care tip I can share is that you should try to prune the ends of the stems often. By pruning the ends of the stems back, the plant will branch out and become more full and bushy. You can also create new little plants, by taking cuttings from the plant and rooting in water.

One area of caution with this houseplant. I found on a few Web sites posted that sap from Wandering Jews can cause skin irritation to humans. So take caution.