Hi Doggie..it's best pruning WJs back in late fall, early winter..since we have little sun in cold areas, they grow spindly.
I root WJ's and relatives in water..I find it much easier rooting in water for several reasons, including when a cutting is in water, it doesn't need plastic for humidity.. If you choose to root in water, use a tranparent glass/vase so you can watch roots grow. Good luck, Toni

Toni,

Thanks so much! It is growing quite spindly!

I will cut it back and put the cuttings in water. How long does it take for them to root?

Thanks,
doggies7

i JUST ROOTED A OLD PLANT ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO I TOOK OFF ALL THE NEW END AND STUCK THEM IN SOIL THEY ROOTED REALLY FAST. I PUT 5 CUTTING ABOUT 1 IN LONG IN A 4IN POT FOR ABOUT 1 MONTH WHEN THEY ALL HAD ROOTS i REPOTTED MY 4IN POTS INTO A BIG HANGING BASKET NOW IT LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL YOU WOULDN'T BELIVE WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE BEFORE. ALSO BEEN THAT YOU HAVE THE FUZZY LEAF WJ i WOULDN'T ROOT IT IN WATER IT MIGHT ROT.hERE ARE PIC OF HOW I SATRED THEM AND HOW MY PLANT LOOKS NOW{{gwi:112088}}{{gwi:112089}}

It takes about 3-4 weeks for me - I root them in water and then transfer then to potting mix and they do quite well. The one I have now is a third-generation plant and going strong.

I have a very fuzzy one, and I just lay the pieces on the dirt. They keep growing, blooming, AND root. No humity, or extra care or anything. CJ

Doggies - I think this is the WORST time of the year to cut your plant back - and I disagree with the advice to do so for two reasons.

First, since the foliage is at the tips of the plant stems, and foliage is where the plant's food comes from, you'll be cutting of all the food-making ability of the plant. If you do that, you'll be depending on the plant's stored photosynthate (food/energy) to produce new foliage so the plant can continue with the business of living. Since the plant is apparently growing under substantial stress, it's energy reserves will be very low & cutting it back could kill it if it can't push a new flush of foliage.

The second reason is aesthetic. If you cut back now, ANY new growth occurring between now and spring will have excessively long internodes and will become the frame the rest of the plant is structured on.

If you wait until light levels improve in spring, the plant will have stored food available to produce new foliage, and the higher light levels will insure compact growth and a much more compact plant.

I hope this makes better sense to you than cutting back now.

Al

Al, you mentioned aesthetics. If Doggie's WJ is spindly, its beauty is already lost.
I agree, pruning is best done in spring, but at this point I would think cutting stems back would be an improvement.

Doggie, when/if you clip back stems and decide to root, choose cuttings that are alive..
I found pinching, not pruning, but pinching most hanging plants throughout the year makes a big difference.
Pinch tips once a month or every other month, especally in spring and summer..Your plant will grow compact instead of long and spindly. Toni

By far, the more important point is not to kill the plant. Removing the foilage now ("...it's best pruning WJs back in late fall, early winter...") from a stressed plant could very easily do this. You sentence the plant to starvation or near starvation by doing this.

The more minor point of the plants appearance is also accurate. If you prune back now, any new growth is guaranteed to be weak, with long internodes (spindly). This new growth will ALWAYS be this way and will be the framework for the future growth. IF you prune in spring or early summer, the new growth will be compact and tight. Then, next spring, you can safely remove ALL the weak growth that occurred during winter, insuring that the plant remains full and compact. Pruning now assures that you can't, w/o additional risk to the plant.

"Choose cuttings that are alive"?

Al

What source states pruning in fall will kill a plant?
I prune in autumn/early winter when lower stems begin looking spindly; by spring plants grow in full and compact. Since I started pinching hanging growth regulary, pruning is rarely needed.
2 types of WJ's, Purple Heart, another un-ID'd purple hanging plant, Parachute plant..Sorry, don't have botanical names and too lazy to dig through plant books.

'Choose cuttings that are alive'...when hanging plants get extremely spindly, foliage browns/dries, and stems weaken, I consider this an unhealthy cutting..Instead, I'd romove that section, discard, then cut up higher where stems are strong. They make better cuttings..after roots form, they can be added w/mom plant.,..Toni

Please don't twist my words. I never said your direction to prune would kill the plant, but it surely could, and I outlined the reason carefully. There's no need to cite a source - it's just common sense that you don't remove the photosynthesizing surfaces (foliage) of plants going into their most difficult period of the growth cycle. I wasn't talking about what you do with your plants, I was referring to the advice you gave. I simply disagree and offered the physiological reasons for my disagreement. Since I offer a reason, and you simply cite "that's what I do" as a reason, I believe that if there is an onus of citing a source, it lies with you. ;o)

Al

nikkicasarez - That is a great looking plant that you have made from the cuttings. That is one wandering jew that I do not have! I have the fuzzy one and the purple one. I hope that my cuttings will come out to look like those and make me a nice new full plant.

toadlily - Do you place them on the dirt while still attached to the mom plant or after you have cut them off? If you have already cut them off what method do you use?

I thought I would cut back now only because it just started getting spindly looking. I have had it since August. It flowered soon after I bought it and then last week I noticed it was looking different. Upon closer inspection I relaized that the leaves on some of the "stalks" closer to the plant were turning brown and I was afraid that the browning would continue and I would lose the whole "stalk". I thought it would be better to just cut them off and root them than to lose them completely. Also some of the ones that were brown were getting brittle so that when I moved them they just fell off. I also noticed that there are many new shoots coming up from the soil. These pieces are about one inch long.

I have the plant hanging in a north window and water it when the soil feels dry. Could this have something to do with why it is getting spindly? Or is it just because it isn't as sunny and it is getting colder. It is in the house but the temps are still colder in here (around 69)than they are in the summer. Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks for all the great advice - I don't know what I'd do without all the help I get here. There aren't many places in my area to get plant advice. I appreciate all that you do.

Thanks,
doggies7

I usually restart my Wondering Jew every spring. I don't cut it back, instead I cut off all the tips, maybe 7-8'' long, root them in water, then put them in a different pot in fresh soil, and once I see that they are growing fine, I toss the old plant. This way I always have a young-looking plant, no old leafless branches.

But I do think it's best to do this in the spring. Since I get rid of the main plant every time, I don't worry about it doing poorly with a lot of leaves cut off, but the cuttings root much better in the spring. I got my plant a few years ago as bunch of cuttings from a friend, and I got them in late fall, probably around this time of the year, and the cuttings just sat there in water, no roots, for maybe a couple of months!! A couple of them died, and the ones that made it grew roots very reluctantly. But when cuttings are taken in the spring, they root in just a couple of days. I don't know though, it could be just this particular variety of WJ that doesn't like rooting in fall/winter.

Oh, and I tried rooting in soil, and the cuttings do root, but they wilt in the beginning, the first few days, unless covered to increase humidity. Rooting in water is easier for me with this plant.

I have to agree with Toni, although take this with a grain of salt since i alwas lose my plants over winter with that in mind....

Now is probably a good time to trim it, With the plant already stressed and producing food for the whole vine it could fail due to malnourishment. (now is not the best time to feed it) I would at least take a few cuttings to be sure even if you do decide to wait until spring to give the plant a trim. The reason being, with lower light levels the leaves will not produce much food anyway and the plant will lose more leaves over the winter. If cut back, you will have healthy cuttings to start a new plant if the mother plant fails. My Jews always get spider mites at this time and if I don't take cuttings, the plant usually dies over the winter and there is nothing to show for my effort.

I would at least take a few cuttings root them in perlite and then pot them up in the spring. Keep pinching back new growth and feed,feed,feed after a couple months. Before feeding flush the salts, Jews are prone to get brown leaves if too many salts are in the soil, however they are heavy feeders.

Another thing that was suggested was twine the vines around the pot and I'd pin the nodes to insure contact with the soil. Be sure to keep the soil moist, but not wet.

Alenka, you're right, cuttings do much better and root faster in spring..It doesn't matter what type of plant one is rooting..
I too have better luck rooting in water, plus I like the idea watching roots form when in a trasparent glass.

Nikki, is pic number 1, (on the left it says NOW?) the cuttings you started? It's grown that much in 2 months? (in picture 2?)
What a difference zone 9 makes..(S)

Doggy, I didn't mean to say YOUR WJ was beyond hope..When I said, 'If Doggie's WJ is spindly, its beauty is already lost' I was referring to the bottom tips, (NOT the entire plant) I've no idea what your WJ looks like, but have seen pictures of hanging plants in autumn when days shorten..Because of lack of sun and humidity, the ends have seen better days. So for the record, I didn't mean to offend your plant..

As for the proper time to prune..I agree spring is best..NOt only for pruning, but sowing, repotting and the beginning of a fertilizer diet.
But, all I'm saying is with some of MY hanging plants that had grown spindly and in my eyes, unsightly, I cut back despite the time of year. I can't stand looking at dried out, brown leaves and thin, weak stems. So, off they come.
WJ's need humidity, so mist/shower. Remove brown leaves. Good luck, Toni

I trim my Wandering Jew regularly as it grows down and reaches the floor very fast where it is sitting. I poke a hole in the soil of the existing plant with a pencil and just stick the cutting directly in there for it to root in the soil. Works everytime. My WJ must not know what season it is cause it keeps growing and growing and growing.....
Lori

Mentha - Keep in mind that the 'plant' isn't producing food for the leaves you'll be cutting off, the leaves are producing food for the entire plant. What's left of the plant between the viable foliage & roots is simply conductive tissue now, serving to move nutrients and water to the leaves to be made into food via photosynthesis, and then translocating that food to various other plant organs. To remove them (leaves/foliage) is to remove the food source for the entire plant. This forces the plant to rely on only stored energy reserves, which, because the plant is growing under apparent stress, are very low. Pruning now, or removing the photosynthesizing surfaces (leaves) will starve the plant at the time it needs its foliage the most.

I also noted that Toni has reversed her original position on fall pruning, stating that "As for the proper time to prune..I agree spring is best...", and she also noted that her reason for pruning her own plants at this time of the year is based solely on appearance.

I understand that some people consider their plants decorations and can't stand anything that doesn't look attractive, but I tend to present my position from a perspective of what is best for the plant - not the grower. If appearance is more important than plant viability, then any reader can decide to go forward as they please, but at least at this point I think we can agree that pruning now can carry with it dire consequences.

Learning some of these, what seem like little details, over time, will help us to be rid of the 'revolving door' plant syndrome where we are continually buying new to replace the old dead plants. There really is no reason that most plants we grow can't live for years and years, happily, in our homes, but we need to be at least aware of the consequences of some of our actions.

Al

I agree with you Al,
However in my experience, if I don't take some cuttings, I'll lose the whole plant every time, since it's already nutrient deficient. The only other option would be to pinch the tips thus encouraging new growth, but that isn't advisable either since it will encourage spindly growth unless it has excellent lighting.

Al, I didn't change my mind about pruning in fall.
What I meant is, cuttings root faster in spring and summer than they do during autumn/winter months. There's never been any doubt in my mind about that..
But, I disagree a parent plant would/could die because cuttings are taken in Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec.
So, for the record..the best time to take cuttings are in spring, but it doesn't mean they cannot be pinched/pruned/rooted other times of the year. It's up to the individual, and more importantly, type of plant. Notice I said, pruned and rooted?

It's been said repotting is best done in spring, and I understand the reasoning behind this..it's an unwritten plant rule, some people follow..Does this mean I will not repot in winter..Nope..I repot whenever I feel a plant needs repotting. I haven't had problems repotting in winter months, therefore it's something I do and if need be will continue doing. Same goes for rooting and pruning.

If you were referring to me when talking about 'Revolving Door Plant Sydrome' that was totally uncalled for.
Whether you are aware of this or not, I have plants from the '70's and 80's. Most are from the mid 90's.
I'm not a buy and toss plant person, despite the type of plant.
When people ask about caring for a plant, I advise by my own experiences, or if I've never had the plant they're inquiring about, I'll research via plant books and/or the internet. I would never, ever advise someone to do something I haven't done myself or read written by experts/authors who have studied horticulture. :) Toni

As for the revolving door plant syndrome, I don't grow many plants just for this reason, if I cannot keep them alive throught the winter then I don't buy them. I hate losing plants, and I've lost my share of them, mostly because they tend to not like the low temps I keep my house in winter.

I don't know if anyone has this experience, I'm sure many have. When a WJ does not get enough food, light, or water it starts to mush then dries from the roots up and when that happens it's not getting anything from the soil anyway. If you do not take cuttings at that time the plant will die from the roots up. It doesn't matter what time that happens, if it does, your plant is toast anyway and must be salvaged in any wany possible.

So the questions we must ask before trying to out do each other with advice are and then go from there. What do the stems near the soil look like? Do the mush? Are they dry and brittle? Are they healthy looking?

Al, yes I did say I prune spindly WJ's in fall..(or did more before I started pinching regularly.) I'll repeat again..any hanging plant that grow spindly, and/or develop brown crispy leaves, are cut back during fall months.
IMO, it will not harm a plant. Can you imagine walking in a nursery, and each plant has ends that look like they've been run over by a lawn-mower? Would you, 'add to cart' at regular price? I doubt it. I'd say neither would the majority of people looking for a plant to fill an unoccupied space in their house. Especially if it was in view of company. Therefore, a nursery would trim back ends.

Al, you say, "If you remove foliage and ask a plant with depleted energy reserves to grow new leaves - it will die." (You said the word die, not I, as you denied using this word in last nights entry) "There is no sense in putting a plant even close to that position, as it invites myriad other problems (insects, disease) if the plant does not succumb."
Either I have a plant Guardian Angel or a lot of luck, but I can honestly say, swear on my life, this has never ever happened to me. I've never lost a plant due to pruning in fall. Nor have any acquired bugs or disease. As a matter of fact, I talk to ppl who prune all yr and they've never mentioned this happening to their plants either.
I've no scientific explanation, (I admit I know nothing about chemistry, even regarding my favorite topic: Plants)
I said it before and I'll say it again..I advise ways I work with my own plants, and would never intentionally give advice I thought would harm or kill someone's plant/s. To do so would be cruel.

"I'm not sure why you try to change the subject to cuttings, repotting in winter months."
First, I'm uncertain as to why you're bringing it up at this stage since the subject of cuttings began early on. BTW, I wasn't trying to change the subject..my reason was to add to the conversation..afterall, when people prune, instead of discarding cuttings, it's a good idea rooting new plants. If you find this offensive, I'm sorry..I didn't intend on hurting anyone, just thought it a good idea. No, cuttings have nothing directly to do w/pruning plants in autumn. Not a thing.

"So, if you can find something rooted in plant science that shows benefit in defoliating a plant at this time of year, and supports your original advice, please present it. Simply saying that plant appearance causes you adhere to the practice of pruning at any time should be no clarion call to others to follow suit."
No, I've no proof, but when I asked you what source you got your information from, you said, "There is no need to cite a source." Check above.

Al, I've seen pics of some of your plants and they are beautiful. So, in my opinion, you're doing a great job. I also know what my plants look like, and feel they're better than average, though I don't profess to be an expert. My website is available, so anyone who cares to look at my plants is free to do so. If anyone decides I've need for improvement, please let me know..
Apparently, you and I don't see eye to eye..How long have we disagreed with each other?
We disagree about soils, fertilizing, misting, SuperThrive, and now pruning in fall..LOL..And God knows what's left in the future.
The way I see it, people here on GW have the choice of pruning in winter or spring, using a certain soil, fertilizing. using ST and misting.
I just wish everyone luck in their growing.

And Al, I don't want to debate over these issues. If you disagree with something I say, instead of writing post after post, it'd be best emailing me privately, so as not to disobey GW rules. (bickering on GW) Thanks...Toni

Hi,I didn't read all of the posts here, I did see a fair amount of disagreement, which brings me to my answer.

I have done both methods of rooting on the same plant, swedish ivy, pothos, WJ's, even hoyas. I was never previe(sp) to the info surrounding plant propagation until I spendt so much time on here (GW). Now, knowing what I know and have learned, I am still inclined to disagree with some things I have read, only because I know what has/hasn't worked for me. According to some of the advice on here I do alot of things wrong with excellent results, but at the same time when I do it wrong and have negative results I understand why. . . I shouldn't have done what I did. (Cut back in the winter months, fertilize when stressed, root in water/soil etc).

With that being said, it is just a cutting, heck it is just a plant, and I know all too well how bad it sucks to loose a plant, but it is also a learning process, remember what you did and don't do it again. I give my experiments a fair amount of time to recover and if they don't I toss them and start over, if you like the feeling of making a small plant into a large one, buy the .99 cent ones to experiment on. I have more than 7 plants right now that either came from starter pots or friends and they are my pride and joy, but I also have some larger ones that I bought big and am happy knowing they are growing well as it means I am doing it right.

I say take a chance and experiment, then you can help someone here or elsewhere when they have a question on how you did it.

Good luck, :)

Al, I agree with you in theory, but in practice, plants of the Tradescantia family are so resilient, that cutting them back at any time of the year does not seem to cause them any particular problems. If we were talking about virtually any other plant or family of plants, I would agree with you in practice as well.

That said, my personal preferred time for such surgery on most plants is late winter (after Presidents' Day) when the days have begun to lengthen noticeably. I have found that waiting for the "official" start of spring is unnecessary.

Hi, Karen
Oh - there's no disagreement that the plants are possessed of much genetic vigor & resilience, but I based my opinion on the fact that this particular plant is already stressed & will accordingly be very low on energy reserves, so we cannot depend on the natural tendency toward genetic vigor in a sick plant. Doggies mentioned that the plant had viable foliage only toward the end of the stems, so I still maintain that it is not wise to prune this plant. There's enough info above for anyone following to decide what makes good horticultural sense & what doesn't.

It's fine to have disagreement - I don't mind at all. It affords soo many learning opportunities, which is usually the reason for 90%+ of the posts I make. I always try not to make disagreement a personal thing, to stay focused on the subject & not stray to far, like you have (stayed focused, i.e.). ;o)

I guess my whole point on this thread is that there are things other than appearances to take into consideration when we decide to remove, from a weakened plant, all or a substantial portion of a plant's ability to make food.

If I had this plant and it was in good health, and I had to make an energy management decision on pruning timing, I wouldn't be too far off from the way you would handle it. In zone 5 (Doggie's zone) I would probably tip prune only, in mid to late Feb. This would force back-budding. Then, sometime in April, I would prune as hard as I wanted, knowing that new branching & foliage was already on the way. This strategy insures the plant has ample photosynthesizing ability all the way through light level transition from marginal to good.

Al

Speaking of disagreement, I count to ten whenever someone uses hardiness zones as a reference point for houseplant care. I too, am in zone 5, which merely tells me what the average minimum temperatures are outdoors in winter. That is what the zones were originally designated for, and as far as I am concerned, their only real use is for choosing appropriate outdoor plants. Zones say nothing about latitude and available light (there is a zone 7 in both Alaska and Texas, and a Zone 4 in both Maine and New Mexico, for extreme examples), or anything else having to do with indoor care. Even if you are looking for a last frost date, in preparation for putting houseplants outdoors, these are often the same across zones. One of the more memorable discussions I read online was started by a person who was astonished that her friend who lived in Zone 7 Virginia had the same last frost date as she, who lived in Zone 5 Kansas.

That said, it just so happens that coincidentally, I have the perfect situation available for an experiment. I had a wandering jew that I found was doing rather poorly, due to a combination of not being in ideal light, and lax watering. Last week, I was just going to toss the whole thing out. But being a goofy, sentimental plant person, I couldn't manage to do so completely. ;-) So I took a few tip cuttings, which have already begun rooting. I cut off all the remaining leggy vines, and tossed them out. This left me with pot of soil with a few inch long stems. I was going to throw this out and clean the pot out for future use, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

If anyone is interested, I will hold onto to the pot, place it in a reasonably sunny spot, and see how it does. I will also takes photos of the process.

Hi,

I just got 5 cuttings from my neighbor and I am wondering if I have to plant them right away. If not, how long do I have until I must plant them?

I can't give you a number, but the broken vines I dug out of my planter ring this spring were still viable 3 weeks later, when I finally filled up my lawn and leaf bag with enough leaf litter to throw away. They're like zombies; it takes major effort to kill them. (I'm still casting aspersions on the previous resident who planted them there...)

Are they fresh propagules or rooted cuttings? Therein lies the distinction insofar as what's most appropriate.

Al

I have a wj that is in a 6in pot it is growing good but all of the stems have roots that have grown on them and are sticking out of the pot. What does this mean and anything i should do. I'm new to wandering Jews so please excuse me.

What I think you're describing are adventitious roots or preformed root primordia that commonly grow drom this plant's nodes ..... a normal part of the plant's morphology.

Al

Thank you for the response. I will leave it alone and let it be then! (: