That's a lovely plant!

What kind of light does it get? Direct sunlight, indirect light, or shade?

Patterns on the leaves of many plants can change a lot depending on the amount of light they get, and stressors like being rootbound, insufficient fertilizer, and the like can affect leaf coloring too. It's also possible that this variety had different coloring than the examples you've seen before. My favorite Wandering Jew had purple leaves, but that's all I can tell you about it because it was doomed the minute it fell into my hands while I was in college...

I'll let someone else chime in on fertilizer, but I wouldn't be surprised if your plant would benefit from the kind of NPK fertilizer that just about all other houseplants need.

This may answer your question

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1469300/purple-heart-wandering-jew-losing-its-colour?n=21

Not sure about too much water as I only watered once a week.

Cassandra H...No it's never had heavy white stripes, the leaves have always been mostly green. It has not flowered. I received a few cuttings from my neighbor's plant back in April + after soaking them in water to start the roots it's turned into the monster that you see here. Actually I've trimmed it back a few times + started yet another planter from it already! see pic.

I love how fast it grows. In fact I'ld love to be able to eat the leaves in a salad! It would save me $$! I've tasted a few leaves + they have a mild flavor similar to baby spinach. But I've read that certain WJ's are toxic so before eating more I want to know what the variety is to make sure I won't get sick!

There are different varieties. The purple ones are Tradescantia pallida, which are usually house plants or hanging plants. The ones with purplish leaves with stripes are T. zebrina, also typically an ornamenal. It may be called Tradescantia Zebrina or Zebrina pendula or I may have Tradescantia Fluminensis which I've read is used in salads! OMG!

http://brisbanelocalfood.ning.com/group/edible-weeds/forum/topics/trad-wandering-jew-tradescantia-fluminensis

Here's a pic of the second round of cuttings...

If it's never flowered, it may not be zebrina at all. Zebrina blooms with the slightest bit of warm temps and rain. There are a zillion different varieties of tradescantia, though. Maybe repost on the Name That Plant forum?

This is a online pic below. It is

Thanks Sage TX I will try that!

Wanted to let everyone know I found the answers I needed.

First the green leaves without white stripes is due to too much sunlight.

Next it's Latin name is Tradescantia zebrina but has many names in other countries. It is non-toxic to cats but toxic to dogs.

And Finally guess what?

It is edible for humans + it's beneficial!!! Many countries use the leaves in tea as a medicinal aid for high blood pressure, uterine disorders, bladder infections, tuberculosis, kidney infections. The list goes on + on + yes it has

anti-cancer properties!

I'm so excited to know this grows extremely fast, in fact some people think it's an invasive plant; but I think it's great since I'll be able to add it to my salads at no cost! And there's no worry about too much chemical spraying

Be very careful with this plan. This plant gives me a rash like poison ivy if its' sap gets on my skin.

Tiffany...yes I've read some people do get a rash. I haven't so far. As for my plans of eating it I've started with one leaf at a time and increasing it one more leaf each day. So far I'm up to 4 leaves + have had no problems.