Inch plant
Tradescantia zebrina
- Wants
- Bright indirect
- Tolerates
- Bright direct down to medium
- Difficulty
- 1/5
- Pets
- Not safe
Why it wants that
A ground-scrambler from a bright forest edge: it gets more light than a true understorey plant, and the silver banding is a light-sensitive pigment display it only bothers to make when there is enough of it.
Too little light
It goes bald at the base and grey-green all over - Wisconsin Horticulture: 'In low light conditions, stems lose lower leaves and the leaves lose much of their coloring.' The same page adds the stems 'can become straggly (especially in low light conditions)'.
Too much
The pattern washes out - Wisconsin Horticulture: 'Color intensity of the leaves is greatest in full sun in the Midwest, but in warmer, more southern locations too much sun will cause the colors to wash out'.