Suki

Tradescantia 'brightness'

• 
  Easy care
• 
  Bright light

• Suki likes...
  • 
    Light watering

    Tolerant of some irregularity in watering, Suki needs a top-up when the top two inches of her soil feel dry.

  • 
    Bright light

    Suki is a sun lover and will do best on a windowsill or shelf in a bright room. A shady corner will only result in some serious sulking: weak straggly growth and pale leaves.

  • 
    Humidity

    The higher the better. A bright bathroom would be the prime position, but you can always pop your pot on a gravel tray topped up with water, or give her a regular mist.

• Quick facts

  Botanical name

  Tradescantia ‘Brightness’

  Nickname

  Inch plant, Spiderwort, Dayflower

  Plant type

  Indoor evergreen

  Plant height (including pot)

  10-20cm

  Pet/baby safe

  Mildly toxic if eaten

  Nursery pot size

  12cm

• About Tradescantia ‘Brightness’

  An easy-care plant for more chilled plant parents, Tradescantia ‘Brightness’ is a fast grower that will cascade over your pot or planter in no time. If it’s getting out of control or the gaps between the leaves are getting too large, don’t be afraid to give it a good haircut. You can even propagate new plants from some of the cuttings. Just strip off some of the lower leaves and pop the exposed stems in a glass of water on a sunny windowsill. You’ll get to watch the magic happen as new fine white roots grow, and you’ll get more plants. This plant grows so well from stem cuttings that it’s considered a weed in some parts of the world.

  Careful when handling the plant as it produces a sticky, mucilaginous sap that can be a mild skin irritant. Because of this, tradescantia plants are known as Saint Lucy’s flower, orflor de Santa Lucíain Spanish.As the patron saint of sight, Lucy was said to use the sap of the plant as eye drops, helping to relieve congestion. You do you Santa Lucia!

  Did you know?

  Some species of tradescantia have been used in scientific research as indicators of high levels of industrial gases, their cells mutating and even changing colour when exposed to pollutants.