What Kind of Soil Should I Use to Grow a Wandering Jew?

Outdoor Plants

• Wandering Jew is used as a ground cover in warm subtropical areas of the United States. Areas like southern Texas, California and Florida provide temperatures conducive to growth. Wandering Jew does not require high-light conditions, making it a suitable understory ground cover. The plant tolerates alkaline and acidic soils. It will grow in clay but will do best in loam. Unfortunately, wandering Jew does not tolerate salt, so it will not grow well in unprotected coastal areas.

Indoor Plants

• Basic potting soils contain clean, pasteurized soil combined with vermiculite, peat and fertilizers. Most commercial potting mixes are suitable for wandering Jew houseplants. If you are interested in making your own potting mix, then mix a tropical potting soil. Combine two parts composted bark, two parts pine bark and one part rice hulls. Add this mix to perlite, peat moss and calcined clay. This is an organic-heavy, water-retentive soil suited for tropical plants such as Tradescantia zebrina.

Water

• Even when planted in optimum soil, a wandering Jew plant will not be able to access nutrients or support healthy development without adequate water conditions. Good soil allows for water retention and drainage. Peat moss retains water, but sand and vermiculite wicks excess water away from deluged root systems. Plant your wandering Jew in a container with drainage holes and do not allow it to sit in water as this will cause root rot. Outdoor plants should not be sited in waterlogged areas of a garden. The growing medium should be moist to the touch. For best results, do not allow the soil to dry out between waterings.

Considerations

• Wandering Jew plants reach a width of 6 to 12 inches and a similar height. The plant has a vining habit, and instead of growing up it climbs or trails. When planted outdoors, the vining, soft-stemmed branches reproduce and an extensive, perennial ground cover will form. This same growth pattern is used for large indoor containers. Large, upright plants and low-growing wandering Jew can coexist in the same container.