Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Oyster Plants (Moses in a Boat)

Berkeley novice writes~ I have a small plant which I think from looking at pictures on the web is a Tradescantia spathacea. Since I bought it at the supermarket, the stems have grown long and thin, and the new leaves are small, and barely have a trace of the royal purple color on the underside of the leaves. Research on the web seems to indicate it needs more light. Other than giving it more light, is there anything else I should do? I'd like it to grow fuller and get the beautiful deep green and purple coloring back. It's in a 5" clay pot; there are three stalks, and they are about 10" tall now. I keep it in my office cubicle which is about 10' from a large west-facing window.

A. Office plants are notorious for poor lighting, poor air circulation, heavy dry air sue to dehumidifiers, and a little bit of lack of care since the caretaker is many times busy at work, off seeing other people, in meetings, home for days off, and on vacation. Unfortunately for us, plants cannot afford a vacation and lack of care shows up even months later. Aha, they say!

Here is a good set of close-up shots of this plant, commonly called the Oyster Plant [or Oysterplant] or Moses in a Boat:

http://www.hear.org/pier3/trspa.htm

It is a rather succulent herb with a dense cluster of sturdy 6-12" long sword-shaped leaves arising from a trunklike stem up to 8" tall. The leaves are a dark teal-tinged forest green on top and vivid violet underneath. The small white three-petaled flowers are hidden in boat-shaped purple bracts nestled in the leaf axils. Flowers and seed are produced all year. The cultivar 'Vittata' has leaves striped with red and yellow-green. 'Concolor' has all-green leaves.

In addition to giving it more light for longer hours, I would like to have you apply a biweekly feeding of a fertilizer high in the first number, Nitrogen. This will green up the foliage and shorten the length of stem between leaves [make more compact]. Water only when the top inch of soil is definitely dry to your touch.

Oysterplant occurs naturally in the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America. Although it likes soil with substantial organic matter, it will grow in sand or even coral rock. It transplants easily and broken pieces resprout readily. Oysterplant seems to prefer light shade, but it grows well in bright sun as well as in fairly dim light.

It appreciates moist soil, but tolerates drought well. New plants may be started from cuttings taken in the spring and rooted in light sandy soil or by potting up offsets. Start plants from seed by crumbling an old blossom cluster and placing it on the soil.

The reddening effect of the irritating juice has been used for cheek coloring. Oysterplant grows commonly around ancient Mayan sites in Guatemala, Yucatan and Belize, and probably was cultivated for use as a cosmetic!