Wandering Jew Plant | Fiddle & Thorn

Basic Wandering Jew Plant Care

Wandering Jew Plants are one of our favourite houseplants to take care of as they seem to grow bigger and wilder every day. Below you will find all the information you need to properly care for your Wandering Jew Plant.

Light	Bright Indirect Light I love the sunshine but too much direct light will damage my leaves.
Water	Water Moderately I don’t like my soil to be too dry or too soggy. Little and often is what I’m after.
Humidity	Medium Humidity Please make sure the air isn’t too dry, otherwise I won’t be a happy plant.
Soil	Potting Soil I need soil specifically for indoor plants as it retains the right amount of water.

Bright, indirect light is ideal for a Wandering Jew Plant

Wandering Jew Plants will struggle to thrive in darker areas of your home (they can become quite leggy, droopy and turn brown) so make sure to find it a nice bright spot. However, if your plant receives direct sunlight it can fade the leaves which is irreversible. So you want to find a nice light balance.

Be careful not to overwater it

Wandering Jew Plants don’t like their soil to be too dry or waterlogged so you want to find a balance between the two. We recommend watering your plant little and often so that the soil retains some moisture but not enough to cause issues such as root rot.

Adjust your watering throughout the year

You want to make sure that you are watering your Wandering Jew Plant less in the colder, winter months as growth will slow and the demand for water will be less. Watering in winter can often lead to root rot so check the moisture in the soil before watering.

Temperature isn't an issue for Wandering Jew Plants

A great thing about caring for a Wandering Jew Plant is that they aren’t too fussy about the temperature and will grow well in your home regardless. They do tend to prefer slightly cooler temperatures but are happy with warm environments too.

Don't fertilise your Wandering Jew Plant

Wandering Jew Plants just don’t need fertiliser and will thrive completely on their own. If you do decide that you want to fertilise your Wandering Jew Plant, just make sure it is at half strength as overfertilisation will cause the leaves to lose their colour and pattern.

Repot only when extremely root bound

It is not super necessary to constantly be repotting your Wandering Jew Plant, as they won’t suffer too much if they are a little root bound. But when you do decide to repot, make sure the new pot isn’t more than a few centimetres larger in diameter than the last one otherwise this may your plant to become stressed.

Propagating a Wandering Jew Plant is easy!

It really couldn’t be simpler to propagate a Wandering Jew Plant. All you need to do is take a stem cutting and pop it in some water. Change out the water every few days to keep it fresh and after a few weeks you should see roots start to appear. At this point your cutting is ready to be pot into soil.

You might want to raise the humidity a little

Although Wandering Jew Plants do survive well in the natural humidity levels in your home, they will repay you with plenty of healthy growth if you up the humidity a little. We recommend placing it in the kitchen or bathroom where humidity is a little higher. Check out our humidity guide for more information.

Do Wandering Jew Plants like to be root bound?

Wandering Jew Plants actually prefer to be slightly root bound. This means that you can actually leave them for a little bit before repotting. Ideally you want the roots to be poking out of the drainage holes before you think about repotting.

Then when you do repot your Wandering Jew Plant, make sure not to size up the pot too much as they do prefer to be a little root bound.

Wandering Jew Plant FAQs

Quick and simple answers to the most common questions we see about the Wandering Jew Plant .

How much sunlight does the Wandering Jew Plant need?

You need to find a nice spot with amble bright but indirect light. Wandering Jew Plants will struggle in low light, which can lead to leggy growth, but you also want to keep them away from direct light. Intense sunlight can lead to the leaves fading.

Is the Wandering Jew Plant toxic?

The Wandering Jew Plant is mildly toxic when ingested so it’s best to keep all pets away from them. They can also cause some skin irritation if handled but this is relatively rare. It’s still best to wear gloves when handling, repotting or propagating just to be safe.

Is the Wandering Jew Plant easy to care for?

The Wandering Jew Plant is quite a low maintenance plant because they can adapt to quite a range of environments. We often recommend them to beginner houseplants as they’ll reward you with plenty of new growth very soon. They are also super easy to propagate too!

How much water does the Wandering Jew Plant need?

We go for a little but often approach to watering Wandering Jew Plants as they like even moisture levels. You want to avoid the roots starting to rot or crisp up caused by over or underwatering.

Is the Wandering Jew Plant a fast-growing plant?

The Wandering Jew Plant is one of the fastest-growing houseplants out there. They grow new leaves in no time at all and are great to propagate because roots grow on cuttings in just a few days. It can happen that they become a little leggy at the top of the vines as they become longer so propagating the ends and potting them into the mother plant to give a fuller look.

Common Problems with your Wandering Jew Plant

Here are some common issues that you might run into. It's important to diagnose any issues early to give your plant the best chance of bouncing back.

Why is my Wandering Jew Plant dying?

If you think that your Wandering Jew Plant is starting to die, it may be due to a lack of moisture in the soil and humidity in the air.

Dead parts of the plant are also sometimes caused by natural ageing, which unfortunately is going to happen no matter your care. We recommend taking cuttings of the healthy parts and pruning away the dead leaves.

Why is my Wandering Jew Plant drooping?

If the leaves on your Wandering Jew Plant are drooping down, it is often a sign it needs more water or an increase in humidity. Try upping the frequency of watering and make sure to mist the leaves every few days. After a couple of days you should already notice a difference and your Wandering Jew Plant should not be drooping as much.

There is a lack of colour on Wandering Jew Plant's leaves

If your Wandering Jew Plant’s leaves are discolouring this is often caused by too much direct sunlight. Try moving your plant inside the room a little so it only gets indirect sunlight.

There are yellow leaves developing on my Wandering Jew Plant

Yellowing leaves is often a sign that your Wandering Jew Plant is suffering from water stress. This means you have either been over or underwatering your plant. Check the moisture levels in the soil and adjust your watering schedule accordingly.

My Wandering Jew Plant is becoming leggy

If the new growth on your Wandering Jew Plant is becoming quite leggy and doesn’t have many leaves on it, it may be caused by either a lack of humidity and moisture in the soil, or by a lack of sunlight. It is quite common for this to happen over winter. Some leggy growth on a Wandering Jew Plant is somewhat unavoidable but investing in a grow light is a great way to supplement the light level over the darker months of the year.

We recommend cutting off the leggy growth from your Wandering Jew Plant and adjusting the environment or your care routine and this should encourage new healthy growth to develop. It’ll also help aesthetically to remove the leggy growth.

Wandering Jew Plants can also naturally become quite leggy at the top of their vines, closest to the soil. This is natural and occurs when the vines become quite long. This isn’t because of anything you’ve done wrong and the best thing to do is propagate the vines and add them to the mother plant to create a fuller look.