Inch plant
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Forgiving Among the more tolerant plants here.
Also called "Wandering Jew", Creeping Charlie, inchplant, Silver Inch Plant, Wandering Dude, wandering sailor and Zebra Plant.
Inch plant is toxic
- Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Toxic to people. Can cause skin allergy. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it. RHS
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1C — 5–10°C 5–10 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- Can cause skin allergy. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Bleached patches on the side facing the glass
On a inch plant the marks are patchy and one-sided. Leaf blades on the shaded side of the vine keep their colour entirely.
Glass concentrates what would be tolerable outdoors, because it holds the heat and removes the moving air that carried it away. Its source describes full sun, partial shade.
Telling it apart: The edge of the damage. Scorch has a sharp boundary; rot and infection have a soft, spreading one.
RHSDiagnose spots on the leaves on this Inch plant- Dry, curled edges on leaf blades near a heater
A yellow halo sits just inside the brown edge on the inch plant, and new leaf blades often come in already tipped with brown during the heating season.
The edges fail first because they are the end of the plumbing. Penn State Extension cites 30% to 60% as the recommended indoor range, and winter heating regularly takes a room under it.
Telling it apart: What else in the room changed. Edges that browned when the radiators came on point at the air rather than at the watering.
Penn State ExtensionInch plant brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Lower leaf blades collapse and yellow within days of a watering
On a inch plant the yellowing climbs from below. Affected leaf blades feel limp rather than papery, and water sits in the saucer long after it drains through.
The source for this plant describes moist but well-drained soil. Compost that stays saturated loses the air spaces fine roots grow into, and those roots die back first.
Telling it apart: Weigh the pot in your hand. A pot still heavy a week after watering is holding more water than the roots are using.
RHSInch plant leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Inch plant.
Routine care
- Watering
- Water regularly, letting the soil dry between waterings, and water less in winter. Their watery sap can irritate skin.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Under glass, give bright filtered light and use a peat-free potting compost that is loam-based; during active growth water moderately and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser, and give little water in winter. In dry weather, water generously.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- Under glass, use a loam-based, peat-free potting compost and bright filtered light; during active growth water moderately with a monthly balanced liquid fertiliser, and in winter water sparingly.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Cutting back leggy growth also provides stem cuttings for propagation.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026In spring or summer, root softwood stem-tip cuttings in water or peat-free cutting compost, then move them into potting compost that is loam-based and peat-free.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- It can be cut back hard each spring and moved to a sheltered patio outdoors for the summer.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Pinch out growing tips for bushier growth, and remove all-green foliage.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by thrips, vine weevil, aphids, mealybugs and red spider mite. Diseases: usually none.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Tradescantia zebrina, formerly known as Zebrina pendula, is a species of creeping plant in the Tradescantia genus. Common names include silver inch plant and wandering Jew. The latter name is controversial, and some now use the alternative wandering dude. The plant is popular in cultivation due to its fast growth and attractive foliage. It is used as a groundcover in warm winter climates, and as a houseplant elsewhere.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Mexico to ColombiaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Mexico to ColumbiaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026MexicoRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- seasonally dry tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- subshrubWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Ground Cover, Herbaceous Perennial; habit creepingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Clump forming, Trailing (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 6–9 in; width 12–24 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.1-0.5 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 2–5 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers blue, pink, purple/lavender; blooms in fall, spring, summer, winterNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers pink in spring, summer, autumn and winter; purple in spring, summer, autumn and winterRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Inch plant
Other Tradescantia
More of the Commelinaceae family
Plants with similar care
Arrowhead plantEdges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
Chinese money plantBrown tips on the newest leaf blades first
PothosBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Satin pothosCrisp margins that appear in winter
Dwarf umbrella treeA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Grape ivyCrisp margins that appear in winter
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.