Plant Encyclopedia

Other Names:  syn. Tradescantia pallida Purpurea

Description:

This trailing perennial is grown for its foliage; lovely leaves emerge burgundy-red and mature to purple; low maintenance, and excellent for containers

Features & Attributes

Purple Heart's attractive pointy leaves emerge burgundy, turning purple in color throughout the year on a plant with a spreading habit of growth.

This is an herbaceous evergreen houseplant with a spreading, ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other indoor plants with less refined foliage. This plant may benefit from an occasional pruning to look its best.

Planting & Growing

When grown indoors, Purple Heart can be expected to grow to be about 14 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. This houseplant performs well in both bright or indirect sunlight and strong artificial light, and can therefore be situated in almost any well-lit room or location. It prefers to grow in average to moist soil. The surface of the soil shouldn't be allowed to dry out completely, and so you should expect to water this plant once and possibly even twice each week. Be aware that your particular watering schedule may vary depending on its location in the room, the pot size, plant size and other conditions; if in doubt, ask one of our experts in the store for advice. It is not particular as to soil type or pH; an average potting soil should work just fine.

There are many factors that will affect the ultimate height, spread and overall performance of a plant when grown indoors; among them, the size of the pot it's growing in, the amount of light it receives, watering frequency, the pruning regimen and repotting schedule. Use the information described here as a guideline only; individual performance can and will vary. Please contact the store to speak with one of our experts if you are interested in further details concerning recommendations on pot size, watering, pruning, repotting, etc.

-- THIS IS A HOUSEPLANT AND IS NOT MEANT TO SURVIVE THE WINTER OUTDOORS IN OUR CLIMATE --