Tradescantia Spathacea Rhoeo ‘Moses-in-the-Cradle’

The Rhoeo is a plant of many names. Depending on where you live, it may be called Moses-in-the-Cradle, Moses-in-a-Basket, Boat lily, Tricolor or Oyster Plant. Regardless of what you call it, the Rhoeo is an easy care, fast growing evergreen that can thrive both indoors and outdoors, depending on climate. It is recognized by its colorful striped sword-like leaves featuring white, green and pink colors. Deep purple is featured on the underside of the leaves, and to maintain that color, exposure to medium to bright light is needed. When given enough light, it also produces small white flowers in the center of its rosette of leaves. In terms of care, it thrives in bright indirect light and average home temps and humidity. Water when soil is dry and prune off dead leaves.

Ed’s Plant Profile

• Botanical Name: Tradescantia Spathacea, Rhoeo Spathacea
• Pronunciation: trad-es-KAN-tee-uh
• Common Name: Moses-in-the-Cradle, Moses-in-a-Basket, Boat lily, or Oyster Plant, Tricolor
• Native Range: Southern Mexico and Central America

Ed’s Care Guide

• Care Level: Easy
• Light: Prefers bright, indirect light
• Water: Allow the top 1-2 inches of soil to dry out between watering
• Humidity: Average
• Temperature: 55-80F
• Pruning: Prune as needed to remove brown or dead leaves and keep the plant clean. Note, the plant may become leggy over time. In this case, you may wish to fill in the balding areas with cuttings you’ve propagated.
• Feeding:  Fertilize monthly with a half-strength liquid fertilizer
• Propagation: Stem Cuttings
• Growth: Vining, Trailing
• Toxicity: Toxic to humans and pets