Why is my Wandering Jew leggy? (and how do you stop this from happening?)
The most common care-related cause of a leggy Wandering Jew is a lack of sufficient light.
As a low-light plant, Wandering Jews devote a lot of their energy to creeping and seeking out exposure to sunlight in order to gain energy and generate sugar for photosynthesis and nourishment. When you fail to provide that lighting easily, your plant has to stretch out in an attempt to locate the light it needs.
This is likely to become more noticeable during cold seasons when natural sources of light become more scarce. You’ll see the plant lean toward any light and may see a loss of variegation or lower leaves. You may also notice stunted growth and foliage may begin to yellow.
Simply move your Wandering Jew plant to a brighter spot to solve this issue. Indirect sunlight is best to avoid scorching its leaves while also ensuring it doesn’t need to travel to gain access to light.
Another common issue is incorrect pot sizes. Since it grows so aggressively, Wandering Jew plants can very quickly outgrow their initial containers. Once you see roots pushing out of the bottom alongside leggy tendrils, it’s time to repot the plant if you don’t want it to become a creeping type of flora.
As a general rule, Wandering Jew plants should be repotted every 1 ½ – 3 years, depending on their speed of growth. New pots should always be at least two inches wider than the former pot. It’s also best to pot in early spring so you can get ahead of the upcoming potential growth spurt.
Finally, your Wandering Jew may become leggy if it is given too much nitrogen-rich fertilizer. This is because the nitrogen content encourages quick spikes in stem growth, but doesn’t help the plant to push out green leaves to cover those stems.
The fix for this is easy – just reduce the amount of fertilizer you give to the plant. You should only give a Wandering Jew plant a water-soluble, general-purpose fertilizer for houseplants once every one to one and a half months. To play it safe you could dilute the fertilizer so it is half as strong as the label recommends.
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