How to Grow Setcreasea - Planting & Caring

By Sharon & Team   /   Liana Category   /   2023

Setcreasea, or purple heart, is a beautiful and easy-to-grow plant that is perfect for adding a splash of color to any landscape. Purple heart is a perennial that is native to Mexico and Central America, and it can be found in a variety of colors including purple, pink, and white. The plant gets its name from the fact that the leaves are heart-shaped, and it is a member of the verbena family. Purple heart is a low-maintenance plant that is tolerant of a variety of conditions, and it can be grown in full sun or partial shade.

How to Grow Setcreasea - Planting & Caring

Growing Easiness

Is it easy to grow Setcreasea plant? known as Setcreasea, is a plant that is easy to grow and is recommended for beginners. This plant is a native of Mexico and grows in a rosette form. The leaves are purple and have a creased or wrinkled appearance, hence the name Setcreasea. The plant blooms in the summer and the flowers are pink.

Plant Size

How big can it be? Unless you are growing Setcreasea 'Purple Heart' for its long, dramatic stems to use in floral arrangements, it is better to keep Setcreasea compact. At home, it can reach a length of up to 80 cm, but relatively not long sprouts up to 40 cm look better and stretched bare stems do not look very attractive. If the plant becomes too leggy, simply cut it back to the desired length.

Growth Rate

How fast is the growth? So, if you have a pot that is 20 inches deep, you could theoretically have a Setcreasea that is almost 4 feet tall!

Setcreasea Basic Knowledge

Plant Form Liana
Family Commelinaceae
Origin Mexico

Lifespan, Perennial or Annuals

How long is the lifespan? The reason that Setcreasea need to be updated is because they are perennial plants. Perennial plants have a life cycle of more than two years. The average lifespan of a Setcreasea is about five to seven years. The plant will produce new growth every year, but will eventually start to look old and worn out. When this happens, it is time to start looking for a new Setcreasea.

Ideal Temperature

What is the ideal temperature? Common setcreasea (Setcreasea purpurea) is a perennial plant of the family Commelinaceae. The homeland of the plant is Mexico. In our country, setcreasea is often grown as an ornamental plant. The plant is unpretentious, quickly takes root and multiplies in the open ground. It blooms profusely and for a long time - from June to October. The plant is thermophilic, in the summer the optimum temperature is 64,4-75,2 ° F, at a higher temperature the leaves age more rapidly, in winter it is better to keep the temperature at least 50-55,4 ° F.

Humidity

What about the humidity? Because this plant is native to dry air environments, it does not need much humidity to survive. However, the plant will grow best if the air around it is not too dry. One way to increase the humidity around your Setcreasea plant is to keep the plant in a pot on a pallet of moist expanded clay. You can also spray the plant lightly with water, but be careful not to wet the leaves too much, as this could cause the plant to rot.

Light Requirement

What amount of light this plant needed? The Setcreasea prefers bright scattered light and at least 3 hours per day of direct sun. In case of insufficient light, the stems may stretch, and the leaves lose their bright color and become green.

Soil Composition

What is good soil for Setcreasea? Since the Setcreasea can grow in any soil type, you can use a variety of methods to prepare the soil in your yard. If you have your own compost, you can use one part compost to one part coarse sand or perlite. If you don't have access to compost, you can use one part sod land to one part coarse sand or perlite. Either way, you'll need to make sure the soil is well-drained and has a neutral pH.

Watering Time

How much I must water Setcreasea? Common indoor Setcreasea, or purple heart, is a popular, easy-to-grow houseplant that offers colorful foliage year-round. The plant gets its common name from the fact that its leaves are purplish on the undersides. The upper surface of the leaves is green. The plant's scientific name is Tradescantia pallida. It is a member of the spiderwort family. Setcreasea is a native of Mexico and Central America. It is a perennial herb that typically grows in an upright, mound-like shape to a height of about 12 inches (30 cm). The plant's stems are slender and leafy. Its leaves are opposite, lance-shaped, and 2–4 inches (5–10 cm) long. The leaves are purple on the undersides and have a green stripe down the center of the upper surface. The plant produces small, three-petaled, purple flowers in summer.

Fertilizing and Nutritient

About fertilizer. Because Setcreasea is a succulent, it doesn't need as much fertilizer as other plants. In spring and summer, once a month, liquid fertilizer. With more frequent fertilizing, the plant grows rapidly, but shoots are formed weak. If you want your Setcreasea to have strong growth, don't over-fertilize it.

Reproduction

How to reproduce Setcreasea? The reason Setcreasea is so easy to propagate is because it can be done with apical cuttings. All you need is a cutting that is about 8 cm long and you can plant it in a mixture of peat and moss. Setcreasea is also easily rooted in water, so if you want to pot it, you can plant several cuttings at once. The only thing you need to do is pluck the tops of the cuttings a few times.

Bloom

Why Setcreasea won't bloom? If you want your Setcreasea to bloom, make sure it gets plenty of light. Setcreasea typically blooms in the summer with small pinkish-violet flowers. Each flower has three petals arranged in a cup-like shape, or corolla. The flowers are borne on upright, unbranched stems.

Transfer or Repotting

How much I must water Setcreasea? Sometimes, when the Setcreasea plant is still young, it has to be transferred to a new pot as it grows. This is usually done 1-2 times per year. When the Setcreasea plant becomes an adult, and the diameter of the grush exceeds 25 cm, it only has to be transferred once every 2-3 years. However, with age, the shoots of the Setcreasea plant will start to become bare. At this point, young cuttings should be used to replace the old shoots.

Caring The Setcreasea

How to care the plant? The Setcreasea is a plant that easily adapts to different growth conditions. In spring, pruning is carried out, leaving a shoot length of only 2.5 cm. The tips of the shoots should be plucked regularly to encourage growth. The stems and leaves of the plant easily break, so it is better to place them in places where they will be less affected.

Pests & Challenges

What is the challenge when caring Setcreasea plant? The purple heart (Setcreasea pallida) is a perennial in the family Commelinaceae, native to Mexico. It is an evergreen herbaceous plant growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall and wide, with leaves arranged in a rosette. The leaves are lanceolate, 20–30 cm (8–12 in) long and 5–8 cm (2–3 in) broad, with a long tapering point, and are a deep purple above, paler purple below, with a conspicuous network of purple veins. The flowers are borne in summer on an erect stem 30–60 cm (12–24 in) tall, each flower 2–3 cm (0.8–1 in) diameter, with six petals in two whorls of three, deep purple with a paler central stripe.

Toxic & Poisonous Type

Are Setcreasea poisonous? While all parts of the Setcreasea plant are considered toxic, the leaves and stems are especially dangerous. If ingested, these parts of the plant can cause severe stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In some cases, Setcreasea poisoning can even be fatal. If you suspect that someone has ingested any part of the Setcreasea plant, it is important to seek medical attention immediately.