Callisia Repens Variegata “Bianca” Care

Callisia repens bianca care is simple, and it doesn’t take much to help your beautiful variegated pink lady thrive. Learn how to propagation the callisia repens variegata plant as well—it’s easy.

Callisia repens variegata “Bianca” care

Today we’re talking about callisia repens “Bianca,” a semi-succulent plant that’s known by a few names including the Creeping Basket Plant, Inch Plant, Turtle Vine, and my personal favorite, the Pink Lady. It’s part of the Commelinaceae family, which has an incredible 650 different species of flowering plants. This family is known as the spiderwort family.

Callisia repens Bianca has adorable, miniature green and pink leaves, and it’s easy to maintain indoors, making it the perfect mini houseplant! But although its leaves are mini, they cascade and trail over the edge of planters, making this a great option for a hanging plant. (See more great trailing houseplants!) The Pink Lady is a variegated cultivar of callisia repens, pictured below.

This beautiful Pink Lady is a succulent perennial marked by low-growing, cascading vines with small leaves. The leaf size reminds me a lot of the string of hearts plant, which also trails but stays relatively small. They can grow up to 4 inches tall, with leaves up to an inch long.

The leaves are fleshy and waxy (like hoya carnosa leaves, but thinner and much smaller) and come in many different colors including pink, green, green striped, mint, cream, and pink and green striped. In the fall and winter, the leaves turn to hues of burgundy and deep purple.

How much light does a callisia repens Bianca need?

Growing a callisia repens Bianca is relatively simple because they’re very resilient plants. They originated in Central and South America, so they do better in temperate and humid climates. You should keep your Pink Lady in a bright room, but make sure you keep it away from direct sunlight. In other words, don’t stick this pretty little plant in your brightest windowsill next to your other succulents, because it won’t survive.

A good placement is about 6 feet away from a window that gets bright sunlight throughout the day. During its growing season, typically in late March through October here in Maryland, you can allow it to get more light. While the callisia repens Bianca can survive with less light, it won’t appear as beautiful or full as there will be longer stems and fewer leaves.

Here is a slightly leggy Bianca propagation I was working on at the time. See the expanded space between the leaves? If this happens to your plant, definitely check out the propagation section in this post. This is an easy plant to root and propagate, and leggy stems are the perfect candidates to rehab!

Want more care guides for houseplants that look great in hanging planters? Check out the hoya rope plant, the curly orchid cactus, scindapsus pictus, pothos, heart-leaf philodendron, rhipsalis trialing cactus, donkey tail succulent, string of pearls, and ric rac cactus!

Water and soil needs

Watering is a crucial part of callisia repens Bianca care because they could easily die with overwatering. Since they are semi-succulent, they require far less water than most house plants. However, you should never let their soil dry out completely as it could shed its inner leaves, which are responsible for the bulk of the plant.

Thoroughly water the soil, and allow the top inch to dry out before watering again. The soil should be moist, but not soggy, and its container should have good drainage. If you live in a particularly dry climate, mist the plant once a week as they appreciate humidity.

If the soil starts to compact and shrink away from the edges of the planter, you’ve probably gone too long between waterings. Take a fork or something similar and gently aerate the top layer of the soil to help loosen it up and increase air circulation.

Speaking of soil, the Pink Lady isn’t particular, so as long as you choose a potting soil that allows for proper drainage it should grow just fine. I like to add coco coir or fine moss into a regular into potting soil to help enhance drainage. You could also add some additional perlite to your soil. A succulent soil mix should work well too.

Callisia repens variegata propagation

The callisia repens can be propagated from either cuttings, offsets, or seeds. Since they are very slow growers and don’t get very big, repotting is not something you have to do often, so pick a proper pot before propagating. (You can also propagate in a smaller container and then transfer your plant once it is established. I like to use Dixie cups for smaller propagations.)

For propagating cuttings from the mother plant, use scissors to snip a stem with four to five leaves. Do not keep them in direct sunlight. Then, you can place them in a pot with well-draining soil. If you want your cuttings to grow more roots beforehand, leave them suspended in water for about a week.

It can take a long time for the mother plant to produce an offset. An offset is a complete daughter plant produced asexually from the main plant. They are genetic clones. To propagate using offsets, use sharp scissors to cut the offset from the main plant, and clean off all the soil from the roots. Give it a few days to callous where you cut it, then you can place it in well-draining soil. Do not water immediately as the roots need a chance to acclimate to the new soil.

Finally, to propagate callisia repens from seeds, take the seeds and plant in well-draining soil, but do not water immediately. Use two fingers to create a small opening in the center of the soil. The seedlings should be grown in hot, humid areas if you can help it. Also important to note, this plant grows very slowly, so you may have to wait quite a while for the seeds to become a full-grown plant.

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