Wandering Jew (Tradescantia and Wandering Willie) is a ground cover weed. This weed invades quickly, shades out and strangles other plants.
This weed originated from South America.
Identification
This weed is a trailing, soft, hairless, perennial ground cover plant. Succulent soft, creeping stems root at nodes where they touch the soil. The leaves are dark green or sometimes black, shiny, smooth and are oval with pointed tips.
Ecological Requirements
- fluminensis prefers higher rainfall zones, generally over 1000 mm per annum and up to 1800 mm has been recorded though the absolute limit is probably in excess of this. Mean annual temperatures are in the range 15-21°C. It is frost sensitive; the temperature which causes 50% damage is estimated at -4.0 to -4.4°C. It can persist in the deep shade as low as 1.4% of full light. It can tolerate shallow soils of any type though slightly acid soils are preferred. It has been recorded at altitudes as high as 3300 m.
Adaptation of the Weed to Various Environmental Conditions
- Has high reproductive potential to increase its chances of survival
- Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year
- This weed is highly mobile locally
- It is invasive outside its native range
- Tolerates or benefits from cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation and fire.
Distribution of the Weed
Years ago, before raising plants for profit became a business, every housewife knew how to grow Wandering Jew houseplants. Gardeners would share cuttings from their Wandering Jew houseplant (Tradescantia pallid) with neighbors and friends, and like the Jews from long ago, the Wandering Jew houseplant would travel from place to place.
- benghalensis is a weed of the tropics and subtropics. It is widely distributed in West Africa, East Africa, Central, Southern and South-East Asia extending as far as Japan, the Philippines and Australia. It is reported as a serious and troublesome weed in most arable crops in the Eastern and Southern African countries, but only sporadically in the Americas.
Disadvantages of Wandering Jew
- Alternate host for pests e.g. leafminers and root knot nematodes e.g. Meloidogyne incognita.
- Alternate host for diseases e.g. groundnut rosette virus, groundnut mosaic virus and leaf blight of rice.
- Competes for nutrients with arable and plantation crops.
- Some members of the genres Tradescantia may cause allergic reactions in pets especially cats and dogs characterized by red, itchy skin.
- At high biomass, T.Flumensis increases litter decomposition and alters nutrient cycling.
- T.Flumensis prevents native forest regeneration and some forests become shorter.
- T.Flumensis invading forests and thus destroying the ecosystem, tourism and affecting the invertebrates
Means of Movement/Dispersal of Wandering Jew
- Humans through gardening practices and dumping garden refuse.
- Livestock can spread fragments in their hooves
- Road machinery can disperse fragments
- Water can also carry fragments to different places
- Wind
Uses of Wandering Jew
- T.virginiana is used to treat a number of conditions including stomach ache and cancer. C.benghalensis has been used by several African tribes to treat sore throat, eyes and burns
- Used as a food source especially during times of famine
- Serves as an effective biomass for ambient radiation levels.
- Used as houseplants for beautification
- Used to control soil erosion
- Used as fodder for pigs and rabbits
Host Plants/Plants Affected
- Cereals e.g. maize, rice, groundnuts, cowpea and beans
- Solanacea family e.g. tomatoes and capsicum
- Tree crops e.g. citrus, banana, coffee and tea
- Sugarcane
- Pineapple
- Cotton
Greenlife Solutions to Wandering Jew Challenges
In non-cropped land Clampdown 200ml/20l can be applied. Clean water must be used. It can also be used to weed sugarcane, coffee, Bananas and citrus.
Wandering Jew can be controlled in maize by using Agromine 120ml/20l for first weeding. Agromine is also a selective herbicide that controls Wandering Jew in rice at the same application rate.
Wandering Jew can also be controlled using Hurricane 150ml/20l which is a selective herbicide for weeding maize. Used for second weeding.
In common beans, Cowpea and carrots, Wandering Jew can be controlled using a selective herbicide known as Hotline 50ml/20l.In Common beans it is used as a pre-emergent herbicide while in carrots it can be used as a post-emergence selective herbicide . During the time of application the ground must be wet.
To control Wandering Jew in onions we as Greenlife have a selective herbicide known as Commander 50ml/20l.Applied two weeks after transplanting when onion foliage is 2 leaves. In carrots it is applied as a post-emergent at the rate of 15ml/20l.
Digester Super is a selective herbicide with contact and systemic action for the control of annual and perennial grass weeds in wheat. This herbicide is absorbed principally by the leaves and translocated both acropetally and basipetally to the roots or rhizomes. Apply after the weeds emerge as a post emergent herbicide for both annual and perennial grass weeds. Application rate is 50ml/20l.
