Help with Wandering Jew

Alice G
by Alice G
I have these droppings from 4 of my wandering jews every morning. And the only thing that will get rid of them is bleach. Someone said it could be tree frogs, but in all 4 ? Besides i checked and there are none. Any help would be appreciated
I think I may have found the culprit making a mess of my lanai floor I took the plants down and flushed this out of one of them Hope I find the other one
  11 answers
  • Shari Shari on Jan 03, 2014
    Could be those brown Cuban anole lizards. ??? The majority of these droppings seem rather small for tree frogs, except for the elongated one on the far right side of your second picture. That one is consistent with what I see around my open front porch that I attribute to tree frogs. They are big enough that I can generally sweep them away with the broom but they sometimes do leave a brown mark, especially on my white wicker furniture. If it is tree frogs, your wandering jew may be their favorite night time hangout but you won't necessarily find them there when it's light out. During the day, the tree frogs on my porch sleep in different places like on top of the shutters, behind an outdoor thermometer/clock I have hanging on the wall, down in the large metal tubes of my wind chime, and underneath the seat cushions in my wicker furniture etc. (Before we sit down we have to lift the cushions to make sure we're not squishing a frog or a lizard!) Once the sun goes down, the tree frogs become active so you may have to go out right after dark to see if you can spot the critter(s) who are leaving these nasty little presents.
  • Maryann F. Maryann F. on Jan 04, 2014
    I've never seen this before! I'd be inclined to take a small clipping, toss the rest of the plants (unfortunately) and start over. Also, check with a local Home and Garden center, nursery, etc. to see what they think.
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Jan 04, 2014
    I agree with Shari. I don't think these are attributable to the plant, but rather to a visitor to the plant.
  • Carol S Carol S on Jan 04, 2014
    Please don't get rid of these beauties or the tiny creatures. The little guys are probably doing you a favor by feeding on insects. I would think of something to make the cleanup of the droppings easier. Perhaps a ceramic tile, something none pourous, on which the dropping will dry and casn be swept off by a broom or better still a breeze.
  • I have had Moses In A Basket plants for 20 years without these spots occurring.
    • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Jan 05, 2014
      @Leslie Hohenfeld Designs Your plant and Alice's do look quite similar, and they are in the same genus, but Moses in a Basket is Tradescantia spathacea, while Alice's plant is Tradescantia zebrine. And, to make things even more confusing, there's another very similar plant, known commonly as purple queen, that is Tradescantia pallida. I doubt that any of them would produce the spots.
  • Alice G Alice G on Jan 05, 2014
    Ok I found this nasty little thing in only one of my plants 2 of the four jews are dropping spots. I flushed out all 4 this morning and this little thing came out. I'm sure this was the cause of it. But the others I found nothing,
    comment photo
  • Jmarie813 Jmarie813 on Jan 05, 2014
    move the plant
  • Sharon Clyatt Sharon Clyatt on Jan 05, 2014
    Your Wandering Jew looks Fabulous compared to mine, I would just shake them out gently, anything that loose will fall out ,then hoses the plants down lightly with water
  • Pam Jenner Pam Jenner on Jan 05, 2014
    Did you find out what the caterpillar is? It looks nasty!
  • BeazerBea BeazerBea on Jan 07, 2014
    Take the plant down, and place in a waterproof tub outside......while plant is in container, drown the entire plant in rather warm water, add 1/3 drops of amount water of Dawn Soap...example 1 gallon water- 1/3 dawn dish soap....... leave the drowning plant till you see of these little buggers pop out. Remove the plant, allowing roots to drain dry. Now with remaining water-throw down drain, not to infect any other plants you may have. Are you bringing the plant inside then????? I would also take the advice from nthe person above, take a clipping, clean pot, clean bagged soil, and begin a new plant.
  • Cathy W Cathy W on May 24, 2014
    Beazer, yes, soapy spray works on nearly all plants.! It even slowed black spot on my roses. It clings to the leaves (courtesy of Dawn) and that does the trick. Bugs don't like it either!