Moonie, when you cut a stem to take a cutting, it's best to remove bottom leaves closest to where you pinched to the center of the stem..Are you going to root in water or soil? The reason for removing leaves is so the cutting doesn't rot.
Don't feel ashame. Learning takes questions..Toni

Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. I meant the stem that's left.. where the cutting is removed. Will that stem regrow leaves on the ends? And I believe I'm going to pop those cuttings right into soil. Planned on taking enough cuttings to fill a full pot.

It's been many years since I've had a Wandering Jew. I believe that you will get a couple new stems growing at the point (or just below) where you pinched it as long as the stem is healthy. I don't think the leaves that have died will regenerate but new growth should eventually hide it. Like I said it's been years since I've had one so I might be mistakened.
Karyn

Moonie, if the stem from which you've removed the cutting is viable, it is VERY likely to produce new shoots behind where it was cut. It will not 'regrow' from the same end, but will grow a couple of new shoots along that stem. Giving plants such as your wandering jew a good haircut is considered a growth PROMOTING activity. Pruning of nearly all kinds of plants results in more new growth from formerly dormant buds.

When making your cutting, be sure to make your first cut right below one of the nodes. Remove most of the leaves from that cutting, and insert back into the pot or stick into a small container (filled with perlite) with several other cuttings. Your second cut should be to the mother plant stem, where you will cut just ABOVE a node, so that you don't leave a stub (internode) hanging around with nothing to do. Dispose of that little piece of stem. Shorter cuttings root faster and with greater success than longer ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:100873}}

Moonie:

This spring I had a scraggly Tradescantia (wandering jew)that I was going to throw out. It had nothing but dead leaves and scraggly stems, with a little fresh growth on the ends. Before I threw it out, I had a change of heart, and cut it back hard. I sheared the entire plant back to about 1/2 inch above soil level. Nothing was left but the stubs of the original stems. Here is that plant today.

{{gwi:100874}}

(Click for larger image)

Good luck with your plant. I'm sure things will work out well. This family of plants is very adaptable and forgiven.

And never be embarrassed to ask questions. Not only is everyone here knowledgeable and happy to help, but chances are, there is someone else out there wondering the same thing too!

Karen, I am so glad you posted that picture. If only you had the 'before' haircut and just 'after' the haircut shots, too! Plant pruning can be a very good thing!

Thanks Dorie. There is no "before" shot because I literally had the trash can lid open before deciding to grab the shears instead :-)

I've become a convert to rejuvenation pruning over the past few years. Even though it can mean sacrificing some growth, I prefer give a plant a second chance at looking like it should, rather than allowing it to limp along looking weak and unhealthy. I especially dislike permanently staking plants. (Exceptions: poles and trellises for vining plants or poles for training plants into tree-form.) I think staked plants look like they are on crutches.

Karen, your plant looks great!

This is one of the most forgiving plants that I own. It grows quickly and responds very well to pruning/pinching.

GH

Ha! Very good analogy! Crutches. Especially when they could do sooooo much better if wacked back and encouraged to bulk up a bit.

Thank you so much moonie for posting your question and thanks karen715 for posting your picture. I have the same type of wandering Jew and so I was nervous about following the advice of the other threads in those forums. My plant is leggy, full of dried leaves but healthy. It also survived a bout of spider mites - at least I think that's what the problem was since there were little webs at the roots. I applied some insecticidal soap and it survived.

Now I feel confident cutting it back so that it can become bushy again.

I have a question about light? Where will it do best? I have a sunny, south facing window. Will it be happy there or should it be in indirect light?

Thanks,

Karen

In my opinion they are very un fussy plants. They adapt to most light situations. I've never kept them in a sunny southern window though (those spots are for my hibs and jasmines) so I'm not sure what it would do with so much light. My wj gets the cast away spots that none of my other trops can grow in. Sadly, I treat it very badly and it gets absolutely no preferential treatment from me and yet it continues to serve me well and grow merrily. I've never had dead leaves although earlier this year, the entire plant broke off half way through and fell. I don't know if the stems just got very heavy or what. So now it's growing practically from the start again. I have another one at work which I invariably forget to water. It never dies on me somehow. It's such an amazingly tolerent plant.

Karen, yours looks absolutely great. Mine could definitely get a bit bushier but I probably have it in too low light for it to branch out that much.

Karen, since you're in z4, a south window in winter is sufficient. It may need moving once late spring comes, depending on how much light your southern window receives, otherwise this shouldn't be a problem.
When I bought my WJ, it was only 2.00 for an 8" hanging plastic pot. As soon as it was warm, I hung mine outside on the awning in direct west sun. It's doing fine and the coloring is deep purple w/silver.
When I first bought it, there was a problem w/this plant cause all you had to do was touch a stem and it broke. What's ironic is, the wind must have blown a piece of stem off and it rooted itself on the ground..You should see this plant, it's better than the mom..LOL Even though I don't keep duplicate plants, because of its different color I'm going to dig up and bring inside this winter. My problem is space..Toni