Our expert offers spider plant care tips that show how easy it is to help these popular houseplants flourish.
When it comes to spider plant care, you don’t need a green thumb to grow them indoors.
What Is a Spider Plant?
Variegatum.KDP/Getty Images
The plant gets its name from the long stems and leaves that resemble spiders.
Variegatum:The common names for variegatum spider plants are airplane plants or reverse spider plants.
This variety has green leaves with white edges and grows white star-shaped blooms.
Vittatum.kendoNice/Getty images
After purchasing your plant, here are steps for transferring the spider plant into a new pot.
Plastic prevents air from circulating and can eventually cause the plant to rot.
Spider plants hate to sit in standing water.
They also look great in a plant stand or cascading down from a shelf.
Horticulturist Bliss Bendall suggests regularly rotating the pot so one side isn’t constantly getting more sun.
Temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal.
“Mist the plant with distilled water that has been sitting for 24 hours,” says Bendall.
This will ensure it doesn’t burn, get too cold, or become damp and rot."
Sunlight Requirements
Unlikelow-light plants, “Spider plants appreciate bright-to-moderate indirect sunlight.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t survive without sunlight,” says Bendall.
Water Requirements
Every spider plant has its own water needs.
Also, avoid watering during peak sunlight.
When in doubt, it’s best not to overwater spider plants.
“Wait a day or two and test the soil again.
It’s more detrimental to overwater than to wait longer between watering,” says Bendall.
Remove any discolored or dead leaves as they appear.
you’ve got the option to then propagate the pup.
(More on propagation below.)
Nevertheless, things happen, and here’s what to do about a few of those things.
Then remove all the yellow leaves.
“Cut at an angle to recreate the sharp tip shape of the leaves.
It’ll scab over and be like nothing ever happened.”
Bendall urges you to avoid trimming your spider plant in the winter.
“If you must trim the leaves [in winter], just know it can be risky.
Go for it in the growing months [of] spring and summer.”
Wilted Leaves
If the leaves are fully wilting, your spider plant may be too far gone.
Bendall suggests waiting 10 days to see what happens.
If no progress is made, the plant is probably not salvageable.
Bug Infestation
Despite its name, spider plants don’t attract spiders.
It can, however, suffer from insect infestations (like most plants).
Common spider plant infestations can come from scales,aphids, mites, mealybugs, and whiteflies.
Most pests are eradicated by the utility ofhorticultural neem oilas directed on the label.
Propagating Spider Plant Babies
A distinctive characteristic of spider plants is their sprouting little offsets.
“Wait to detach until the pup is established on its own, and then cut them apart.
You’ll be able to tell it’s established once there is new growth.”
“This works for a mature plant you want to fill out and thicken a bit more.”
Bring it indoors when the temperature falls below 55F or exceeds 80F.
More recent studies state that spider plants only reduce carbon dioxide concentration in the air by 0.1 percent.
It’s well-known that houseplants provide a certain level of relaxation.
Spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum.
Spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum.
Retrieved Jun 1, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI.40.5.1354
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