Chlorophytum comosum ( spider plant )
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Chlorophytum comosum ( spider plant )
The Timeless Spider Plant
The Spider Plant, or Chlorophytum, is a timeless houseplant that originates from the tropical and southern regions of Africa and is potentially one of the easiest indoor plants you can grow. It does need some attention in order to really make it perform at its best, but it is extremely tolerant should you accidentally forget about it from time to time. This is in part due to the thick white roots, or rhizomes, it produces in order to store food and moisture for support.
One of the most interesting points of the Spider Plant is its ability to rapidly propagate itself, through us, people! A "baby" or "pup" from the mother plant will often root with a very high success rate and within a year it's producing babies of its own to give out to your family and friends.
There are quite a few different varieties or "cultivars" which you can find, the arguably four most common are detailed below. After comparing your own Spider Plants leaves with the pictures below you may find yours isn't listed here. However in all cases Chlorophytums have very similar requirements so the information should still be relevant.
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Chlorophytum Comosum "Vittatum" - This was the first variegated cultivar of the Spider Plant and was the most popular until the late 1990s. It has mid-green leaves with a broad central white stripe. It's often displayed in hanging baskets to display the numerous plantlet's or Spider Babies that form on mature plants. The long stems on which the Babies hang are yellow / white.
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Chlorophytum Comosum "Variegatum" - This version is newer than the 'Vittatum', and has dark green leaves with white margins. It's generally more compact than the previous cultivar. The long stems which support the offsets are green. It's a striking plant and has generally replaced the popularity of the 'Vittatum' in garden centers and department stores.
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Chlorophytum Comosum "Bonnie" - has the traditional green with white stripe variegation of the ‘Vittatum’ but it's leaves curl and bend. The flowering stems are yellow and plantlet's are curly like the parent. It is fast becoming a very popular variety as it tends to be very compact in size and is ideal if you want a Spider Plant but don't have masses of space in which to show it off.
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Chlorophytum comosum - This was potentially the original Spider Plant. Its leaves are all green with a slightly lighter green shade running through the center and although is better adapted to darker positions than the variegated versions it's the least common. You will struggle to find this type in the average garden center, so if you decide you want it you may have to search a bit further a field.
Plant Care and the Secrets to Success
Light
All the variegated versions need a bright spot in order to keep their stripes. The all green version (which has no variegation to lose) will accept a darker location although growth will be much slower. Direct sunlight should always be avoided.
Watering
Water liberally in the growing months (Spring through to Autumn / Fall), sparingly in Winter.
Humidity
Not important.
Feeding
Don't feed newly planted Spider Babies / Pups, or the mature plants in the Winter months. Otherwise feel free to feed every few weeks.
Temperature
If the soil is dry it will survive without issue down to 5°C / 41°F. If the soil is wet or you go colder than this, some damage will likely result. Any exposure to frost will totally destroy the plant over night. The average warmth of a typical home is the key to good growth.
Repotting
If ideal care has been provided, you will end up repotting the plant each spring until it reaches maturity (2 to 5 years). It's always best to propagate Chlorophytum by its offsets, never try to divide the plant when you repot. If you are worried the plant is too big and you aren't able to move it to a different location, don't repot into a larger container and this will restrict its growth.
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Speed of Growth
Very fast.
Height / Spread
The maximum height and spread is around 30cm / 12in.
Flowers
Mature plants produce a rapidly growing flowering stem on which small white flowers appear. The Spider Babies form from these flowers a short time later.
Anything else?
If you have a large enough hanging basket you can plant several babies together to create a not to distant cascading waterfall of babies! (see picture at the top of the article or image 4 in the gallery, each basket has two fully mature and independent plants).
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The Spider Plant, or Chlorophytum, is a timeless houseplant that originates from the tropical and southern regions of Africa and is potentially one of the easiest indoor plants you can grow. It does need some attention in order to really make it perform at its best, but it is extremely tolerant should you accidentally forget about it from time to time. This is in part due to the thick white roots, or rhizomes, it produces in order to store food and moisture for support.
One of the most interesting points of the Spider Plant is its ability to rapidly propagate itself, through us, people! A "baby" or "pup" from the mother plant will often root with a very high success rate and within a year it's producing babies of its own to give out to your family and friends.
There are quite a few different varieties or "cultivars" which you can find, the arguably four most common are detailed below. After comparing your own Spider Plants leaves with the pictures below you may find yours isn't listed here. However in all cases Chlorophytums have very similar requirements so the information should still be relevant.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Chlorophytum Comosum "Vittatum" - This was the first variegated cultivar of the Spider Plant and was the most popular until the late 1990s. It has mid-green leaves with a broad central white stripe. It's often displayed in hanging baskets to display the numerous plantlet's or Spider Babies that form on mature plants. The long stems on which the Babies hang are yellow / white.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Chlorophytum Comosum "Variegatum" - This version is newer than the 'Vittatum', and has dark green leaves with white margins. It's generally more compact than the previous cultivar. The long stems which support the offsets are green. It's a striking plant and has generally replaced the popularity of the 'Vittatum' in garden centers and department stores.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Chlorophytum Comosum "Bonnie" - has the traditional green with white stripe variegation of the ‘Vittatum’ but it's leaves curl and bend. The flowering stems are yellow and plantlet's are curly like the parent. It is fast becoming a very popular variety as it tends to be very compact in size and is ideal if you want a Spider Plant but don't have masses of space in which to show it off.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Chlorophytum comosum - This was potentially the original Spider Plant. Its leaves are all green with a slightly lighter green shade running through the center and although is better adapted to darker positions than the variegated versions it's the least common. You will struggle to find this type in the average garden center, so if you decide you want it you may have to search a bit further a field.
Plant Care and the Secrets to Success
Light
All the variegated versions need a bright spot in order to keep their stripes. The all green version (which has no variegation to lose) will accept a darker location although growth will be much slower. Direct sunlight should always be avoided.
Watering
Water liberally in the growing months (Spring through to Autumn / Fall), sparingly in Winter.
Humidity
Not important.
Feeding
Don't feed newly planted Spider Babies / Pups, or the mature plants in the Winter months. Otherwise feel free to feed every few weeks.
Temperature
If the soil is dry it will survive without issue down to 5°C / 41°F. If the soil is wet or you go colder than this, some damage will likely result. Any exposure to frost will totally destroy the plant over night. The average warmth of a typical home is the key to good growth.
Repotting
If ideal care has been provided, you will end up repotting the plant each spring until it reaches maturity (2 to 5 years). It's always best to propagate Chlorophytum by its offsets, never try to divide the plant when you repot. If you are worried the plant is too big and you aren't able to move it to a different location, don't repot into a larger container and this will restrict its growth.
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Speed of Growth
Very fast.
Height / Spread
The maximum height and spread is around 30cm / 12in.
Flowers
Mature plants produce a rapidly growing flowering stem on which small white flowers appear. The Spider Babies form from these flowers a short time later.
Anything else?
If you have a large enough hanging basket you can plant several babies together to create a not to distant cascading waterfall of babies! (see picture at the top of the article or image 4 in the gallery, each basket has two fully mature and independent plants).
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Re: Chlorophytum comosum ( spider plant )
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Re: Chlorophytum comosum ( spider plant )
Spider Plant- Care and Facts on Which Variety is Best?
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Re: Chlorophytum comosum ( spider plant )
Let's Start Out Easy: Propagating Spider Plants
For my first "How-To" post I thought we'd start out with the most easy plant to propagate and one of the most common houseplants: the spider plant.
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Two of my spider plants. The top is a single, older plant. The bottom pot has three 6-week old plants grown from stolons.
[size]Chlorophytum comosum, more commonly known as spider plants are herbaceous plants that are native to tropical, southern Africa. It also has adapted to grow outdoors in places like Australia and some parts of California. It has become a common houseplant because it is easy to care for and can tolerate many conditions. It can survive in temperatures as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit. But it grows best in temperatures from 65 °F (18 °C) to 90 °F (32 °C). I imagine that most of you keep your houses between 62-72°F so this shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Now on to the propagation.
Spider plants are very easy to propagate because, when they reach maturity, they put out runners with small plantlets called stolons. These stolons are easy to snip off the plant and grown into entirely new spider plants. Even if you don’t have a spider plant that has these stolons, it’s very possible that a friend or relative might. And since spider plants produce a lot of stolons, they’d probably be happy to get rid of a few.
[/size]
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Spider Plant Stolons
[size]1. Get a pair of scissors. Make sure to clean them with soap and water first. Cleanliness is often crucial to success when propagating plants.
2. Take one of the stolons on the end of one of the spider plant runners and snip it off.
3. This is where you have two options. You can:
A) Root the stolon in water. This is where you take the stolon and stick the small, preformed root structures at the bottom of the plant in water and wait for larger roots to form. Make sure the water stays clean. Then when more roots form you can stick it in potting soil.
[/size]
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[size]OR
B) Plant the stolons directly into pots with fresh potting mix. Make sure to cover the small root formation completely. Roots should start to form soon after.
[/size]
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[size]4. Take care of your spider plant. These plants like sunlight, but not direct sunlight. Keep it near a window, but keep it out of direct rays. The leaves will actually get brownish and dead looking in parts, almost like a sunburn. This plant doesn't require much watering. You can even let it dry out some between waterings. You’ll know that your plant needs watering if the leaves look droopy. Avoid over-watering. The leaves will look yellow-ish or have black tips if they’re overwatered. If the leaves get brown spots, try watering with distilled water. Spider plants can often have difficulties if there are chemicals in the water.
[/size]
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[size]So there you have it. Very simple plant propagation and care. Spider plants put out a lot of stolons very frequently so you'll have more than enough material to work with. And the benefit to having multiple spider plants is that they clean the air in your house. So the more the merrier![/size]
Sandeep Sunstar- Posts : 582
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Re: Chlorophytum comosum ( spider plant )
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