Discover the Beautiful, Easy Care, Long Lasting Spider Plant

Kent Higgins

If you're looking for a great houseplant, you should definitely consider the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum Comosum). They are easy to maintain, and look great as well. The biggest issue to think about to care for them properly is the amount of water they get. Over or under watering can be harmful to them. They are more tolerant than most other plants though, so it is a great plant if you are new to gardening or if you will not have a lot of time to care for the plants. They can even tolerate root bound well. These plants live for a very long time.

Spider plants have dark green leaves with yellow stripes, and speckles. The leaves are long and narrow. They grow quickly to have plenty of foliage.

It is simple and easy to water Spider Plants. Just remember to not water them too much, or the plant can get root rot. The ideal amount of watering will allow the soil to remain moist most of the time. It should be allowed to dry out occasionally. The plants can go several days between waterings.

If the tips of the leaves are getting brown or spotted, the water may have too much chlorine or fluorine in it. This will damage your plant, and to solve your problem you should switch to using collected rainwater or purified water (not mineral water).

Spider Plants can also tolerate a wide range of sunlight amounts. Indirect sun is best, but they can handle hours of direct sun if they are exposed to it. Ideally, they will receive reflected light in an area with moderate temperatures (around 65 degrees F during the day and down to 55 degrees at night).

Another thing that spider plants are tolerant about is fertilizer. As long as they aren't receiving way too much or way too little, they will do just fine. An example of an amount that will work is a liquid NPK mixture every three to 4 months during the growing season. You do not need to apply any in the fall and winter.

In summer, the growing season, the Spider Plant will produce small, white, star shaped flowers. The stalk of the plant grows to over three feet in length. It will be necessary to add a stake if the stalk is leaning or bending.

Because of the long stalks, the Spider Plant looks very nice in a hanging basket. The plant grows quickly, so after a couple years, you will probably have to divide it and split it into multiple pots. If you don't repot a large spider plant, the roots are strong enough that they can crack even a clay pot.