Spider Plant | 5 Reasons why it’s a Must Have Indoor Plant

Spider Plant | 5 Reasons why it’s a Must Have Indoor Plant

Chlorophytum Comosum, mostly known as Spider Plant or Airplane Plant has made a huge comeback!

This versatile and adaptable plant, originally from South Africa, was quite popular back in the 70’s when macrame’ made its way into everyone’s home! 

Macrame’ is now back and so are Spider Plants as they are the ideal trailing and cascading plants to be hung from it!

Spider Plant get its name from the shape of its trailing baby plants, also called Spiderettes as they resemble little spiders.

There are almost 200 different varieties of Spider Plants out there. Not all of them are easy to find on the market. The Curly Spider Plant is my favourite one and it’s among the most popular species!

The Spider Plant isn’t just a pretty plant; it has so many benefits and it’s so easy to care for and grow that is one of the most popular plants among plant newbies and black thumbs!

Here are the 5 reasons why you must have a Spider Plant; whether it’s your home, office or even classroom!

 

1. IT IS LOW MAINTENANCE

Like Snake and ZZ Plants, Spider Plants seem to thrive when neglected. They are almost impossible to kill! 

Every species of Spider Plant is extremely adaptable to every environment; from dry to humid, from bright to dark, hanging from the ceiling or cascading from a shelf or a table.

The Spider Plant doesn’t require much care or attention, other than the periodical watering. This plant enjoys soil that is not too dry, nor too wet. I recommend you let the soil dry between waterings but don’t let it go completely dry. I give my plant a bit of water once a week.

The trick is to have this plant into a pot with proper drainage with a well draining potting mix. If you don’t have drainage holes in your pot, make sure you provide a proper drainage layer of rocks and activated charcoal at the bottom of your pot.

The Spider Plant doesn’t need to be repotted often as it likes to be potbound; meaning it enjoys to pack its tuberous roots in tight containers. Repotting is only recommended when roots are noticeably growing outside the pot, which it generally occurs every two years. 

There are only two things you should keep an eye on:

1) Tip Burn; The Spider Plant is prone to tip burn, which is mostly caused by dry soil, endured low humidity and too much salt or chemicals in your tap water.

  • Dry soil can be fixed by watering your plant more often.
  • Low Humidity can be mitigated by occasional misting of the thin, long leaves or by placing a tray of wet pebbles under the pot, (making sure the roots are not soaking in water all the time).
  • Too much salt or chemicals in your tap water can be solved by using distilled water instead.
You can simply snip off the burnt tips of your plan’t leaves if you don’t like the look of burnt tips, (I don’t!).
 

2) Depleting; A large amount of spiderettes trailing from the mother plant can deplete the plant. Cutting off a good amount of spiderettes should fix the problem!

Spider Plant

2. IT TOLERATES LOW LIGHT

The Spider Plant enjoys bright to moderate light but they are known for their tolerance to low light.

It will thrive in bright, indirect light and it will burn under direct sun light.

However, you can place your Spider Plant in rooms with low natural light conditions, knowing that its watering frequency requirements will change as well as its appearance.

Darker solid coloured Spider Plants will go lighter green and variegated species will loose their variegation in low light conditions. Blooming will also be affected in low light conditions. 

Having said that, Spider Plants have performed well under fluorescent lighting, in full spectrum artificial light and under grow lamps of course! For this reason, Spider Plants are ideal candidates for classrooms and offices as well as darker rooms of your home such as bedrooms and bathrooms.

 

Spider Plant

 Hey Plant Loving Woman!

Are you a middle age mom?

Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?

Do you believe in the healing power of nature?

To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best

helps you reduce your anxiety.

3. IT PURIFIES THE AIR

The Spider Plant is a good air purifying plant. Studies have shown this plant has good air cleaning properties and helps remove toxins from the surrounding air, such as formaldehyde and xylene.

You should consider getting a Spider Plant for your desk at the office to help you keep the typically stale office air as clean as possible. A little curly Spider Plant on your bedside table can also benefit you.

If your intent is to clean the air in bigger rooms, you should get larger Spider Plants and ideally placing a few of them in different corners of the room. 

Spider Plant

4. IT iS SAFE FOR PETS

This plant is listed in pretty much all articles on non-toxic plants that are safe for pets. However, I have encountered a few sources mentioning the potential risk of stomach issues, such as vomiting and diarrhea for dogs and cats after abundant consumption of Spider Plant leaves.

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, (ASPCA), the Spider Plant is safe and it’s non-toxic to both Cats and Dogs!

The reality is that everything in exaggeration causes sickness, even for humans. If I eat too many cookies, I’ll end up vomiting too!

If you live with an over indulgent dog or cat, you should consider moving your Spider Plant, or any other plants to areas of your home the are out of their reach, like for example ceiling hanging planters.

 

Spider Plant

Photo Credit: Spanishalex

5. IT IS EASY TO PROPAGATE

The Spider Plant is extremely easy to propagate! 

You should remove a few of your spiderettes in order to avoid mother plant’s depletion, (even if you like the look of your many trailing spiderettes!).

There are two ways to propagate Spider Plants:

1) By removing spiderettes and planting them directly in a pot with well draining potting mix. You’ll notice that the trailing spiderettes have tiny roots already formed when they are still attached to the mother plant. Make sure you leave them on the spiderette when snipping it off the mother plant!

2) By division. Simply take your plant off of its pot and cut the rhizomic roots with a sharp knife to separate different rosettes of Spider Plant. Plant directly in a pot with well draining potting mix.

Spider Plant

Photo Credit; InaTs

 Hey Plant Loving Woman!

Are you a middle age mom?

Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?

Do you believe in the healing power of nature?

To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best

helps you reduce your anxiety.



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