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Spider plants make excellent hanging baskets. Spider plants grow quickly to 2 to 2½ feet wide and 2 to 3 feet long when grown in a hanging basket. The long, grassy leaves are available in green or striped yellow or white. Long wiry stems appear on healthy plants with many small white flowers and miniature plantlets. If these new plantlets touch soil, they will root. The plantlets can be either detached to produce new plants, or left on to create a very full basket.
In the home, plant diseases are very rarely a problem. Too much or too little water plus insects and mites are the main problems. Whiteflies, spider mites, scales and aphids are the most common insect pest problems.
Root rot usually results from a soil mix that does not drain quickly or overly frequent watering. Leaf tip burn is caused by too much fertilizer or water that is high in soluble salts. Low humidity and excessively dry soil may also cause brown leaf tips.
Spider plants grow best with bright indirect light. They can tolerate some direct sunlight, but midday light may scorch leaves.
Spider plants should dry out briefly between waterings. Check their soil daily. A general-purpose potting soil is suitable for spider plants. Feed plants during periods of active growth with a water-soluble or a time release houseplant fertilizer. Follow the label recommendations.
Temperatures between 65 and 75 ° F during the day and 50 to 55 °F at night are ideal. Move spider plants a few feet from windows to protect them from drafts during the winter.
Spider plants form thick, fleshy tuberous roots. Divide and repot plants before the roots expand enough to crack the container. Wait four to six months before feeding newly potted plants.
Spider plants produce most of their offshoots when the days shorten in the fall. You can start new plants at any season from the plantlets. Detach them once roots have formed and pot directly into moist growing mix.
CHARACTERISTICS:
The more root-bound these Spider plants are, the more babies they produce. The more babies on the plant, the more water the plant uses. Remove the offshoots and put in water or soil; it will mature into a new plant soon.
Spider plants are commonly variegated with a white stripe in the middle, but can come with a reverse stripe, or solid green leaf. This is one hardy plant. Most problems arise from over watering. You will start getting black tips with a yellow halo, then whole black lower leaves. So, they need to be dry between watering. Keep an eye on the foliage it becomes pale and droopy when it's ready for water. The root system is large and tuberous, and can store water longer than most hanging plants.
PRUNING:
As the offshoots mature, they should be removed from the main plant. The bigger the babies get, the more strain they put on the mother plant. They can be cut off and put directly in moist soil or just put in water. Their roots are already formed, so starting another plant is extremely easy. To remove babies trim the stem off both the mother and the baby. It looks better if there are no stubs showing.
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