Everyone should grow a Spider Plant. It's also
known as the Airplane Plant or it's official name;
Chlorophytum elatum. It was one of my very first
houseplants and it's a great beginner plant!
It needs average temperature,
humidity and water. The spider plant actually likes a dry period
between nice, heavy waterings. I love these plants
for bedrooms and out of the way places that
might be forgotten in the watering department.
They also make a great hanging plants and
look very nice in an ornamental pot sitting on a
bookshelf or cabinet.
A Spider Plant can take
indirect to dim light. You know you're taking
good care of it, if it develops small delicate
flowers and then tiny plantlets, or runners, that can be turned
into more plants for yourself, friends and family.
Creating New Spider Plants
You may plant the new runner in the soil of it's
"parent" plant and wait for the new roots to form
before giving it a pot of it's own, or you can
set a small pot of soil next to the original plant
and set the plantlet in that pot, still attached,
until roots formed. Either of these methods will
have the same end result. After the runners are
rooted, cut them from the original plant with very sharp knife
I also cut them off of the plant, and root them in
water before planting. This has worked well for me also.
These new little plants make nice housewarming gifts
for friends and family.
About the author:
Brenda Hyde is editor of Old Fashioned Living and a
freelance writer living in the Midwest with her husband
and three children.
