Rules for Repotting Spider Plants

Containers

• Hanging baskets are the preferred containers for spider plant culture. Although it’s not a vine, spider plant can extend below pot surfaces because of its long, arching foliage and runners. Runners bear white flowers along stems and support plantlets, which follow flowers. As the plantlets grow, the runners become heavy and the stems cascade below their containers. Hanging baskets hold plants overhead and allow free fall of plantlets. This gives the spider plant its other common name, airplane plant, because the baby plants resemble parachutes coming off the main plant.

Potting Mixes

• Although foliage plants such as spider plants will grow in potting mixes designed for flowering houseplants, Dr. Bodie Pennisi advocates other soilless blends containing higher levels of organic matter. Pennisi, floriculture specialist with the University of Georgia, recommends blending one part pine bark to two parts peat moss, adding 2 to 3 oz. of dolomitic limestone per 4 gallons of mix. When using commercially prepared potting mixes, combinations including peat moss, pine bark and vermiculite offer spider plants excellent aeration and organic matter.

Water and Fertilizer

• During warm seasons when the spider plant is actively growing, regular watering to keep the soil moist is beneficial. During the winter, the soil should dry slightly between less frequent waterings. Hard water can cause brown leaf tips because of salt accumulation in the soil. Using rainwater and leaching soil by flushing until excess water flows from drainage holes helps correct this problem. Soluble salts can also build up from too much fertilizer. After sustained periods of excessive fertilization, removing a spider plant from its container and rinsing its roots thoroughly before repotting it into a new mix is recommended. Spider plants need water-soluble or time-release fertilizer only during active growth periods.

Light

• Although they will grow in shady locations, in low light spider plants may not produce flowers and plantlets, and their growth may be sporadic. After repotting spider plants, placing them in bright, indirect light will enhance their performance. Siting containers near sunny windows leads to scorched leaves if spider plants receive direct midday sun. Variegated cultivars, those with white or beige streaks in their foliage, are more susceptible to scorching. In the absence of natural light, Floridata recommends 400 foot-candles of artificial light.