Spider plant, Off shoots, and seeds

[Spotted]

Just checking in and my old thread caught my eye.

I do need to repot my monster plant and divide it. Its off shoots have off shoots and I do still have a few of the ones that came from its seeds. Though the leaves staid thin and not quite as attractive as the mother plants.

As far as when to trim off one of the off shoots, wait till you see little nubs of roots. One you see those you can either trim it off and place the roots in water or you can prepare a small pot and wire the spikelet close to the soul watering it like a normal plant. Then clip it off of the mother plant once roots have established them selves.

[19ashe86]

I have tried to keep varius spider plants alive of various sizes/stages but no luck

ive decided to try again with 3 shoots from my aunts solid spider. I have them in water and they are rooting nicely...

any advice for when I put them in a 4 in pot in a week or 2?

I want this plant to do well and get big fast so I can put it in a basket

[purpleinopp]

19Ashe, I would go directly to the hanging basket (make sure there's a hole in the actual bottom of the pot, not just the hole in the recess 1/2" above the bottom of the pot.) There's no way a spider plant can fit its' giant, carrot roots in a 4" pot. Once the babies' roots start to elongate, they are ready for soil.

[19ashe86]

should I really pot such small plants in a basket? I was told/read that spiders need to be sorta cramped to produce the airplane off shoots

[purpleinopp]

Spider plant will produce babies and flowers when it is sexually mature, and the weather inspires it to do so. As a plant with large, carrot-like roots, it will have difficulty reaching maturity in a small pot that does not have enough space to house these roots. The bigger, the better. The common size hanging basket, about 10", is really not big enough for a spider plant's roots, and usually they need to be repotted yearly with a root trim for one to stay in this small of a pot.

If it starts looking poorly, you'll probably find a situation like this in the pot:



Roots look like this after untangling a bit:



Sorry, this will not rotate after uploading, too lazy to do again. This is how I trimmed it to go back in its' same pot. It doesn't like this, and takes a while to adjust, losing some leaves before starting to grow pretty again. By using a bigger pot, if possible, your plant can stay comfortable, nice looking, in it for the longest possible time, assuming the soil doesn't break down into mud too soon (if using organic ingredients in pots.)



Chlorophytum is quite sensitive to poor drainage/soggy soil/lack of air pockets around roots, so use a mix that is chunky and porous, that you can water often without having mud. If it is unhappy, the leaves will droop and get yellow/brown tips.

No plant can be at its' thriving best in such conditions that its' roots have no more room to grow. But when roots experience rot in large pots of soggy soil, it can seem this way. The pot size does not matter, the drainage properties and texture of the soil does. When plants must be allowed to get too dry to avoid root rot, they are under constant stress, always recovering from too much/to little water, and will not grow as well.

[purpleinopp]

Forgot to say, in the first pic of the root ball, you can see exactly where the 3 extra holes were that I added to this pot. Ok, if you can't, consider it's a clock face. The holes are at 12:30, 4'o'clock, and 8:30. The more holes, the more the better, as big as they can be without your contents washing out, but don't put such a large hole that you have to block it with something, that defeats the purpose.

[19ashe86]

so I shouldnt be afraid to put small shoots into a 10 inch basket?

I think I'll let them form nice roots into actual dirt in the 4 inch clay pot then transfer them later into the basket

thanks so much for your help!

[purpleinopp]

That sounds like a fine plan. When you see a root at a drain hole, time for the basket. Glad to help, been having a love/hate relationship with this plant since the 80's...

[19ashe86]

Thanks so much!! The tip about seeing roots in the bottom before I transplant is a good tip! How long do you think it will take for 3 small plants to fill a 4 inch pot??

[purpleinopp]

I'd be surprised if it takes more than 2 months, but so many variables... temp, humidity, amount of light, soil nutrients. Hope you're not going to ask for lottery numbers next! LOL!

[greenstubbs]

Purple- I don't cut mine back as much as you do. I did one year and it shocked it pretty good, it did come back. I normally cut off about 1/3 of the roots then repot itand does alot better.

[19ashe86]

thanks so much for all your help! for now I have planted it in a pill bottle I cut in half and made a large hole in for drainage. I then put a piece of screen in the bottom then dirt then plant the bottle is similar to this but cut in half


I then put the bottle in a plastic cheapy champagne glass

that I drilled a hole into the base fo the glass so when I water it'll act like a funnel and drain the water intoa plastic tray I put under the plastic cup

[purpleinopp]

19Ashe, You took the pills out first, right? LOL J/K. That should be fun. You'll be able to see what's going on inside there. The best way to really understand a plant is to spend time with it, observe, and especially propagate.

Hey, greenstubbs, good to hear from you. I put that pic to show how the roots are like carrots, and I totally agree with what you said, and glad you brought it up if it looks like more was trimmed, that was about 1/3 of the roots in that pic. The hand with the removed roots is closer, and the pic doesn't show well how big around the root ball still is, barely fits back in the hanging basket pot. All of the big "carrots" have to go to do that. I do that first, then even the rest up like hair. If one's not insisting a plant live in a too-small pot, these difficulties can be avoided.

This makes it grow back so fast, I don't mind if it gets uglier first since what prompted the repot was that it got unhappy... which I know because it got ugly. Like if it wasn't already ugly, it probably wouldn't get my attention as needing to be repotted. If I liked this plant more... or didn't take it such for granted, ...or if it was less willing to soldier through weird abuses, it would get more hovering and I would probably notice sooner and avoid having an ugly plant at all. Now that I've realized they're hardy here, I don't bring this stuff inside anymore, so the pressure is off of it to do anything but get hung out front when it does look nice. Most people don't want a shocked plant, how right you are, so appreciate the prodding to explain the pic more.

[a1pha_fema1e]

Thanks for keeping up with this post! I found it really useful when I was researching growing spider plants from seeds. There is not much out there! Much easier to propagate the babies. But still, didn't want those seeds to go to waste. It has been over 2 weeks since I planted my first pod (another video I saw said the best way they found was to put the dried pod directly in soil) and I still do not have a sprout But I'm just going to be patient. I planted full pods and individual seeds at various times in the last 3 weeks so we'll see what happens.

[greengal]

I've been searching for information about starting spider plants from seeds, but haven't found much.

I hope you don't mind me joining your thread to share with you my experiment with seeds.

I planted seeds found on the floor, windowsills and table from green, variegated and reverse variegated spiders. I therefore don't know which seeds produced which seedlings.

I had no idea what I was doing, so I made a make-shift greenhouse with trays, straws and a plastic bag.

The first picture was taken when I first saw growth, approx. 2 weeks after planting the seeds.

The second picture was taken this morning, 7 days later.

I have green and white seedlings, but all the info I can find on the white plants is that they will die.

The seedlings are starting to grow second leaves [including the white ones]. If they are dying they don't show it yet.

Please share your thoughts.

If anyone is interested, I'll update this thread and let you know what happens.

Thanks for reading!







PS: I know I planted too many seeds, now I have to figure out how to replant them without killing them.

[purpleinopp]

That's really cool! I'm interested...!

[Cola82]

Me too, even if I don't think I can have spider plants because my cats will eat them.

[greengal]

Thanks for the reply, purpleinopp. I think they're cool too
I'm having fun checking them each day.

Thanks, Cola82. Perhaps check with your vet about the toxicity of spider plants.
I recently read that it's not a toxic plant to pets and at worst, they'd throw up.

Last night I watered the trays for the first time since planting the seeds.

This morning I noticed that some of the leaves look water damaged,
so I took off the plastic and have been checking on them all day.

To my surprise, I just found, one, and only one, variegated plant!

I guess it's not true that seeds from variegated plants will only produce green plants
as I've read dozens of times on the internet.

The variegated leaf is larger than all the other white plants, so time will tell
if others will turn from white to variegated as they grow.

[Cola82]

Oh I'm not worried about my cats. I had a pup in a cup for one night before they found it and tore it to shreds. I hadn't really thought about it because they leave all the other plants alone. So I suspect there's nowhere in the house a spider plant would ultimately be safe for long.

Very cool to get a variegated leaf like that, though.

[greengal]

The seedlings were out on the deck with the other plants, no covering, in mostly full sun all week.

The white ones are dying, the green ones seem to be fine with not one dying. The variegated plant is still going strong.

They're over-crowded, so perhaps this week I'll have to pot them.

The middle tray is sparce. I'm not sure why as I thought I spread the seeds equally in the 3 trays. The middle tray looks like it might have gotten more water than the other 2 as evidenced by the darker greenish color soil.

Suggestions on how to proceed are welcome!

[purpleinopp]

Even though I'm battling with trying to get rid of this stuff in my Mom's yard, enjoying the updates. Sprouting seeds are always cool, except maybe poison ivy. These babies sure are cute! Feelin' the excitement.

[a1pha_fema1e]

Very cool!

[greengal]

Hi Cola8, I read that cats are attracted to spider plants, somewhat like catnip.
Truth or myth?

I read that spiders grow like weeds in the right climate, purpleinopp.
Sounds like fun to me

Glad you're enjoying them, a1pha_fema1e. It's a new experience for me, so
I'm getting a kick out of the process.

I continue to google for information on spider seeds with no luck.
Twice I've read that people have grown variegated seedlings, but they
haven't posted photos, nor given any additional info.

The trays have been in sun on the deck all week except when it rained.
The deck is surrounded by trees. so it's not full sun all day.

This week the white seedlings have been dying and I've been cutting
them back as they do. I was surprised this morning to find that
most of them are gone, but there are new ones coming up.

The center row is filling in with new growth, green and white ones.
I guess they were planted deeper than the others.

[greengal]

Getting ready to separate the seedlings before the over-crowding kills them!

I transplanted some seedlngs by spreading them out in trays but decided to plant them individually instead. I 'googled', got ideas and then made my own little seedling pots. Now I can give them away without having to dig them up again.

I hope to transplant most of them over the weekend.

[greengal]

Two out of the three trays are done. The tray in the upper right corner is the last one to be done. It was the least populated tray.

I found 4 little seeds that had developed roots but were on the soil surface only, so, just for fun, I helped them shed the seed casing and planted them. They all are growing, as seen in the upper right corner, round pot. The other round pot is the variegated seedling. It hasn't been growing as fast as the green ones, but seems to be okay.

It surprised me how hardy the seedlings are. Even the tinest of plants survived all the handling.

[imafan26]

Variegated plants are often mutations that revert. Variegated mondo, pineapple mint and some other plants also do this so I am not surprised your seedlings were green.

Most of the time it is faster to plant offsets than to wait for the seeds and the spider plants are so prolific you don't have to wait long.

I got rid of my spider plant because it put out too many offsets and it was hard to keep it from reaching into other pots and trying to get into the ground. However, if you enjoy your plant and like having all the daughters around, than it works for you.

[greengal]

Thanks for your reply, imafan26.

I collected the seeds last year because I was curious, I hadn't thought of what I was going to do with the plants if my experiment was successful. I certainly didn't expect this many seeds to germinate. I'll probably give most away.

I've always propagated by taking the plantlets off the mother. You're right, last year's pups are full sized plants now and sending off stolons with plantlets.

I don't have many different plants and it makes me smile to watch them grow and share them with friends.

[Holly NB, Canada]

Hi there, I'm new to the site. I have a plain green spider plant that's producing lots of babies and seeds. I polinate it myself. Depending where you live, I could mail you some? I don't know how long they keep, and haven't tried growing them from seed, but hope to. I let them dry on plant. Once I seen it splitting, I cut the pods off. Mine are dried and black.

[CrazyGreenThumbUSA]

This is an older thread so I'm not sure if anyone is still following but I've got 3 variegated spider plants that I potted in the beginning of this summer and they're ALL producing seeds!! I cannot wait to have the pods dry out so I can start new babies!!
I was always told that spider plants won't start shoots and spiderlings unless they're root bound but I don't see how these could be so soon. The ones I have also have curly leaves!! I love them!!
I also have an aloe that's trippled in size in just 2yrs!!

So, I use regular potting soil in all my plants and mix in cactus soil with a layer of rocks at the bottom for good drainage. All of my plants seem to love this including my varieties of Jades.

Would love to know what soil you guys use. I also move all my plants outside as soon as the threat of frost has passed and they don't come back inside until it gets down into the 40's. They seem to love it so why mess up a good thing? Lol