A Detailed Guide to Planting Methods and Care Techniques for Spider Plants
The spider plant, also known as the ribbongrass, guilan, hook grass, or bracket plant, is a perennial evergreen herbaceous plant of the Liliaceae family. Let us now take a look at the planting and care of the spider plant.
Spider plants are easy to grow and highly adaptable, making them one of the most traditional hanging plants for the home. Its leaves are slender and soft, and small plantlets emerge from the leaf axils, hanging down from the rim of the pot, spreading and trailing freely like flowers, evergreen all year round. The spider plant is the "king of formaldehyde removal" among plants.
Spider plants can absorb more than 80% of the harmful gases indoors, and their ability to absorb formaldehyde is extremely strong. Generally, keeping 1-2 spider plants in a room can absorb almost all the toxic gases in the air. One spider plant in a room of 8-10 sq m is equivalent to an air purifier: it can kill 80% of the harmful substances in a room within 24 hours; absorb 86% of formaldehyde; and absorb all the carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide given off by stoves, electrical appliances, and plastic products. Therefore, the spider plant also has the fine reputation of being a "green purifier."
There are many kinds of spider plants, with different forms and each with its own characteristics. There are five common types: such as the spider plant, purple spider plant, flowered spider plant, golden-leaf spider plant, and silver-edged spider plant.
Spider plant: the stems and leaves are indistinguishable, the leaves droop, and the leaves are dark green. It blooms every year in June and July, and the flowers are of two kinds, pale yellow and white.
Purple spider plant: also called the painted spider plant, its leaf midrib is purple, the stems are jointed, with leaves growing at each joint; the leaves are thick and glossy, all drooping downward, and it blooms from June to October each year, with pink flowers.
Flowered spider plant: the stems are vine-like, with branches and leaves drooping; the leaves are peach-shaped, with golden markings along the leaf edges that pass through the center of the veins, and the undersides of the leaves are purple and shiny.
Golden-edged spider plant: the green leaves have yellow lines around the leaf margins, making a particularly beautiful contrast.
Silver-edged spider plant: the green leaves are edged in white, making them even more vivid and distinctive to look at.
Golden-centered spider plant: the center of the leaf has yellow longitudinal stripes.
Silver-centered spider plant: the leaves have silvery-white longitudinal stripes around the midrib.
Broad-leaved spider plant: the leaves are broadly linear with entire margins or slightly wavy. The flower scape emerges from the leaf cluster, and after flowering it forms creeping runners that can take root and sprout to grow into new plants. The flowering period is spring and summer. The capsule is three-angled and flattened-spherical.
Variegated spider plant: the leaves are narrow and long, lanceolate, milky white with green stripes and margins.
How to grow spider plants:
[Growing Methods]Spider plants can be propagated by cuttings, division, and sowing. Cutting and division propagation can be done at any time from spring to autumn. Spider plants are highly adaptable and have a high survival rate, so they are generally very easy to propagate. When taking cuttings, simply take a runner 5-10 cm long with new buds and insert it into the soil; it will root in about a week, and after about 20 days it can be transplanted into a pot, watered thoroughly, and placed in a cool place for care.
1. Temperature control. Spider plants like a warm, humid climate and are not cold-tolerant. They grow fastest at 20-24°C, stop growing above 30°C, and their leaves tend to turn yellow and dry at the tips.
2. Light regulation. When cultivated outdoors in summer, pay attention to shading so the light is not too strong, otherwise sunscald is very likely to occur.
3. Water and fertilizer regulation. During the peak growing seasons of spring and autumn, watering should be sufficient, and the potting soil should be kept moist at all times. Also frequently spray the branches and leaves with clean water close to room temperature to prevent dry tips, but do not let water accumulate.
4. Pruning and repotting. As the plant grows, old leaves at the base should be pruned frequently to maintain a good plant shape.
5. Pest control. When spider plants grow in dense clumps with poor ventilation, they are susceptible to scale insects, so prevention should be the priority.
What should you do if the leaves of a spider plant turn yellow?
Yellowing of spider plant leaves during growth can be caused by many reasons.
1. Over-fertilizing, exceeding the plant's needs. At first the leaves become shiny and uneven, then the root system rots and the leaves turn yellow. Fertilizing should be stopped, more clean water should be applied, or the plant should be repotted, the roots cleaned, and fresh soil replaced.
2. Not repotting or changing the soil for a long time. The various nutrient elements in the potting soil have been exhausted, and the three key elements of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium have not been replenished in time, so the plant lacks nutrients and the leaves become yellow and thin. It should be promptly repotted into fertile loam and watered with alum fertilizer water.
3. Although the spider plant is a semi-shade flower, it still needs at least four hours of diffused light each day; otherwise, chlorophyll decreases and the leaves turn yellow.
4. Poor air permeability and water permeability of the potting soil. If the potting soil retains water and does not dry out for a long time, the root system has difficulty breathing, causing the leaves to turn yellow. The soil should be loosened promptly and moisture controlled. 5. Long-term watering that does not soak through. The roots of the spider plant lose water, and the lower old leaves turn yellow. It should be watered thoroughly, and the potting soil kept warm and moist.
The above is the full content of the spider plant's planting and care that I have summarized for everyone. I hope this article can help you. Please also continue to follow us.
The roots of the spider plant lose water, and the lower old leaves turn yellow. It should be watered thoroughly, and the potting soil kept warm and moist.The above is the full content of the spider plant's planting and care that I have summarized for everyone. I hope this article can help you. Please also continue to follow us.