when....do you cut the spider babies.

Watch Reply
More
Mark unread Print Skip to new
Charlotteda Pickens, SC(Zone 7a) Feb 05, 2006

For the overall, looks and health of the plant. When do you cut spider plant babies off of the mother plant. Mine has alot that have been on there a LONG time :)

charlotte

Post #2024261
Quote
Anitabryk2 Long Island, NY(Zone 6b) Feb 06, 2006

that's a good question, I'd be curious to see what everyone else's experience is. I leave them unless they are looking ratty or I want to grow more plants.

Anita

Post #2025930
Quote
kniphofia Cramlington, United Kingdom(Zone 8a) Feb 06, 2006

I find they will stay on the plant as long as you wish to leave them. My plant at work has produced seeds too.

At my local nursery the plantlets enjoy the humid atmosphere and often produce long roots.

Thumbnail by kniphofia
Post #2026979
Quote
CalamusGardens Guayanilla, PR(Zone 11) Feb 14, 2006

Dear Spider people . . . If your plants are in high humidity, all the pups will have areal roots. Cut off at any time a repot for new plants. For hanging baskets its best to plant 4 or 5 per basket to get a full basket. If you parent plant is growing in a dry location then few pups will have roots. Hang it in shady location, water more frequently. You could enen sit the basket in a tray of shallow water and humidity will rise to encourage pups to root! . . . . . Logos

Post #2043804
Quote
Charlotteda Pickens, SC(Zone 7a) Feb 14, 2006

Thank you...my "pups" do have alot of roots... I just wondered if I should ever cut them off.

Post #2044035
Quote
calypsa Plymouth, MI(Zone 5b) Feb 16, 2006

You can cut them off if you want, but it won't hurt the mother plant to leave them on. I cut them off some of my spider plants and leave lots on others because some varieties of spiders look better with loads of babies than others. For example, I tend to leave just a few on my dark green spiders, but I let my white & light green variegated plants keep lots of wee ones because I like how they look. It all depends on preference :) Just be sure to keep the plant watered because the more babies there are, the more water everyone needs.

Generally, spider plants start growing more pups when the plant is close to pot-bound. Spiders are one of the few plants that actually seem to having their roots squished into a pot. If you want to keep them from sending out new ones, you might want to consider repotting it or splitting it into a few pots. And if you want to pot up some of the babies and they don't have loads of roots on them already, put them into a cup of water for a few days to let them grow a bit more. All I know for sure is that spiders are one of the very toughest plants to kill or irritate, which is so nice!

Post #2048827
Quote

Post a Reply to this Thread

Please or sign up to post.
Back to Forum Homepage

More Indoor Gardening and Houseplants Threads

Go to all Indoor Gardening and Houseplants threads
BACK TO TOP