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One type of Plant that I have always had however are Spider Plants or to give them their correct Latin name Chlorophytum (or Chlorophyta in the plural).
These Plants may not produce beautiful Flowers like many other House Plants but they do add a little bit of colour to my home and more ... Read review
Advantages: Very Litle Maintenance Disadvantages: Can Quickly Take Over
...have always had however are Spider Plants or to give them their correct Latin name Chlorophytum (or Chlorophyta in the plural).
These Plants may not produce beautiful Flowers like many other House Plants but they do add a little bit of colour to my home and more importantly they seem to thrive on neglect.
Spider Plants are Indoor Plants that need plenty of daylight but they shouldn't be placed in direct sunlight. I used ... ...know that I said that Spider Plants thrive on neglect but obviously this is not exactly true. They do not die if they go without water for a few weeks but obviously they do not thrive under such conditions and lack of water will cause the leaves to shrivel and turn brown. They also cannot tolerate frost so should not be exposed to frost of any kind and ideally not be subjected to temperatures below 7 degrees centigrade.
I have never been one to have to too many House Plants in my home, partly because I tend to forget to water them for weeks on end and also because my two Cats like to destroy them.
One type of Plant that I have always had however are Spider Plants or to give them their correct Latin name Chlorophytum (or Chlorophyta in the plural).
These Plants may not produce beautiful Flowers like many other House Plants but they do add a little bit of colour to my home and more importantly they seem to thrive on neglect.
Spider Plants are Indoor Plants that need plenty of daylight but they shouldn't be placed in direct sunlight. I used to keep my oldest Plant on a Window ledge until I noticed that the tips of the edge of the leaves were beginning to get scorched and were turning brown. I now have it proudly displayed on top of a low Cabinet in my living room which is a nicely lit location but away from the harmful direct sunlight and my Cats.
I know that I said that Spider Plants thrive on neglect but obviously this is not exactly true. They do not die if they go without water for a few weeks but obviously they do not thrive under such conditions and lack of water will cause the leaves to shrivel and turn brown. They also cannot tolerate frost so should not be exposed to frost of any kind and ideally not be subjected to temperatures below 7 degrees centigrade.
During the Summer if the weather is warm I do sometimes put my Spider Plants out on my Patio but I always make sure that they are in a shaded spot beneath the fence.
Given plenty of water Spider Plants will grow quickly and they will quickly outgrow their pots. When they are ready to be re-potted their pale white-yellow roots will start to push out from under the bottom of their existing pot. I find that it is easiest to re-pot these Plants when the soil is quite dry. I have only ever used a standard all purpose Compost and the re-potting of these Plants is simple, even if you are a bit of a novice.
To re-pot a Spider Plant I usually put a couple of sheets of newspaper down on the floor and then remove the Plant from its existing pot by tapping on the bottom. The Plant usually comes out of the pot very easily with most of the soil still attached to its roots. If you have allowed the Plant to remain in an undersized pot for too long however it may be more difficult to remove and it may even be necessary to snap or snip off some of the larger roots that are protruding from the bottom of the pot, this will not cause any harm to an established Plant.
Once the Plant is out of its old pot with most of its soil still clumped around its roots it can then be transferred into a larger pot. I only transfer my Plants to the next size pot upwards as in the past I have transferred them to much larger pots thinking that I would not have to re-pot them again for a longer time but I have found that in an oversized pot Spider Plants grow even quicker and can quickly get out of control.
Spider Plants have a mass of long thin leaves that go to quite a sharp point, these grow outwards from the centre of the Plant and I suppose they resemble a Spider, hence their name, with a small body and long thin legs (or arms). The majority of Spider Plants have striped leaves that are pale green and creamy white but my oldest Plant is completely green and has no stripes at all.
Spider Plants are either male or female and the female Plants produce tiny white flowers during late Spring or early Summer. When the Plant has finished flowering they then throw out long thin straggly stems and on the end of each of these a new tiny Spider Plant begins to grow. Generally speaking Spider Plants will flower and perform perfectly well providing that they are watered regularly, just at the point when the soil begins to dry out but when the Plant starts to flower they will then need a little extra water and the soil should be kept damp. When a Plant begins to produce its little babies I also give it a little bit of Plant Food, which is usually Baby Bio just for that little bit of extra strength.
The miniature baby Spider Plants grow quickly and soon start to throw out tiny roots from underneath them. Left unattended the new Plants will reach a size where they are too heavy to be supported by their stem and then they will fall off. If they are fortunate enough to land on soil their roots will quickly bury themselves beneath the soil and a whole new Plant will grow. At the point where the tiny roots appear it is however a sensible idea to remove these from the host Plant manually by simply breaking them off with your fingers. If you want some new Plants simply place them on top of some soil and hey presto! But be warned baby Plants soon grow into bigger Plants and it is easy to get carried away and let them take over your house.
There is a not of a lot of maintenance required for Spider Plants other than watering, occasional feeding and re-potting and they are also surprisingly resistant to diseases and pests. During Winter when the Plants have stopped growing they will only require watering every few weeks and over watering at this stage will cause the leaves to start to curl and turn yellow and if not corrected eventually brown. In fact the discolouring of the leaves is always the best indication that something is not quite right. This is usually simply either too much or not enough water so the problem can be easily rectified and once corrected the Plant will recover quickly.
Advantages: Easy to look after, can stand some neglect, easy to propagate, cheap Disadvantages: Feed at your peril
...One such plant is the spider plant.
BACKGROUND
Packing the down stairs of my house up a couple of weeks ago ready for some much needed, but equally much dreaded work, I carried all of my plants upstairs into the spare bedroom for safe keeping. I was amazed at just how many spider plants I have and the size of some of them. When my Mum died, back in 1975, I took her indoor plants home, as I knew she had really cherished them. To this day I would ... ...I still had her original Spider Plant although most of the other plants had died. The ones I have today have come from that original plant so I guess that is perhaps why I still keep them
Spider plants seemed to be at their height of popularity in the 1970's and are still easily purchased from garden centre. However once you have one healthy, well established Spider Plant you need never buy another and hopefully among other things I will tell you ...
grafter123 03.02.2008 (09.02.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spider Plants
Advantages: A sturdy, fuss-free and versatile plant which is easily propogated. Disadvantages: Flowers are uninspiring.
...don’t you think?
Well, Spider came in for some healthy neglect pretty well straight away when I spent much of the following months in hospital and it was spring before he got more than the occasional sip of water. He’s a survivor, though and he came through it all.
Spider plants, or Chlorophytum, to give them their correct name have been grown indoors for over two hundred years. There’s a good reason for this – they’re not a fussy plant. They like ... ...had a hair cut.
Spider was fortunate that his previous owner died in September. He’d had a summer of being well-watered and otherwise pampered and then he came to us for a winter of sparse watering and general neglect. I repotted him in the spring, as the growth of the roots had started to push him up out of his pot, and began to pamper him again. This is an ideal routine for him. Add only a little misting with water if the air is particularly dry ...
SueMagee 15.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spider Plants
Advantages: easy to grow for beginners Disadvantages: look a little bland
...try Chlorophytum better known as spider plant. This plant is very forgiving and will tolerate just about anything you can throw at it except frost .
They are ideal for begiiners or non enthusiasts but are a little limited in their appeal . The whitish flowers are almost insignificant and it is grown essentially for it's foliage.
There is a suggestion that these plants help to purify the air that we breathe a little too -making them ideal for offices.
... ...in fact made up of several . This is ideal done in Spring.
As I've said they are not a fussy plant . Provide light , don't overwater and avoid frosty conditions and that's about it really.
Spider plants originate from South Africa hence the dislike of frost. ...
Gardenex 19.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spider Plants
Advantages: Tough as old boots. Disadvantages: Almost as attractive as old boots.
...But the Chlorophytum, or Spider Plant, is about the closest you’ll ever get.
It doesn’t like to be overwatered, but as a first houseplant, it is ideal, because you’ll forget it’s there. And so, you will under-, rather than over-water. And if you underwater, the worst that will happen, is that the tips of some of the leaves will turn brown.
Okay, no big deal, trim the brown bits off with a scissors.
Good as new.
Chlorophyta ... ...(make food), but our adaptable Spider needs less light than most. Which makes it ideal for that shaded hallway, or the bathroom windowsill, if, like mine, it only gets direct sunshine for one hour per evening between the months of July and . . . well, just July, really.
I have never known a houseplant to survive so well on neglect. This does not mean you should neglect it. Feed it, water it, give it good light, and it will take control of your living ...
Aspen 17.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spider Plants
Spider plants are very hardy plants and make a lovely house plant that especially like cool but damp rooms like bathrooms.
Spider plants are a hanging plant so look lovely in a tub on a shelf or hung on the wall, they have very long thin leaves that are a gark green on the outside getting lighter as they go into the middle which is almost white.
They dont flower but look beautiful anyway so are good house plants for people with hayfever.
Spider ... ...become pale and droopy.
Spider plants produce off spring on stalks that hang from the plant, the babies will grow on the end of the stalk quite adequatley but this puts a lot of strain on the plant and uses the plants water to survive. You are better off cutting the stalk off from plant and baby then potting baby in a seperate pot, before you know it you will have another adult spider plant.
You will never need to buy a spider plant again as most ...
danniell 11.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spider Plants
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INTRODUCTION
My cat Gizmo [not my choice of name I assure you] is not stereotypical when it comes to food. The stripey little gannet will eat anything in sight, including my spiderplant, which has had all it's ends chewed off lol.
As with all living creatures, this food consumption ultimately brings about the daily ritual we all lovingly refer to as taking a...[rhymes with grit].
In my humble opinion, cat poo smells particularly bad, and I haven't found a cat litter to date, that manages to cover even a fraction of the delightful aroma bequethed from yonder cat bum.
So I figured I would invest in one of those dome covered litter trays, to see if it would make any difference to the pongy situation.
I nipped down to my local Argos, and came home with the Pet Friends Katloo, for the reasonable sum of £9.99 [can you put a price ...
Advantages: A resillient and pest-resistant plant bearing stunning white flowers. Disadvantages: Not frost-resistant.
the greenhouse over the winter months (any frost-free area would do) getting a sip of water only when I felt guilty enough to brave the cold and venture to the bottom of the garden. In spring I step up the watering, give some feed and she?s flowering her heart out within a matter of weeks.
She doesn?t come indoors now. She spends the summer months grouped with other plants in containers to create a humid micro-climate. The growing is slightly harder for her, but all this means is that the leaves are a little smaller and the flowers appear on shorter stems. The white flowers look wonderful in a group with geraniums, fuchsias and spiderplants. In all the years that she?s been here she?s never been host to a single pest that I?ve spotted, but she has suffered quite a lot of neglect, one way or another. She bounces back every time.
Most ...
SueMagee 20.09.2001
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