Spider plants, or Chlorophytum comosum are amazing plants with long narrow green leaves that look like huge blades of grass. The “runners” are long vine arms that comes off the “mother” or main plant, that has little clones of the big plant. Not only is this plant great to hang or have around the house or office to look at, it is super easy to maintain and care for. All this plant needs is good draining regular potting soil, a place where is can get lots of warm indirect sunlight, water about twice a week, and mist it every so often, and your spider baby plant will thrive, and produce many spider babies. For best results, keep the plant above 65 degrees and below 90 degrees.
There are two main ways to propagate your spider plant babies and create entirely new spider plants, to make more spider babies. I will discuss the three ways to propagate spider plants from the babies. There is another way to propagate this plant from the mother plant, but today, we are only talking about the babies.
When to Propagate your Spider Plant
Spider plants, or Chlorophytum comosum are amazing plants with long narrow green leaves that look like huge blades of grass. The “runners” are long vine arms that comes off the “mother” or main plant, that has little clones of the big plant. Not only is this plant great to hang or have around the house or office to look at, it is super easy to maintain and care for. All this plant needs is good draining regular potting soil, a place where is can get lots of warm indirect sunlight, water about twice a week, and mist it every so often, and your spider baby plant will thrive, and produce many spider babies. For best results, keep the plant above 65 degrees and below 90 degrees.
There are two main ways to propagate your spider plant babies and create entirely new spider plants, to make more spider babies. I will discuss the three ways to propagate spider plants from the babies. There is another way to propagate this plant from the mother plant, but today, we are only talking about the babies.
How to propagate spider babies in water
Now that the spider babies are ready for propagation, it is now time to think how you are going to propagate them. You can either grow them in water, or soil. Either way is easy. To propagate using only water, you want to get a small glass of filtered or distilled water filled to the top. I would keep the plant attached to the mother plant at this time. This is to insure the clones survival. Nutrients and food are flowing through those vines, and if you cut the miniature plant off too soon, the spider baby might not survive. The spider baby has a better chance of surviving if it is still connected to the mother plant until it has established it’s own root structure.
When propagating in water, watch for root to develop. You wan to see white, to tan colored roots that look healthy and strong. Carful when removing the spider babies from the mother plant. Use clean sheers or scissors when cutting off the spider baby, from the mother plant. Simply follow the runners and make a cut right above where the baby it attached to. Next, place the spider baby in the small glass of water. Be sure not to submerge the leaves. Just try to sit the nub in the water.
Lastly, clean the water regularly while using this method. The water might get pretty dirty in the next couple days, so change it out, for your plants health. Once the spider baby has new good looking roots that are about 1 -2 inches long and whiteish, it is safe to cut them from the mother plant, and transfer them to a pot with well-draining soil. Continue care like you did for the mom, that is it.
Can you grow spider babies in water only?
Depending on if you cut the spider baby off, or it is still attached to the mother plant, you can keep the baby spider plants rooting in water for a week. If you kept the spider baby attached to the mother plant, you have all the time in the world. But once you cut the spider baby from its mother, soon the plant will grow roots, then it needs to be planted. The roots can grow quite long and water does not have al the nutrients the plant will need now.
Planting the spider baby with its root in good draining-soil will take care of that problem.
How to Propagate Spider Babies in Soil
Just like the water method, this way is very easy process to do and follow. I recommend again keeping the spider baby attached to the mother plant for at least a week during this step. This way the spider baby survival rate dramatically increases. As I said before, if the new spider babies are cut too fast and don’t have their own root established, they will not get the nutrients they need and die. Keep the plant attached to the mother plant, and keep the soil moist until you see new leaf growth. Once this happens , it is time to cut them from the mother.
Put the spider babies in a small pot filled with moist soil next to the mother plant, and don’t pot them too deep. Only the starter roots need to touch the soil.
This way, the baby plant gets strength from its own soil, and, at the same time, is still being cared for through the stem by the mother. Wait until the baby starts to show new growth, then it is safe to cut away from the parent plant.
Pro-TIP: Plant a few spider babies together in one pot for an instantly fuller look.
