Free Tradescantia Plant

This indoor plant belongs to the genus Chlorophytum and is of Asparagaceae family. This plant is commonly known as spider plant, St.Bernard’s lily, ribbon plant, airplane plant and spider ivy or hen and chickens. This plant got its name from its baby plantlets. It is a popular perennial herb belonging to the tropical soil. It is native to Africa but currently, it has been spread around the globe as a popular indoor plant. This plant is common in almost all the parts of Africa such as Western tropical Africa, Northeast tropical Africa, South Tropical Africa, East tropical Africa, West-central Africa and Southern Africa.

The botanical name to Spider plant is Chlorophytum comosum.

The spider plant when planted inside a hanging basket grows really well and looks like a wonderful home decorator. It gives rise to a yellow stem that is around 18 inches long.

Foliage : The beauty of a Spider plant comes from its foliage. This narrow foliage will grow up to the length of 18 inches and will spread up to 1.0 inch wide. This foliage comes in clumps of grass-like leaves with a butter colored pattern in the middle of the leaves. It’s a wonderful plant. The plant got its name spider plant from the appearance of its grassy leaves.

The leaves come in two different types :

a) C. comosum ‘Vittatum”: this plant variety gives rise to leaves that are mid-green leaves having central white stripe. This white and green pattern in the leaves add more beauty to the leaves. This plant when made to grow in a hanging basket will look extra attractive.

b) C. comosum ‘Variegatum’: this plant variety gives rise to dark green leaves with a white pattern in the center or at the side of the leaves. Bloom : You may not be expecting a bloom from a spider plant but this plant does give rise to beautiful tiny which often goes unnoticed. These tiny white flowers do add some beauty to the leaves. However, people mainly cultivate or purchase this plant due its unique leaves.

Root : Spider plant does not have long roots. It gives rise to tuberous roots that grow up to 4inches. It is these tuberous roots that absorb good amount of water and pass it to the other parts of the plant.

Growing and taking care : Almost all the plant lovers prefer having spider plant at home because it is easy to grow and easy to take care of. Make sure that the plant is not directly exposed to sunlight. Keeping this in mind will help avoid burn leaves and let the plant bloom in a healthy environment. If taken good care and maintained well, you will enjoy observing this plant growing up to the height of 24inches.

Location : The perfect location to plant your spider lily will be at an environment where it can receive good amount of indirect light. That could be close to a window or under a lightly shady tree. The plant prefers to grow in a well-drained soil. The plant will do perfect as long as it is left to grow peacefully in a partly shady location, good watering and a perfect soil condition is provided.

Soil : Your spider lily will grow excellent in a potting medium rather than a garden soil. It prefers to grow in a well-drained soil. The soil needs to be rich in humus and compost manure.

Light : Letting the plant grow in a right light condition is very important. For a spider plant, it is suggested that you place the pot close to a window facing north, west or east. This plant enjoys being exposed to a good amount of indirect light rather than direct exposure to sunlight. Providing light fluorescent will do really good for this plants best growth. It is also suggested that you place this plant in a south facing window especially during the winter months.

If you have planted your spider plant in an open garden then it is well suggested that you let the plant grow in a shady to deep shady location.

Water : Water is one of the basic needs for a spider plant. You will check the surface of the soil before watering, if you find the soil surface dry than only you will choose to water else let it grow freely. It is good to use water that is in room temperature, it is also good to use well distilled water. After watering, make sure you remove the water that has been collected in the saucer. It is important that you provide water as soon as the top soil is dry during the plants active growing months because the plant prefers to grow in a moist soil. As the plant matures during the winter months, you can reduce the amount of watering to this plant.

Fertilization : It is good to water your spider plant during the months of spring and summer. These are the months when the plant is in its active growing stage. You are suggested to use a liquid houseplant fertilizer for this plant. It is good to ask a trained gardeners or a plant specialist about the direction on using this fertilizer. You will fertilize this plant twice a month during the plants active growing months and reduce fertilizing over the winter months or skip fertilizing.

Temperature : Spider plant is a tropical and sub-tropical plant that grows between the temperatures of 4.5C to 29.5C. It enjoys growing in a room temperature and will not be able to tolerate extreme winter and extreme summer heat.

Repot : Your spider plant will grow best inside a pot. However, you will want to repot your plant when you notice the plant over growing from the pot and look congested. Repotting a spider plant is pretty common and easy. You will want to repot this plant when you see the plant growing in an over crowed space. Repotting will help the plant grow freely in a spacious environment. It will give rise to newer foliage too. The best time to repot your spider lily in the spring months. It is the active growing time for most of the plants. Choose a larger pot or just divide the plant and grow it in another pot.

Pests and disease : If you have a spider plant at home, you will come across one of the most common problem where you will see browning of the leaf tip that affects the plant from growing healthy. You will need to avoid the use of fluoridated water in order to avoid tip burning in the leaves. This can also be due to lack of water, over watering or humidity. When you notice some brown disc appearing on the leaves, it is good to get rid of this by using your finger nails. The plant will not thrive under the temperature of 2C. It will rise well in between the temperatures 18C to 32C. The plant need to be kept away from fluoride and boron. It is sensitive to these chemicals.

Uses : The spider plant has really good uses in the indoor environment where it will serve as an indoor beauty. Almost all the people will have this plant at home because it serves as a perfect home decorator with its long and narrow, white and green patterned leavesd. You will find this plant in an office, a malls, public space, home etc. The plant will appear wonderful when left to grow in a hanging basket.

It serves as a good air purifier. It helps clean the indoor air that comes in the form of formaldehyde, toluene and xylene.

The spider plant will have a lasting impact in your home environment because this plant will not die easily. However, make sure you do not overwater this plant or it will die soon. It may suffer from root rot due to over watering or waterlogged in the pot.

Thus, having a very good drainage hole in a pot is very important. It is good to drain out the water that has been collected in the soil.