Spider Plant Babies

Question:

I have a spider plant that has about 10 runners of babies. I was wondering if it will get more runners with babies? I’ve seen pictures of plants with lots of babies, and would like mine to look like that. Is there anything I can do? I think I should not repot, but not sure. Maybe fertilizer?

Answer:

Ten Spider Plant runners is a considerable accomplishment, so pat yourself on the back for doing a great job! Most of the Spider Plants that you have seen in photos are grown in the ideal and carefully controlled environments of greenhouses.

To a certain extent, the number of runners is determined genetically and you have no control over that. However there are several factors that may enhance the production of runners, flowers and plantlets.

*Keep your Spider Plant potbound. Repot only when it requires a thorough watering at least twice per week. Repotting will slow the growth of runners temporarily until the plant once again becomes moderately potbound.

*Provide completely dark nights starting in the fall so the plant gets at least 12 hours of darkness each day, but also 8 or more hours of bright sunlight during the day. Do this for 6-8 weeks starting in September.

*Cool temps in the 40-50 F. degree range at night in the fall will also help promote more runners.

Control of light and temperature is often not possible in the home environment. They are not essential for runner production, but will help. Do what you reasonably can and be happy with whatever success you achieve.