Spider plants are very popular because of how neat they look. They’ve become very common houseplants, and you’ll often see them placed in hanging planters.
You might have seen baby spider plants growing off of your main plant if you’ve been caring for a spider plant for quite some time. This is actually a neat way that you can get more houseplants that you can enjoy.
It’s possible to propagate these spider plant babies so that they can become full-fledged spider plants. It isn’t even that hard to do, and new plant owners can easily find success.
Keep reading to learn what you need to do with spider plant babies to propagate them. You’ll also learn about some things to do with the babies if you wind up with too many of them.
Water Propagation
Water propagation is one of the most common ways that people propagate spider plant babies. This basically makes it so that the roots will grow first before you transfer the new plants to soil.
You start this process by carefully cutting the spider plant babies away from the mother plant. When this is done, you’re just going to need to put them in a small glass with a bit of water.
There shouldn’t be too much water in the glass that you’re using. You want there to be just enough to cover the roots of the baby spider plant at this time.
You’ll be changing out the water regularly to keep it clean. When the roots have developed sufficiently, you’ll be able to transfer the baby spider plant to a small pot with soil.
Planting the Spider Plant Babies in Soil
You could just directly plant the spider plant babies in the soil if you want to. This method might actually take a bit longer than water propagation, but it’ll still work just fine.
Cut the spider plant babies off of the mother plant and then put those cuttings into small pots. They’ll be planted directly in the soil and you can allow them to propagate there.
It might take some time for the roots to establish, and this means that you might not notice new growth for a bit. You just have to be patient and wait for it to happen.
While you’re caring for the baby spider plants, it’s going to be ideal to keep the soil in the pot a bit moist. You want it to be moist without being overly wet to get the best results.
Root the Baby Spider Plants in Soil Without Cutting Them Away
The final idea is going to come the closest to copying what spider plants do out in nature. You’re going to be allowing the spider plants to root in soil without cutting them away from the mother plant.
Essentially, you’ll be getting small pots with soil in them and allowing the spider plants to dangle down and root in that soil. The baby spider plant doesn’t need to be placed in the pot too deeply for this to succeed since only the starter roots need to come into contact with the soil.
Just ensure that the spider plant has moist soil that it can come into contact with. The baby spider plant will still be connected to the mother plant while also having its own soil.
When the baby spider plant shows signs of new growth, it’ll be time to cut the plant away from the mother plant. You’ll have successfully propagated a baby spider plant and you can celebrate.
This is not going to be hard to do at all, and you should have very high success rates. Technically, you don’t have to cut the baby spider plant away from the mother plant since the connection will eventually be naturally severed, but it’s easier to just do that yourself.
Which Propagation Method Is the Best?
When it comes down to it, all three propagation methods listed above will work just as well as the others. You just need to decide which option is the most appealing to you based on your situation.
All three methods work reliably, and none of them are going to present a challenge to you in any significant way. Propagating spider plants is so easy that even a complete novice should be able to do it successfully.
It’s true that propagating baby spider plants in water is a bit faster than propagating them in soil on average. You could go that route if you’d like to, but some find it easier to just go ahead and put the plant in soil to save themselves a step.
There is some merit to keeping the baby spider plant connected to the mother plant as well. Even so, it isn’t necessary, and you can do whichever method you like the most without reservations.
What Do You Do with All the Plants?
Eventually, you might wind up with a lot of spider plants due to continually propagating baby spider plants. This isn’t a bad thing, but you might run out of ideas for what to do with them after some time.
Keep reading to get some ideas about what you can do with the plants when you have too many. It might help you to find good uses for these plants when you already have all the spider plants that you want.
Give Them Away as Gifts
You could choose to give spider plants away as gifts when you have too many. Sometimes you’ll wind up having so many spider plant babies that it won’t be practical for you to keep all of them.
If you have friends or family members that like plants, then they might want to start caring for spider plants themselves. These are good starter plants for people since they aren’t necessarily that difficult to care for.
You might need to explain a bit about how to care for the plants when they’re fully grown, but that shouldn’t be all that difficult. If you know anyone who would like to have spider plants, then you can just give excess plants away.
Sell Them
You could continue to propagate the plants and sell them to other people. Of course, you’re probably not going to make a fortune selling spider plants, but some people sell the plants they have propagated.
For example, you might have a booth at a flea market that you use to sell plants. This will be a practical idea for some people and it won’t appeal to others.
Final Thoughts
Now you know a lot more about spider plants and what you can do to propagate spider plant babies. There’s a good chance that your spider plants will produce many babies over the years, and this could leave you with more spider plants than you need.
This is why giving spider plants away to friends and family members is such a good idea. You can spread the joy of caring for houseplants by giving people the spider plants that you don’t need.
You’ll likely be able to find good homes for many of your spider plants. If you run out of people to give the plants away to, then you could try to sell them as well assuming that you have the means.
No matter what you decide to do, it’s going to be fun to propagate spider plants. You can easily grow your collection of houseplants by propagating new spider plants whenever one of your plants has babies.
The fact that it’s so simple to do this is really neat, and you can even teach your kids about the joys of botany at a young age.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.