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How to encourage bushy spider plants from propagation?

6 replies

sniffingthewax · 17/11/2019 18:03

I bought a spider plant a few years ago that went mad and it went mad, I put it in a pot about three times the diameter and it filled it really quickly. It has produced lots of babies which I then repot and do really well to a point, then just become very leggy and starts producing babies (which I cut off) They are are good sunlight, damp etc so I'm not sure where I'm going wrong? How can I encourage outward growth (to the edge of the pot) rather than top growth?

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sniffingthewax · 17/11/2019 18:04

It only went mad once btw Grin

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redchocolatebutton · 17/11/2019 18:07

bigger pot.
it has enormous roots and it will produce 'pups' when the roots get restricted. and snip off any shoots if they appear.

tbh I like it full of pups and trailing as a room divider.

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redchocolatebutton · 17/11/2019 18:08
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sniffingthewax · 17/11/2019 19:01

Red that podcast is amazing, that will keep me busy for months, thank you. I just lifted the plant out of the pot and the bottom two thirds are literally roots. The diameter of the pot is aboutb15cm but the plant stalk thing (where the leaves grow out of) can't be more than 5cm in diameter. How do garden centres do it then? They're always really full and bushy but the leaves are fairly wide but short and not leggy at all. Would it help if I trimmed off the bottom 3rd off the roots to give the plant some breathing room? I will repot it but the roots seem to be dominating the plant.

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egontoste · 18/11/2019 16:52

Spider plants don't spread by making clumps, they spread by producing offsets and seed.

Garden centres make them look really bushy by planting several plants close together in the same pot.

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sniffingthewax · 19/11/2019 11:17

egontoste that makes total sense now.

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