Spider Plant Takeover

09.02.2024 - 19:57 / gardengatemagazine.com

Spider Plant Takeover I was warned that spider plants can get out of control, but I had to find out for myself... The prolific spider plant

I can admit when I’ve made a mistake. It all started a few years ago when a friend gave me two babies from her spider plant. I was just entering my crazy-house-plant-lady era, and I didn’t have any spider plants…yet.

Be careful, she warned. Before you know it, you’ll have too many spider plants to count.

I guffawed. You can never have too many plants, I thought to myself. First mistake. It turns out you can, in fact, have too many spider plants. In hardly any time, those two spider plants grew into giant, healthy adult spider plants. Then, after vacationing outside for the summer, they sprouted no less than twenty NEW spider babies. It’s fine, I told myself. I’ll give most away and only propagate a few more for myself. I’ve got this under control. Second mistake. I did not have this under control.

Before I knew it, those plants spilled over their pots and created even more offshoots. The first hints of doubt that perhaps I had overdone it began to creep into my mind. I quickly shook it off, bought some hanging planters, and hung one in each of my kids’ rooms. Everyone in the family deserves some greenery, I reasoned. And they are excellent air purifiers. Maybe it would purify the dirty sock smell that emanated from my son’s room during cross-country and soccer seasons.

As those plants grew and my kids began complaining about a possible plant takeover, I tried not to panic. Maybe a social media SOS would help. Spider plants for free! Come and get your spider plants! Third mistake. My brilliant friends knew better, so they wouldn’t