Spider Plants

Species: comosum
Genus: Chlorophytum
Family: Liliacea
Order: Liliales
Class: Liliopsida
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Kingdom: Plantae

Conditions for Customer Ownership

We hold permits allowing us to transport these organisms. To access permit conditions, click here. Never purchase living specimens without having a disposition strategy in place. There are currently no USDA permits required for this organism. In order to protect our environment, never release a live laboratory organism into the wild.

Primary Hazard Considerations

None

Availability

Spider plants are grown in our greenhouse and are generally available year-round.
Individual plants supplied are 15–20 centimeters in height and are the “Vittatum” variety of the Spider plant. Spider plants are shipped in plastic pots with soil. For shipping purposes a cardboard disc is used to hold the plant and soil in place. The potted plant is sealed in a plastic bag and wrapped in corrugated cardboard. Upon receipt remove the potted plant from the bag, remove the cardboard disc, and water immediately.

Care

Watering: Keep moist, mist occasionally (once per week).
Fertilizers: Fertilize with a basic 20/20/20 water-soluble fertilizer monthly.
Temperature: Quite tolerant-minimum of 13°C.
Light: Optimum growth in bright to moderate conditions.
Soil: Basic Potting Mix 20 W 8306.
Propagation: Plant off sets, plant division, or seeds. Allow plantlets to root while still attached to parent plant. Cut the plantlets from the stem when root buds appear and place in pots with potting soil. Rooting takes place in two to three weeks.

Information

Spider plants are known as an air filtering plant, eliminating significant amounts of benzene, formaldehyde, and/or trichloroethylene.

Life Cycle

Monocotyledon. Chlorophytum comosum is a clump-forming perennial with lance shaped leaves that grow to approximately 30 centimeters in length. The plant has green leaves with cream or white center stripes. The rhizomatous root is thick and white and as it grows, it may actually force the plant out of its pot. Chlorophytum throw off long racemes with small six petalled flowers that eventually turn into plantlets. If the flowers are pollinated, seedpods can be produced. Spider plants will live for years with the proper care.

Wild Habitat

Chlorophytum is a genus of approximately 250 species. The cultivated variety of the Spider plant originated in South and West Africa.

Disposition

We do not recommend releasing any laboratory specimen into the wild, and especially not specimens that are not native to the environment. When finished with your plant please dispose of it by incineration in a well-ventilated area.