Hey all, I'm a beginner and was given 2 spider plant bulbs about 5 months ago. As they've grown, I've noticed they are 2 different species, one has white borders the other white down middle of leaves. The latter is growing very slowly but the former is growing very rapidly. Why could this be? according to plant care sites they require the same care, which I'm giving them. The smaller looks healthy, it just doesn't grow like the other one. Any suggestions?
It it was demanded that a guess be made, I'd say the smaller plant is being limited by a combination of soil choice and watering habits, with the lion's share of emphasis going to soil choice. SPs don't like wet feet, which means they like a highly aerated soil that doesn't support any sogginess at the bottom of the pot.
Tips - copy/pasted from something I left on another thread:
A) Most important is to use a soil that drains very freely. This allows you to water copiously, flushing the accumulating salts from the soil each time you water.
B) Fertilize frequently when the plant is growing well, but at low doses - perhaps 1/4 the recommended strength. This, in combination with the favorable watering habit described above, will keep soluble salts levels low, and keep levels from rising due to the accumulative effect we always see when we are forced to water in sips when plants are in water-retentive soils.
C) When watering, using rainwater, snow melt, water from your dehumidifiers, or distilled water also eliminates the soluble salts in your tap water and will go a long way toward eliminating or minimizing leaf burn.
D) If you make your own soils and use perlite, be sure the perlite is rinsed thoroughly, which removes most of the fluorides associated with it's use.
E) Allowing water to rest overnight doesn't do anything in the way of helping reduce the amount of fluoride (the compounds are not volatile), and it only helps with chlorine in certain cases, depending on what method of chlorination was used to treat your tap water.
Al
