Love the hairdo on this curly girlie....

I've never heard of one of those stores. Sounds neat. Our dollar stores are plantless but sometimes have gardening pots/trellises etc.

Regarding those having trouble with rooting in water, this is what I do. I have a gladware pan that I swiped from LOML; I actually have a few. Anyway, I cut a piece of vinyl-coated metal fence and bend down the cut ends into "legs" and place the piece of fence in the tray to act as a support to keep the plants mostly out of the water. When I notice too many, I pick the babies off and throw them into the tray. They can sit like that for months at a time. I have rooted dozens of babies in this manner.

Click here for a pic of what I'm talking about:
http://picasaweb.google.com/speckledpig/Gardening/photo#4964103796341473298

David

Great idea. That should keep the plantlets from rotting while waiting to root.

All of my spider plants have been of relatively straight-leafed varieties, but I usually root the baby plants in a similar way. I don't use a tray-and-rack system as above, but a pie plate full of glass beads or marbles- both from the dollar store. The beads or marbles provide physical support to hold the body of the plant above the level of the water so that it doesn't rot, while the roots grow down into the cracks.

Mom uses a simpler method - the baby plant goes into a jar of water, with the leaves holding the plant in place up near the rim of the jar, and the water level filled to the point that it's just touching the forming roots. This requires a bit more tending, as the water level changes with evaporation, but she usually roots her spider plants on a windowsill that she sees every day anyway, so checking the water level in the spider-plant jars just becomes another part of the routine.

... and another great idea. I like the marbles ~ if I can only find mine! : ))

LOL Pod!

BTW I am as happy as a little girl!

I went out today, feeling sorry for my greatly neglected Spider plants that I hadn't repotted in 5+ years. Yes, isn't that horrid! Anyhow, much to my amazement, I found my white with green stripes! YES, there was 4 little ones tucked away in the corner trying to survive so now they're in their OWN pot & I'm looking forward to seeing those lovely white leaves again!

I should have taken a pic of them happily nestled into their soft soil, freshly watered, sitting in a mostly shady spot for the time being.

~*~ Suenell

So the plantlets don't really sit IN the water, but OVER the water?

The idea is to let only the little root "nubs" sit in the water; not the leaves.

In my experience, it's okay to err on the side of the pup being too deep in the water than not deep enough. It won't hurt if you have a bit of the leaves in the water. These things aren't hydrophobic.

In the pic I posted above, I honestly don't take too much care in measuring the amount of water in the pan. It sits out and gets rained on, etc. When I'm fertilizing my patio plants, I might splash some of the diluted MG into the pan every now and then to give the pups a boost.

Again, too much water probably won't hurt; you just don't want the whole plant completely swamped in water.

Usually when I finally think about potting up some of the pups, I have to really take my time separating the pups because I'll have a big thick mat of long roots in the pan and they all kinda mesh together as one. I don't hesitate to take my fingernails and pinch off some of the bigger and fatter roots in order to get them loose; it's apparently good for the pup to get "stimulated" in this manner to have to send out some new roots for soil.

FWIW, I found another pic from last summer of my pups:

http://picasaweb.google.com/speckledpig/Gardening/photo#5034653236483922914

David

How wonderful. They are so lushous and green.
I'm starting to think I have a black thumb. :>(

I have been looking all over ebay and even tried google to try and find a Bonnie for sale...does anyone know where i can buy one online and get a good deal?
I sure would love one.

Char

Char,I might be able to help you with that ... You have D-Mail : )
Nancy

So are all the curly ones Bonnie?

Yes, What is a "Bonnie"?

To my understanding the leaves are spiral-shaped and curl down and around on a Bonnie.This site has all types of info on all the different spiders out there. It explains in more detail what a Bonnie is..Hope the link works : ) Nancy
http://goto.glocalnet.net/natal/amp/ampel.htm

Here is my Bonnie.I bought her last year.Wish the pic was better.Shes not nearly the impressive size as podsters is.

This message was edited Feb 23, 2007 6:38 PM

Okay, a curly girlie. Yep, I definitely would like to locate one. I have never seen one my whole life. My mother's got a number of spiders, but all are the regular 'boring' kind (that I can't seem to grow).

Char, did you locate some?
Carol

Cedarnest ~ yours is very pretty. Mine is not large at all. It is in a tiny hanging basket. I think it is full of babies as it is rootbound. I haven't disturbed it yet to see. And that was an interesting site, thanks. I did not know the leaves would be curlier in the bright light. I did wonder where it got its' name. There is a Bonnie Plant Farm in Alabama. I wondered if there was a connection.

Hmmm.

I was at lowes last week and saw some spiders in HB's above the tropicals/houseplants. They were striped and curly IIRC... I think they were 2 qt pots and were about $5 or $6.

I'll go back one day and have another look; maybe take some recon pics...

David

Carol,

I am in the process of doing a trade with another DG'er for some other plants....I will keep you all informed :o)

Char