Chlorophytum comosum, known commonly as Spider Plant, is one of the most common houseplants because it is easy to propagate them.
However, sometimes our spider plants just seem to not bloom, leaving us frustrated and without babies to propagate. If this is your issue, keep reading to find out why this happens and how to fix it!
Spider plants usually don’t bloom or produce plantlets because their pot is too big, they’re getting too much light at night, too much fertilizer or they’re simply not mature enough to bloom yet.
If your spider plant isn’t producing babies (plantlets), you need to figure out which of these causes is the culprit. To pinpoint the cause though, we need to understand how spider plants produce their plantlets.
How Do Spider Plants Produce Plantlets?
I interviewed a plant biologist from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to answer this question. He told me that, unlike other houseplants where you have to cut a piece of the plant to propagate it, spider plants produce fully developed plants that are ready to be placed in soil.
“It seems pretty simple, but in reality, spider plants are very particular about the conditions they need to be happy and produce plantlets, and most likely, if your spider plant isn’t blooming, it’s not meeting at least one of their flowering requirements.”
According to the biologist, the plantlets spider plants produce are actually flowering stocks, and when the plant flowers, branches with leaves will start to develop where the flowers were, but for this to happen, spider plants need these 4 key requirements:
Reasons Why Spider Plant Is Not Producing Plantlets:
1. Your Plant Is In Too Big Of A Pot
Keeping spider plants slightly root-bound will increase their flowering. This happens because when you keep your plant in a pot that’s too big, the plant will use up all it’s energy to create more roots instead of foliage and flowers. Not only that but keeping your spider plant in too big of a pot can increase its chances of root rot, causing your plant to smell and slowly die.
If you think your plant may be rotting because of its pot, you might want to check out this article: Why does my spider plant smell and how to fix it
However, if your roots are fine but you just want your spider plant to flower, experts David Deardoff and Kathryn Wadsworth say to consider repotting the plant into a smaller container with lots of drainage holes that is just slightly bigger than their root ball. Also, you should be using well-drained general-purpose potting soil that incorporates organic fertilizer, mycorrhizal fungi, and other beneficial microbes.
2. Your Spider Plant Is Getting Too Much Light At Night
Scientists determine how different kinds of plants flower by a concept called photoperiod. This refers to the length of day and night a plant is supposed to get to reach its optimal conditions and bloom.
During our interview with the plant biology graduate students, we discovered that spider plants are considered “short day plants”. This means they need long hours of darkness during the night to bloom. Read a study on the topic here.
What many people don’t know though, is that when growing plants indoors, the light from inside of our homes, even if they aren’t grow-lights, can affect our plants’ photoperiod.
This means that if your plant needs long periods of darkness like spider plants do, but the plant is currently in a space in your home that you use a lot during the nighttime (aka lights turned on or maybe a tv) you may be affecting your plant’s ability to grow their plantlets.
So, how can we fix our lighting situation to help our plant produce plantlets?
During fall or winter, move your plant into a room where no supplemental lights are used at night (a room you don’t go in during the nighttime), and leave it there for three weeks. After the three weeks are over, you can move it back to its original spot. After this process you should start to see some flowering stocks, assuming your plant is healthy.
3. You’re Fertilizing Your plant too often
Fertilizing your plant is vital to its overall health, but overfertilizing may be causing other problems without you even noticing.
Most of the time, we see overfertilization manifest in our plants as leaf burn. However, too much fertilizer can cause other issues, such as delay or lack of flowering.
Expert Barbara Pleasant says “Overfertilization can cause spider plants to produce lush leaves but no offspring.”
The best way to keep your plants healthy, lush, and also blooming, is to find a balance in the way you fertilize.
To properly fertilize your spider plant, follow this guide:
Start using a fertilizer, powder or liquid, where the first number (nitrogen) is higher than the other two. Then, feed your plants every two weeks during the spring and summer, using only half the dosage the instructions indicate. Then, during the fall and winter, feed your plant monthly.
And if you want your plant’s foliage to be as lush as it can be without overfertilizing, check out this article: 8 Reasons Why Spider Plant Leaves Break (and How To Fix It!)
4. Your plant isn’t mature enough
Just like humans can’t reproduce until our bodies reach puberty, plants can’t produce plantlets until they mature.
In the case of spider plants, plants that are less than one year old are too young to flower. However, they’ll flower in their second year, if all other flowering requirements are met, according to experts David Deardoff and Kathryn Wadsworth.
Key takeaways:
There are specific conditions all plants need in order to thrive and grow the way we want them to. And if our plants are growing indoors instead of their natural environment, plant owners may have to take a few extra steps to make that happen.
In the case of spider plants, if your plant isn’t producing plantlets, consider following the guide above. Get ready to say hi to lots of new baby plants!
Frequently Asked Questions:
How long does it take for a spider plant to grow babies?
There is no definitive time frame for which you can expect your spider plant to start flowering. However, if your plant is placed in the right conditions, you may see a new spider plant start blooming in about a year.
Can you propagate a spider plant without plantlets (babies)?
Spider plant babies are great for propagation, but they aren’t necessary. You can use traditional propagation methods like soil and water propagation. Another great way to propagate your plant is by using spider plant tubers.
Can I cut the babies off my spider plant?
Your spider plant’s babies can be cut off and pruned. This is recommended as your plant keeps growing because more babies mean more energy the plant is using, so you’ll have to water and fertilize it more often.