Spider plants

[irishcream]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but anyway...i have a spider plant, that i've grown for the last two years very successfully. The only snag is that it has never put out little runners with plantlets on it, in order for me to grow another one. I looked them up on the internet, and it said that in order for plantlets to grow out, you need to give it reduced light levels, in order to simulate autumn, which is when it reproduces. So, i've stuck it in my airing cupboard for a bit, but what i want to know is, how long do i leave it in there, and how much natural light does it need? Surely if i leave it in the dark for too long, it's going to die? Any gardeners or green fingered people that can help me with this are much appreciated!

[Alex D]

Ooh, I used to do this when I was a little kid, okay, what you have to remember is that pitch black is not good, so the airing cupboard isn't the best place for them, what would be a beter idea is to stick them in a dimly lit room, there should beenough light to see, just not that much, like on a cloudy day. If you do it that way, the heat doesn't kill it, nor does the lack of light.

[irishcream]

ah, thanks!! What about my sitting room then? It never gets very light in there, cos i only have little windows at the front, and a small patio door onto the conservatory...also the sun never comes to the front of the house. If i put it at the other end of the room, from the window sill, on the dresser, do you think that would work? That corner is pretty dim... On the window sill at the other end i have two baby geraniums and a kalanchoe, and they like it up there... Also, how long does it take for the little plantlets to come out?

[sitboy]

What kind of pot is it in. If it is not in a terra cotta pot, then I would put it in one. Those tend to get cold enough to mock the right tempitures. it does not really matter if it is direct of indirect sun light, but don;t deprive it of sun light. it might not have enought carbon dixode in the air of the room might be to stuffy. i would try to put it on top of the kitchen sink, most have windos in front of them, so it would get good sun light. Also it coldness from the sink will help, make it feel more ligh autum. it might just not produce buds. Like some humans, some plants can be infertial. The fun thing about spider plants is that they are always driffent. One of mine has flowers on it.

[irishcream]

it's in an ordinary plastic pot, but i've grown them in the past in an ordinary pot, and never had any problems... i could try moving it to the kitchen, it's dim and cool in there, my sitting room is quite warm, and my kalanchoe likes that... thanks for the tips!!

[Alaurast78]

ok so i might be totally off here but I remeber that when I did this as a kid we just snapped off the new little buds and put them in water so the roots would grow. Is this what you are doing? Or are you saying there are no new buds to do this with? Good luck with that spider plants are fun. And we usually had them in the kitchen where there was no dirrect sunlight but still plenty of natural light.

[irishcream]

i don't have any new buds to do this with, that's why it's so frustrating... I have now moved it to my kitchen, because my sitting room is going to be too warm for it, but my kitchen is cool and fairly dark, like when it gets really cloudy and it's going to chuck it down... and it never gets very hot or very light in there, so i will just have to see what happens...someone was saying it could be one of those that doesn't put buds out, which is a great shame... i'm also trying to propagate a 'dumb cane' because it's got top heavy, and it's leaning. I read on the net that you can just take a leaf off, and stick it in the pot next to it, and it should grow. if that doesn't work, i'm going to re -pot it, and separate the two baby plants, and take a stem cutting.