Monday, February 7, 2011

A hybrid spider plant?

Im very much smittened with this plant which looks like a spider plant I had. I fell in love head over heel when I first set eyes on it at a nursery near my house 6 months ago. When I bought it, there was no flower only baby spiders (plantlets). I was surprised and delighted when last week it started to bloom profusely with tiny white flowers! I have been taking snap shots of the pretty plant like crazy! My next door neighbours must be thinking, Im mad or have gone bonkers, always snapping photos in my garden from morning till evening...haha..

its so pretty with its white flowers at the tips dangling like sprays of fireworks


But when I asked the nursery owner, she said it was another type of spider plant. I was wondering, could it be a hybrid of the original one?



the regular spider plant hanging on my pergola, the leaves have white/light yellow centre with the edges green and they are papery to touch, have never seen it blooms before......Could this one be 'married' (sorry Im using the layman's language) to this plant down here...

I Variegated Mondo Grass ( Ophipogon Japonicus)
James Missier was so kind to let me know the name of this plant, thanks James.


I dont know the name of this plant, which has green, smooth, soft and very thin leaves with white margin, though no dangling babies........to produce that beautiful, more superior looking plant in my first photo?









Maybe its true, its a hybrid of the spider plant and the above plant, because it has the qualities of both parent plants. It has spikes that dangle with the baby spiders (plantlets) at the tips like the original spider plant. It also has white flowers at the tips of the spikes among the plantlets. Though the original spider plant doesn't have any flowers (not that I have seen one before) , I know the other plant (which I dont know its name) has very tiny white flowers. Except the hybrid (presumably) has fleshy, thicker and wider leaves and the colour is a darker green at the centre with light green or yellow or white at the margin.

see...the close-up of the lovely white fllowers...


the tiny flowers at the tip of the spike among the baby spiders



can't get enough photographing the lovely sprays of flowers!




....this was when I first bought the plant 6 months back



then it started blooming.....

and blooming...
After all the hype or presumptuously about it being a hybrid, can it be another type of spider plant after all, just like the nursery owner said, which I have never seen or knew before. If any botanist can enlighten me, I will be very grateful indeed.
Here are some facts about the spider plant. Botanically spider plant is called Chlorophytum cornosum. It is very easy to grow by using the large collection of 'babies' or plantlets and it looks great in a hanging basket or pot. I found out through the internet, spider plant however, is very sensitive to treated tap water. If your spider plant starts showing some brown tips (mine does), it doesn't mean its due to lack of water, its just a reaction to the chemicals in the tap water. So its better if you water it using distilled water, rain water, melted snow or reverse osmosis water (looks like I have to collect rain water to water it now). Once you have changed the water, I think the plant will have its normal healthy leaves again but first you need to trim off the brown tips. But still, dont over-water it, the roots will rot, so let it dry between waterings.




Soon I will propagate this hybrid spider plant after it finishes flowering, by cutting the plantlets and have many, many more of this lovely plants, enjoying the lovely white spray of its tiny flowers hanging in my garden! Happy gardening!



43 comments:

Karin / Southern Meadows said...

Your spider plants are lovely! I understand why you can't stop taking photos of the blooms! I am afraid I can't help in distinguishing what hybrid you have but I do appreciate your love of the plant. Your pergola looks like a great place to display your plants.

Casa Mariposa said...

I've never seen a spider plant bloom!! Wow! It's flowers are really pretty! Actually, I never knew they had flowers. I learned something new! :o)

miruku said...

Hey i bought this plant too just before CNY! I thought it was spider plant but the gardener reminded me more than 2 times that it is not--- but she don't know the name either! Ha!
Very beautiful ler the flowers, thanks for showing and now i can expect beautiful blooms from my plant!
Btw, can show how you cut the baby spider plant and transplant it to another pot? My spider plant has one baby but i'm not sure how to operate it to take out from the mommy, help!

kitchen flavours said...

Sometimes the nursery owner themselves does not know the name of some plants! I wonder how did they order their stocks? As for the sawtooth coriander seeds, I would be glad to give some to you, I don't have much, but I think a little will start off nicely. Grow them on the ground instead of in pots and they will spread very fast. Email me your address ^..^, very soon, you will be collecting more seeds than me!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

CANTIK, cantik, cantiknya bunga spider plant ni. I have only 2 spider plant growing in shade where I got some babies from my neighbour plants which adjoining our veggie patch. But I have never seen them flower before. I am eyeing my neighbour spider plant again because I can see many babies there that I would like to grow in my very boring shade area.

Rosie Gan said...

I like the photos of the chlorophytum. The flowers sparkle like fireworks!
Rosie

p3chandan said...

Thank you Karin for your kind words, we gardeners can be crazy sometimes if given a camera!

Hi Casa Mariposa, its the first time for me too, so thats why I thought this is a hybrid.

Milka, dont cut first la your baby tu, let it bloom first or let it grow more babies, then after that you can cut just above it, very easy one!

p3chandan said...

Thank you Joy for offering the seeds! I hope I can grow them successfully like you...

Diana, memang cantek sangat! Thats why I suspected that this one is a hybrid, since I havent seen any flowers on the original one.


Rosie thank you, thats the word...sparkles!

Darla said...

Very pretty indeed..I was also noticing all the lush green in all of your photos...

joey said...

I had spider plants years ago but never saw one bloom ... it's lovely!

b-a-g said...

Hi p3chandan,
I googled "photos of spider plant with flowers". They show white flowers too. This is a very popular houseplant in the UK but I've never seen it flower.

Anonymous said...

I really didn't know that spider plants could be so beautiful. I usually see them as neglected houseplants, not beautifully grown specimens like yours.

James David said...

I really enjoy looking at your spiderplant, its really beautiful and I too would be taking pictures from morning to nite like you for a plant like that.

I had come across few different types of spiderplant. One type is all green without the stripes.

I also have the plant (which you compared to - the one you are not sure of the name) It could be
Varigated Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus)
Im still not sure of it yet, but I had it for years and never seen any danglings so far. They seemed to get more clumps with the offsprings coming from the sides - they also have tubers (ubi) which I suspect spiderplant do not have that characteristics.

Malar said...

You have very beautiful spider plants! Nicely arranged and well taken care off!

Makarimi Abdullah said...

So lovely plant. I have this plant last time, I cannot control them, easy to propagate. At last just give away to neighbor and friend.

p3chandan said...

Thank you Darla, gardening in the tropics..greens and blooms all year round! :)

Thanks Joey, I have mine which has no flowers, the 3rd photo, and I think this is the blooming type.


b-a-g, thank you very much. Yes I googled too after that information you gave, and Ive seen this type that have white flowers! Hugs :)

Carolyn, thank you for the compliment.

James, thanks for letting me know the name of that plant. You are right, they have tubers so probably not a spider plant.

Thank you Malar.

Martha's Favorites said...

Hi: I want to thank you for the award you gave me. I have been looking for someone to put it on my blog. I think I found someone. I do not know how to do it. Thank you so much for the award. I am very honored by your award. Blessings, Martha

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Hi Martha, you are most welcome, I think you deserve the award, you have a lovely blog!

lifeshighway said...

I remember when spider plants were very popular. I suppose house plants go through popular phases just like anything else. I have never seen one bloom. It's lovely.

p3chandan said...

Hi Cheri thank you. Yes they were quite popular here too at one time, but now with this new version blooming with dainty white flowers they definitely will be making a comeback.

miruku said...

Ok la let her have more babies first, takut the only one kena murder by me haha. Thanks!

James David said...

hi,
I found out after goggling that spider plant also have tubers. So I guess I might be wrong.
Lets see who else can clear the mystery whether both are same or two different plants.

p3chandan said...

Milka let her produce more babies and flowers first!

James, thank you for your help. Appreciate it!

Anonymous said...

Hi
I bought an all green version of the Spider Plant last year and I am too amazed that not only has it produced an abundance of baby plantlets but that I have got lots of white flowers and they in turn have developed seed pods. I would like to know if I can propogate these seeds???
Thanks
Geraldine

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