Spider Plants
The Easy‑to‑Grow, Extremely Resilient Plant Everyone Should Own
🌱 Plant Talk| by Guy Saldiveri | April 26, 2026
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| Spider Plant |
They produce slender leaves that gently arch and stretch from 12–18 inches long. Leaves are typically solid green or striped green‑and‑white.
Once the plant reaches maturity, it will send out stems that bear small, star-shaped flowers. These flowers will eventually form small baby plants that are clones of the original plant. These babies can be snipped off and planted to create new plants.
Spider plants look great on a countertop, but can also look amazing in a hanging basket. They require minimal care, which makes them ideal for beginners. They produce lots of new plants and are easy to propagate.
Unlike many other popular houseplants, they are safe around pets. Most cats seem to be attracted to spider plants, and some say they may have a mild catnip-type hallucinogenic effect. That hasn’t been proven, but spider plants are considered non-toxic to pets.
Spider plants love being root bound! These plants develop thick, fleshy roots that will quickly and completely fill a pot. They seem to thrive best when this occurs.
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| Mature Spider Plants On Steps |
Growing spider plants is fun, easy, and very rewarding. They make an attractive and easy-to-care-for addition for any home.
Why Spider Plants Are So Easy to Grow
• Minimal care
• Thrive root‑bound
• Fast propagation
• Beginner‑proof indoors or out
Why Spider Plants Are So Resilient
• Thick, storage‑rich roots
• Tolerate neglect
• Bounce back after dieback
• Survive hard freezes if roots stay protected
As a testament to how easy and resilient these plants are, here’s a story that still makes me smile.
Some time ago, maybe 15 years, we purchased a spider plant to keep in the house. It was put in the living room on an end table or credenza for a while and watered when it was droopy—nothing special as far as care.
We had a couple of cats at the time, and one of them loved to eat the leaves. It got to the point where the plant was basically never more than 2 to 3 inches tall and always ragged. Fed up at that point, we just took the plant and put it in one of the spare rooms and left it there. It sat for almost two years—no water, no care, nothing—and eventually died back to the soil.
One day we noticed new growth. We had no clue as to how or why; like I said, the plant was never touched or watered that we know of. We put the plant in one of the bathrooms and started taking care of it again, and it grew very well. It got large and produced lots of babies. I started clipping the babies and repotted them. I probably had 15–20 plants going at one point—they were all over the place.
When we built the back steps, I put 8” clay pots on both sides of each step and put a plant in each one. They loved it; the steps got low-angle afternoon sun for maybe 2 hours a day, and the rest was all shade. I watered them most days, but I don’t think I ever gave them a drop of fertilizer.
We are down to just a few again now, and they are kept outside. They grow very well from spring to the first freeze and then turn to mush and die back, but they return again every year—as long as the roots don’t freeze solid for extended periods.
It's one of the easiest and most resilient plants I have ever come across.
Quick Growing Tips
• Bright, indirect light is ideal
• Water when the top inch of soil dries out
• Don’t rush to repot—they prefer tight roots
If you have a shady or mostly shady spot out in the yard and need something to fill in, this one might work for you. It will most likely die back in the winter, but unless those roots experience that hard freeze, it will come back every year. Ours was able to handle the 7°F weather we had one year right on the front porch in an old clay pot.
The only thing you really need to watch for is that those babies will root everywhere they land—and they’ll keep spreading.
If you aren’t careful, you'll have a yard full of them before you can blink!
Happy Gardening 🌱
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