I grew my spider plant into a trailing, botanical feature in my home and I'm never styling it differently again – 3 expert tips for turning spiderettes into a green spectacle

My spider plant was the first houseplant I owned after my dad grew it for me from a spiderette (a baby spider plant). I propagated it for years, creating a vast collection of new plants. They just kept on coming! Until one day, I decided to stop snipping off the spiderettes and let them keep growing. The result? I ended up with a beautifully elegant cascading spider plant - a botanical feature that always gets my guests talking.

If you're familiar with caring for a spider plant, you'll know that spiderettes grow on long stems from the middle of the plant. Instead of propagating a spider plant with these offshoots, you can let them grow bigger and turn your plant into a hanging houseplant by elevating it. You end up with clusters of spiderettes hanging from your plant. Now that I've experimented with this styling technique, I personally think there is no better way to display spider plants.

Don't worry if you're not spotting any offshoots on your spider plant yet, however, because there are a few things you can do to quickly encourage growth. Here's everything I do to grow a hanging spider plant - and it won't take long to grow yours, either.

3 tips to grow a hanging spider plant

Before following my tips on how to grow a hanging spider plant, it's worth noting not all types of spider plant can be grown in this way because they don't grow baby plants as often.

Nevertheless, the most popular varieties, like the common spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), profusely grow spiderettes when in the right conditions, perfect for elevating. Here's what I did to turn my spider plant into a hanging one:

1. Provide plenty of bright light

To encourage your spider plant to grow spiderettes, it needs to have plenty of bright light. Having now grown a few spider plants, I've seen the difference this makes.

Even though spider plants are considered indoor low light plants, I noticed my spider plant that was kept in a bright windowsill grew multiple stems with baby plants much more quickly than the spider plant I kept away from a window on a bookshelf.

Not only does plenty of light encourage growth of offshoots, it also brought my spider plant lots of small, white flowers in spring. When trying to grow a hanging spider plant, this is undoubtedly a bonus, offering pops of white color among the variegated foliage.

'You may want to avoid full sun, however, which can be too much for them,' warns Raffaele Di Lallo, indoor growing expert from Ohio Tropics. This may cause leaf scorch, turning your spider plant brown or yellow.

Raffaele Di Lallo

Raffaele Di Lallo is the founder of the blog Ohio Tropics which focuses on the care of houseplants and other tropical plants, both indoors and outdoors. He has a large following on Instagram where he gives plant care tips and is the author of Houseplant Warrior: 7 Keys to Unlocking the Mysteries of Houseplant Care, published by Countryman Press. Raffaele is a member of the National Garden Bureau.

2. Maintain a consistent moisture level

When your spider plant is growing spiderettes, treat the baby plants as plants themselves and give them everything they need to grow. This is especially important when growing a hanging spider plant, to get those spiderettes to a sufficient size for your display.

Along with essential plant nutrients found in soil, your spider plant also needs water. It's not ideal to let it dry out when trying to grow offshoots, as you'll see it become dehydrated and even crisp up.

To avoid this, I use this soil moisture meter from Amazon to identify when it's time to water my spider plant. Maintaining a consistent moisture level has allowed my hanging spider plant to become abundant with baby plants hanging off it.

'In hot weather, this could even mean watering daily,' Raffaele notes.

Find the perfect planter for your spider plant

3. Avoid over-fertilizing your spider plant

Although it's true spider plant fertilizer (from Amazon) will support spider plant growth, these plants actually make the list of houseplants you don't need to fertilize often.

In fact, I don't recall ever feeding my spider plants and yet they all produce multiple spiderettes to elevate.

These hardy houseplants can get along fine without plant food, but that's not to say you can't give them an occasional boost of nutrients during spring and summer when they're actively growing.

However, be aware that too much fertilizer can actually burn the roots of a spider plant. This won't only kill off the mother plant, but it will hinder the growth of spiderettes and your ability to grow a hanging spider plant.

To avoid this fertilizing mistake, always follow manufacturer instructions of the plant food products you use.

FAQs

How can I hang my spider plant?

To suspend your spider plant, pot it up in a hanging indoor planter - like this one from Amazon. You can attach it to brackets in your ceiling, hang it from fixtures in your wall, or simply place it on a bookshelf. The spiderettes growing on your spider plant will then pour down beautifully, creating an eye-catching houseplant feature for your home.

I keep my hanging spider plant in a bright window where its spiderettes elegantly cascade. By simply providing sufficient light and water, I'm able to keep my hanging spider plant looking healthy.

And once it becomes overcrowded with spiderettes, I just use essential pruning tools to snip some off and propagate them to start the process again - something you might also consider doing once you discover the benefits of spider plants.