Pot Bound Spider Plant

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by Jakk, Sep 25, 2009.

  1. Jakk

    Jakk Active Member

    Messages:
    33
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Basingstoke, UK
    Hi Folks

    I recently brought a spider plant and I have just discovered it is severly pot bound, as you can see from the photo the bottom of the pot is a big mass of huge roots, the plant needs watering pretty much every other day at the moment.

    I know this plant needs to be potted up into a bigger pot, my question is seeing as the winter dormant period is approaching should I repot it now or wait until the spring?

    Many Thanks

    Jakk

    barbel 138.jpg barbel 143.jpg
     
  2. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    I would repot, spider plants are fairly hardy so it shouldn't set it back too much:). More often than not the first thing I do when I buy a new plant is repot it, they always seem to be pot bound when you buy them!

    If you do, try to tease out the roots a bit (unless it involves extensive root damage) as this will help it settle into its new home faster.
     
  3. Jakk

    Jakk Active Member

    Messages:
    33
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Basingstoke, UK
    Hi JenRi

    Firstly can I say thanks for taking the time to reply, you have been really helpfull to me since I joined this forum replying to pretty much all the threads I have started, its all very helpfull to newby like myself and very much appreciated.

    I am going to pot it up tomorrow then, is it ok to use a general purpose compost on my spider plant.

    I have to confess since I brought my first houseplant back in June I have really got interested in them and i now have 16 different plant species and 5 cacti living in my flat, luckily none of them seem to be root bound apart from this one. My plan is pot most of them up in the spring into some better compost.

    I have managed to keep them all nice and healty, one of them is Calathea which are supposed to hard plants to keep so I am really chuffed about that, I only hope I can get them all through the winter ok.

    Many Thanks Jakk
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2009
  4. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    No worries, I'm a newbie too, only been really into plants for a year or so and the reason I've posted in a lot of your threads is the plants you've been asking about I either have myself or am quite familiar with so feel like I have something that might be vaguely useful to pass on....

    Tomorrow...thats good, that gives anyone who has more experience and disagrees with me time to speak up!

    Well done with the Calathea:). I find it quite rewarding when you get a difficult plant to thrive - i got a Venus fly trap a few months ago, which are also supposed to be difficult but it's done really well for me, several really big traps and its still growing new ones so I'm chuffed too.
     
  5. Jakk

    Jakk Active Member

    Messages:
    33
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Basingstoke, UK
    Well done with the Fly Trap JenRi, I was thinking about getting one but I read they need to be in a Terrarium so I didn't bother.

    Just one more question about my spider plant, its currently in a 5inch pot and I was thinking about putting it into a 7 inch pot (see photo below) do you think this will be ok or should I use a 6 inch pot instead

    Many Thanks

    Jakk
     

    Attached Files:

  6. JenRi

    JenRi Active Member

    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Nottingham,England zone 8/9
    Thanks, i've heard that also, but in my experience humidity isn't an issue (and we do live in the same climate!) and they can stand lower temperatures than you would think. The most important thing is to feed them with rainwater or tap water that has stood overnight as chlorine is lethal to them and also to make sure they never dry out or they're dead:(. You should give them a try and this thread here is quite good for info (just ignore my naive post abt keeping them warm, the truth is they can stand temps down to 10 C!)

    http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=47907

    I think the general rule of thumb is to only go one size up, but if you're careful with watering you should be okay. Also when spider plants really take off they grow quite quickly so it might be grateful of the extra space.

    Hope that helps:)
     
  7. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    800
    Likes Received:
    55
    Location:
    Jacksonville, FL USA USDA Zone 9
    Just as an FYI, spider plants or Chlorphytum need to be rootbound or nearly so in order to send out the pups or baby spiders. I wouldn't worry too much about repotting though. Spring and summer will be soon enough for the blooming to happen.
     
  8. Rhynno

    Rhynno Active Member

    Messages:
    159
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Edmonton, AB
    My folks had about five spider plants that hung from the second story of their house down to the main floor. It was a living curtain. They were so rootbound that they were pushing up out of their pots and pupping out like crazy.

    As thanrose said, these guys like to be root bound in order to flower and produce pups. Still, putting the plant into a bigger pot will let it grow nicely during the coming season and send out more pups when it gets root bound the next time :).

    Good luck!

    Ryan
     
  9. Jakk

    Jakk Active Member

    Messages:
    33
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Basingstoke, UK
    Thanks for all the replies folks

    I think I am going to pot it up today but into a 6 inch pot instead of that 7 inch. It will be good to get it into some better compost, I am not too bothered about it producing pups at the moment.

    I had a look at that thread about the Fly Traps JenRi, very interesting, I may go out and get one now.

    Many Thanks

    Jakk
     

Share This Page