Just about everyone knows what a spider plant is, right? You see a hanging basket filled to bursting with long, narrow, arching leaves that are typically green with a wide central stripe of bright white. And those extra stems, also long and arching, that are filled with tiny baby plants are a dead giveaway, too. So, if spider plants are so common, why are they still so popular?
The easy answer is that they are just that: easy! Spider plant, sometimes called “spider ivy” or “airplane plant” but botanically known as Chlorophytum comosum, can handle most light conditions, from low to bright, which means they can go just about anywhere in your home that has a window. They also have thick rhizome-like roots that can store quite a lot of moisture, so they can handle longer periods between waterings. They are very sensitive to chlorine and other additives, so avoid using treated water and never use softened water on any of your plants.
But where they really shine is in the Clean Air Houseplant category! Back in the 1980s, NASA took a bunch of tropical houseplants up in a rocket and studied their effects on the confined airspace within the space station. The Clean Air Study, as they called it, found that spider plants were one of the best performers when it came to cleaning toxins out of the air. Of course, there have been many other similar studies done over the years, with results showing that tropical houseplants (and spider plants in particular) do indeed clean the air and increase humidity in the home. Isn’t that nice of them?
If you’ve ever had a spider plant, you’ll notice that they’ll Read More
