PlantFiles: Variegated Spider plant, Airplane Plant
Chlorophytum comosum 'Variegatum'

I got one little spin-off of this probably 10 years ago from a friend, and I now use it as an accent plant outside in pots and borders various places, all outside. It dies back in our mild winters, and I do mulch over it, but it always comes back. It can get scorched in direct sun, and it does crowd out others: it's a beautiful, bright, interesting plant!

this plant is quite hardy, mine went through an unexpected cold spell in spring, the lowest temp was 21 F, it even stayed green! not only that but it has 2 flower stalks, and is thriving in full sun .i would rate this plant in Zone 8. i will mulch mine this winter and see what happens

update:
ups, i thin i killed it. i forgot to cover it, and it was un-expectedly hit by 7F. the forcast called for 14 F the night before. only time will tell

I first encountered this plant at my aunt and uncle's house in Long Beach, California. My aunt called it an 'airplane plant'. These plants are very hardy. We have a big pot sitting outside with dozens of 'spiders' hanging down -- and this plant has had to endure huge swings in temperature. It apparently likes to share, because after I trimmed some spiders it began to produce 10 times as many spiders as before. We had a plant about 15 years ago that had been kept in an apartment with a cute little old lady who (unfortunately for her) smoked a lot (she developed throat cancer and died), and the plant that we inherited gave off smoke fumes for a long time. Anyway -- great plant...hangs well, sits on columns with elan, and is easy to care for...can't beat that!

Grows great here in Louisiana. Very easy to care for, not expensive either. Multiplies easily!

I'm in So. California where it gets up to 115 degrees in the summer. I have this in the shade outside where it gets plenty of light and gets late afternoon shade. It has done very well for me in the 2 years I've had it. And have gotten approx 10 plants from each one. And had to split it twice in 2 years. I water it every other day. It does get brown ends in the summer but I just snip them off and it doesn't hurt it one bit. It does produce long outward stems with tiny flowers in the warmer weather. During the mid afternoon when the sun hits it, the leaves "lift" up. And goes back down in the shade. Very cute. Highly recommend it for all gardeners.

A great plant for the beginner or anyone who wants something easy, that multiplies fast and looks good in hanging baskets or cascading off shelves.
They benefit from spending the summers outdoors.
One of the best natural air cleaners as well.
Andy P

This plant is so easy to grow, it was one of my first plants when I was 10 years old. Will stand neglect, bounces right back when you get to it should you neglect...don't recommend, though!

I was surprised to find out that this plant is hardy in zone 8b. It dies back in winter but it comes back!!

Omar

Here in San Diego this plant grows in the ground like a weed and can take over a large area in short order. Nevertheless it is curiously attractive in the way it propagates. WTH 6-19-04.

I never really was crazy for this plant. You see them everywhere, so they were "old hat" and "boring" to me. Then I found some on sale for $5 for a BIG basket and got one ~ had a lot of empty space to fill up on a new porch and figured it would work for now. I've fallen in LOVE with it since then and will never be without one again! I can't believe I've missed out on growing this wonderfully easy to grow, beautiful plant with adorable little white blooms for so many years because I was being a "plant snob". LOLOL! If you've never tried spider plants because they're too "ordinary", get one! Tomorrow!

As a child my mother had these growing in containers, the "airplane" babies streaming over the side. She gave me my own airplane plant when I purchased my home.

One year while dividing my indoor plant some of the soil/roots were dropped into a southern facing area containing Hostas. The next year tada! Outdoor growing airplane plant! I never moved the plant and for the past 3 years its been growing outdoors with the Hostas.

It dies back with the winter, but come back up with the Hostas.

I have 4 varieties of this plant. Do not know the names - just call them "plain green" (streamers grow very long), variegated, reverse (streamers shorter) and one that vaguely resembles the variegated has shortest streamers.

I used to bring mine inside in freezing weather until a friend of mine showed me one she has growing in standing water which remains outside 24/7/365. In the winter the water in the container freezes over. Since then I quit bringing mine in and they've been fine.

A plain green planted in a very large planter sits on the railing of my upstairs deck and the streamers hang down below the floor of the deck. It's "babies" had produced "babies" which had produced "babies".

This fall I was inspecting the mass of streamers and noticed some of the "babies" had actually become connected to "babies" from other streamers - kind of like siamese twins except attached to completely different streamers. I was amazed.

I have kept my spider houseplants going since the late 1980's. I currently am growing them in colored, glazed, ceramic "strawberry" pots that I put on plant pedestals. When I plant one I put the larger spider plants in the top of the pot, and the smaller ones in the little openings around the sides of the pots, and after a year or so they all have cascading babies. My oldest pot is quite large now.

This plant is claimed to have remarkable abilities for removing indoor air pollutants.

I've seen it used here as a shade tolerant groundcover with mixed results. It is very easy to grow and spreads rather quickly, but because of its somewhat thin cover, weeds can quickly encraoch. In areas of intense sun exposure, it always looks ragged.

i have two beds full of the spider plant in the shade. no pruning, or dead heading, a great self propagating plant.

I have had success with this plant as a house plant even though air is rather dry in my home with heating system I have. Also have some in a flower bed underneath the cover of my carport. It gets killed in winter but comes back quickly when weather gets warm and the bed is watered again. Runners make more plants each season.

I have always had great luck growing spider plants in Ontario, Canada. Just remember to water them and they thrive really well, also bring them back indoors come cold weather. I also read that NASA also reports the spider plant to be one of the top 10 best plants to have to clean the air in your home. I recomend this plant to anyone for growing!

I have a Spider Plant grouping outside near my hot tub. In zone 9a, it has no problems. We rarely see frost so nothing gets in the way of this hardy plant.

A beautiful carefree plant as far as my experience goes, in fact, if you leave it alone beyond watering it you will find that you have clumps growing below your hanging basket. The flowers mature into new plants with an airbourne root system, throw them in a pot with average soil and they will continue to propagate, leave them and they seem to drop and propagate on their own. Above zone 7 though, take them inside when the temperature is going to be below freezing for more than a few hours(Just being on the safe side)

A healthy, mature spider plant can form a clump 3 ft tall and across, with wiry stems cascading out as much as 5 ft. This plant does not tolerate frost, but can be grown in Zone 8 where it will die to the ground but quickly revives with the return of warmer temperatures. Indoors it is happy at normal room temperatures.

This is a clump forming perennial that is usually grown as a house plant in hanging baskets.I keep mine outside for the summer and bring in for the winter.As the plants mature they send out thin stems up to 2 feet long and get about 12 inches tall. Small star shaped flowers may appear or rosettes of leaves giving the plant the appearance of spiders dangling from strings. The more root bound the plant the more offsets it will have. Best in bright but indirect light does okay in sun but needs afternoon shade. Has a similar growth habit as C. comosum, except the leaves tend to be slightly wider and more succulent than the parent species. This cultivar has white and green striped leaves. The green stripes are on the outer edges of the leaves with white and thin green stripes running from the base of the leaf to the tip in the center of each leaf.