Daily smoking inside, stove gases, dust, and bad management decrease the air quality indoors. People believe that it doesn't affect their lives and they become careless just by opening the windows. In reality, it is not 100% clean and improves air quality indoors.
Researchers found few indoor plants to deal with polluted and unfiltered air indoors. Spider plants are one of those few indoor plants that grow slowly but maintain the air quality in the room. Spider plants are good-looking home decor plants as well.
Note: Here, we are going to use the 'spider plant' term for the whole 'bonnie spider plant' in the rest of the content. So don't get confused with it.
Indoor Bonnie spider plant in USA
Bonnie is a variety of spider plant that has curly leaves compared to other spider plant varieties.
Scientifically we call it 'Chlorophytum comosum' Bonnie spider plant leaves are green with white strips and hang towards the bottom. It can grow with 1.5 to 2 feet long curly leaves.
Growing with time, spider plants get multiple buds in the roots as you can transplant them to make more plants and provide a comfortable growth to the main plant.
After a period, yellow flowers appear on the growing sections of the spider plant and then turn into new plantlets or runners. These plantlets or runners grow with open roots in the air. Every plantlet attaches to the main spider plant with the help of straw vinr. Later, you can replant the spider plant plantlets or runners in other pots or even in water. Thus, once, you grow a spider plant it last forever.
Requirements to grow bonnie spider plant indoor in USA
Following are some of the basic requirements to grow the bonnie spider plant indoors-
- Soil mixture preparation
You need to make a proper soil mixture to grow bonnie spider plants in pots. For this, you can take 40% of garden soil, 20% of sand, 30% vermicompost, and 10% of coco-peat. This soil mixture provides all the required elements to grow and doesn't hold the water for a long time.
Initially, you can plant the bonnie spider plant in a 3 kg to 5 kg fertile soil mixture. In 1kg mixture. you need to take 400 grams of garden soil, 30% vermicompost, 20% sand, and 10% coco-peat.
The best alternative to coco-peat is a 1:1 mixture of sand and organic compost.
- Container with drainage holes
Unlike any other garden plant container, you need a deep and lightweight container for the bonnie spider plant because of the depth of spider plant roots. Initially, it can grow easily in a 6 inches deep container but in later phases, you need an 8 to 10 inches deep container.
If you are going to hang it in your room then choose a lightweight poly material hanging bucket. If you prefer to keep it simple, then it is simple to buy a normal deep container.
The container should be 6 inches in diameter initially. For later growth, you need wide containers according to the growth of the bonnie spider plant.
Each container you will use must have a proper drainage hole in the bottom or the bottom walls. Otherwise, your plant can stop growing and start rotting.
- Temperature and humidity
The bonnie spider plants neither grow in deserts nor snow regions. We need a moderate temperature to grow the bonnie spider plant. Spider plants can grow in moderate humidity in low temperatures up to 7 degrees Celcius and in high temperatures up to 30 degrees Celcius.
In case of very high and very low temperatures, spider plants start to get dry and die faster.
Selection of the right place for the bonnie spider plant(USA)
It is better to provide bright sunlight to the bonnie spider plant. In the afternoon period, when the temperature is maximum, don't let your plant in direct sunlight. Afternoon direct sunlight can burn the plant in a few days. The plant should be far from the reach of daily activity area.
The plant should not be in shadow or dark for a long time(more than 1 hour).
If you use to hang your bonnie spider plant, then be aware of the hot sealing in summer. It can decrease the humidity near sealing and can affect the plant's health in summer.
Process of growing bonnie spider plant(USA)
There are two choices you have to grow spider plants indoors. Either you grow spider plants from seeds or you buy a nursery plant.
- From seeds
It is a slow process of growing bonnie spider plants indoors from seeds. For this, you need to prepare the same soil mixture as mentioned above first. Then, take the market seeds and sow them 1.5 cm deep in the soil. Cover the seed with soil mixture and let it in moist and warm conditions. In the next few weeks, seeds start to sprout and become a 2 inches plant. Later, you can follow the same steps to handle and care bonnie spider plant.
- From nursery plant
It is a simple and faster way to grow a bonnie spider plant indoors. Be aware of fake plants because there are similar-looking plants like a bonnie spider but they are different and don't produce plantlets later.
Fill the pot with the soil mixture. Dig 3 to 5 inches according to the roots of the bonnie plant. Plant the nursery spider plant in the dig and cover it with the same soil mixture.
Spray some water and let it grow in bright sunlight and moderate temperature.
Care and maintenance of Bonnie spider plant(USA)
Following are some of the basic care and maintenance terms you should keep doing regularly to secure your bonnie spider plant for a long time-
- Watering and moisture checking
It is required to keep the soil moist(not wet) regularly. Too much dry or too much soil can dry or rot the spider plant.
You can check moisture just by touching your fingers on the soil.
Use a small shower bucket to spray water precisely in the pots. Water only when you find soil less moist. Generally, we spray water daily in summers and 2 times a week in winters.
- Composting
It is not required to use market chemical fertilizer in your bonnie spider plants all the time. You can instead use vermicompost or organic waste compost to provide natural fertilizer for your spider plant.
Every 40 to 50 days, you can use vermicompost in your container of spider plants.
- Pruning
If you want to limit the growth of your spider plant, then you can try pruning. To grow more plantlets or runners, you can apply pruning on the newer leaves to shift the growth towards the flowers and plantlets. If you find any of the leave of getting dry, cut that out and reconsider all the steps you had taken before for maintaining the spider plants.
- Repotting timings
There will be a time when multiple tubers will appear on the bottom of the stem of the spider plant. When you find that they have their roots and affect the overall plant growth, then you can transplant them into the new pots.
Follow the same procedure of growing with each new plantlet and root tubers. Follow the same steps to take care of your bonnie spider plants. Once you become used to it, you can grow the spider plants forever from the same plant.