Reverse Variegated Spider Plants

About Spider Plants

• Spider plants have long, grassy leaves that arch over the pot edge. Once well established in their pots, they send out long stems with white flowers and baby plantlets. Leave the babies to adorn the plant or remove them to start new plants. Spider plants are best suited for hanging baskets or pots on plant stands, so that the babies hang unimpeded.

Variegated Cultivars

• Vittatum is the most commonly seen variegated spider plant cultivar with long green leaves with a white stripe down the middle. The reverse-variegated form, Variegatum, has white leaves with a green stripe down the middle and grows smaller than Vittatum. While not a reverse-variegated cultivar, Mandalanum is an interesting dwarf with dark green leaves with a yellow central stripe.

Culture

• Reverse-variegated spider plants need more light than do species or cultivars with a high percentage of green leaf surface, Place them where they receive filtered sunlight for best growth. However, full sun scorches the leaves. These plants need well-draining soil. Allow the top inch to dry between waterings. Variegatum is sensitive to chlorine and water-soluble salts, so use filtered or distilled water, or allow tap water to sit for several hours so the chlorine evaporates. Feed the plants regularly with a liquid houseplant fertilizer. To start a new plant, detach a plantlet from the mother plant once roots have formed and set it into moist potting soil.

Variegation and Vigor

• The leaves' green color is the chlorophyll contained in leaf tissue. Plants use chlorophyll to convert light into energy. The yellow and white areas on variegated leaves lack chlorophyll, reducing the amount of leaf surface available for food production. As a result, plants with a large percentage of yellow or white in their leaves, such as reverse-variegated spider plants, are smaller and less vigorous than all-green versions of the same plant. While spider plants are fast growing, it's normal for reverse-variegated spider plants to be smaller and slower growing than their more green cousins.