How to Grow Spider Plant as a Tree

Growing a spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) as a tree can be a creative gardening project – something you can flaunt to your friends once done! Let us share some innovative techniques to make it possible!

Before you move ahead, understand that these plants don’t have a central thick stem, which takes away the possibility to give it a proper tree like appearance. However, there are some tricks you can use!

The first method is to provide a support (Using bamboo sticks or plastic poles) to the plant from the early stages of its growth, training its central part to grow upright.

Every plant has a natural tendency to grow towards the light source, and a flexibility in adapting to physical support. If you will position a grow light on the top of the plant, then it will help further.

By providing a vertical guide, spider plant can be encouraged to grow upwards, creating a trunk-like structure.

Note: This will take time and can be a trial and error process. 

Pruning can be done in a way where you take away the side growth, and give spider plant a more top heavy look, simulating a tree’s canopy.

Snipping the side growth also stimulates lateral buds, leading to a denser foliage.

Traditional spider plant has a stubby growth habit and no matter how you train – it won’t achieve that tree like look.

For that, pick taller varieties like ‘Bonnie,’ which has curlier leaves and it might be trained to offer a more structured, tree-like look.

Make a wireframe with a tree like, top heavy structure, and then train the plant to grow on it from an early stage – this will be time consuming, but it will eventually help spider plant to grow into a tree-like shape.

This is similar to staking, but as a physical guide is being used in this approach, it will