It's not unusual for the roots of plants started in water to make the transition to soil poorly. The cellular make-up of water roots is quite different from roots produced in a well-aerated medium, like perlite (though perlite isn't the best choice for spider plants because of its fluoride content and spider plant's aversion to fluoride) or screened Turface or DE. Try potting in a fresh, well-aerated medium and keeping the medium barely moist. If water roots have already formed on your plantlets, they will have difficulty extracting water from the medium, so a loose tenting arrangement will help to keep humidity up and transpirational water loss down. Some questions - I think I see fertilizer prills on the soil of the struggling plant. Did you fertilize and what with? Did you use old soil to pot the plants in? Spider plants are among the easiest plants to root because they come complete with preformed adventitious roots; so all you need is a well-aerated soil, light, and a little moisture to get them started. Best luck. Al

Hmm, I'm coming to this thread quite late in the game . . . But, if you're still looking, I have some fun stuff you might like. I have lots of big white callas (the traditional callas that get to about 3'-4' tall), fragrant yellow ginger (Hedychium flavescens), lots of Red Hot Pokers, white Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus) and other things on my trade list. Let me know if any of this sounds tempting to you. Thanks! Chris - THGA Here is a link that might be useful: My Trade Page

I am looking for the following two varieties Oxalis (Shamrock) which can be grown from seed and that are hardy to zone 5: > Oxalis acetosella var. subpurpurascens (syn. O. acetosella var. purpurascens, O. acetosella var. rosea) Irish Shamrock. A picture of the Oxalis acetosella can be found at http://www.artfamily.com/jmc/catalog/IMG0026.jpg > Oxalis depressa (syn. O. inops). A picture of Oxalis depressa can be found at http://community11.webshots.com/photo/3446853/3447171DFmzEJpnPE and at http://windmillfarms.com/Gallery/pages/oxalisinops.htm If anyone has some of these to share, I would love to trade for them. Please view my list for a trade, or email me with an address if I can send an SASE. Thank you.

One of the many orb weavers but obviously not currently in her web. She's quite pretty, isn't she? The orb weavers make a large flat web that resembles a multi-spoked wagon wheel. The spider hangs upside down in the center during the evening but usually hides during the daytime, staying somewhere to the side of the web.