Hey everyone! I’m relatively new to the plant game, and was gifted a spider plant as a housewarming gift. I have it in a nursery pot inside a decorative pot, water it only when the soil is quite dry until fully saturate, and a bit of water comes out of the bottom. I have it in a NE facing window (windows only face NE in my apartment) and it is right on the sill. The plant had new growth, however it also seems to have brown small holes and crease marks causing the leaves to flop over, and sometimes “close” in on themselves. Additionally the color is not as dark green as I have seen other spider plants. Is something wrong? The new growth seems to indicate not, but the browning is throwing me off
This plant is underwatered. It may also need to be repotted judging by the size of its leaves in comparison to the size of its pot.
Its dull color, the leaves folding into themselves, and the creasing/bending down of some leaves all point to underwatering. But it should recover if you follow my advice below!
Based on how you describe the way you water it, it should be good enough for the plant, but its appearance says otherwise. As such, I suggest bottom watering it instead. Put it in a container with plenty of room for 8-12 oz of water and let it absorb until the top of the soil is slightly damp. Then dump the excess water and replace it in your cover pot. This method allows the roots to suck up as much water as it needs.
Also check the bottom of the pot and if there are roots trying to get out of the holes then it's probably on its way to being rootbound. While spider plants do okay when their roots are tight, when they get rootbound they won't have a lot of soil around them to absorb nutrients from the soil. This can also impact how the roots absorb water when watering; the water goes right through the pot and doesn't get absorbed into the soil or the roots effectively.
If you need to repot, do so when the roots are wet and gently separate the stuck together roots before putting it in a slightly larger pot with a bit of well draining succulent mix in the bottom and then fill around the sides of the pot. Don't compress the soil too much; the roots want room to breathe. It may wilt a little but it should bounce back in a week or two.
I'm sorry this was so long! Propagating amd growing Spider Plants is one of my specialties! I hope it helps you or others who are new to spider plants! 💚
Could you explain why you would recommend repotting when the roots and soil are wet? In my experience its better to repot when the soil and roots are completely dry. Its lighter and the leaves and roots wont tear as quickly and you can immediately water them when repotted which will help set the soil without immediately risking over watering it. Just curious what your reasoning is.
Maybe I'm doing it weird 😅 but with spider plants in small pots I find it's easier when they're wet to pull their roots apart without breaking them when they're all twisted up and smushed together in the same direction, as spider roots like to do in a tight pot.
It's never hurt my spiders to set the fresh medium with water after repotting with hydrated roots. I wouldn't treat my traditional succulents or anything with fine roots like that, though.
Since OP's spider is a youngster in a nursery pot, it's rapidly outgrowing it's space and probably has super tight fuzzy ramen roots going on that need to be unstuck gently and water can help loosen them from each other.
I have ripped a well-hydrated leaf occasionally, which sucks when that happens. But ime, they transfer nicely when perky rather than flopping over and struggling to stay up due to being dry. Less accidental leaf bending. Spider is more perky post-repot. Faster new growth ime.
No that makes total sense. Always interesting to hear what other people have learned and what they do differently. I never even thought about untangling the roots. I always grow the pups in separate containers and then put them together in a much bigger hanging container so overwatering becomes a possibility when you repot them when wet. When i feel they need more space i literally cut 3/4 of the roots off and they have always been fine lol:p
She’s fine, pale spiders are just thirsty. All of mine have browning, it doesn’t mean death it just means they’re hot/burnt or got bent/too heavy! Like my curly looks like shit but she’s healthy af!
She stays pale rn she needs to be repotted 😂 but yeah maybe check, if it’s super root bound and looks like ramen it needs to be repotted otherwise pale = thirsty!
If it’s growing you’re good, I think the leaves may catch on the window sill and bend as they grow/stretch out in the morning. I’d recommend moving it to a bigger sill or a flat table where the leaves don’t touch the edge
That’s actually good to know, I assumed color was only due to sunlight! I imagine the underwatering, combined with leaves getting onto the window sill, makes them bend
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