Spider Plant

Spider plants are often grown as hanging plants due to the cascading nature of their foliage. They also look great when grown on a shelf or table, just make sure the long leaves aren’t getting crushed and the long plantlet stems don’t get so heavy that they pull over the pot.

Light

Outdoors, spider plants prefer to grow in light shade. They can tolerate heavy shade, but their growth won’t be as robust. Direct sunlight can scorch the leaves. Indoors, a bright window or patio door that gets indirect sun is ideal.

Soil

These plants can grow in a variety of soil types, but they favour loose soil with good drainage.

Water

Spider plants like lightly moist but not soggy soil. Overwatering can cause root rot and ultimately kill the plant. These plants are sensitive to fluoride and chlorine in water, which can brown the leaf tips. (If possible, use rainwater or distilled water for container plants). The fleshy tubers retain moisture well, so inconsistent watering, while not ideal, won’t harm spider plants too much.

Fertilizer

These plants like a moderate amount of feeding, roughly once a month during the active growing seasons of spring and summer. Too much fertilizer can cause brown leaf tips, but too little fertilizer will result in weak growth. Use an all-purpose granular or water-soluble fertilizer during the growing season, following label instructions.

Pruning

Remove dead or browning leaves as they appear. If a plant is becoming too leggy and sparse, remove the plantlet shoots to redirect energy to the main plant. (The plantlets can be propagated to make new plants!)

Potting and Repotting Spider Plant

Grow spider plants in containers that are no more than 1/3 larger than the root ball. Ensure that the containers have ample drainage holes, and use a loose potting mix. Spider plants will typically need repotting every two to three years. You’ll know it’s time when you see roots protruding out of the drainage holes and up above the soil line.

The best time to repot is in the spring. Gently remove the plant from its old container and position it at the same depth in a slightly bigger container. Then, fill around it with fresh potting mix.

Overwintering

It’s best to pause fertilizing in the winter, as these plants will naturally go semi-dormant. Keep watering and misting the plant regularly, though, as spider plant needs to be kept moist during the dry winter months.

How to Get Spider Plant to Bloom

Spider plant does not produce showy flowers, so it’s rare for growers to worry about non-blooming plants. But if for some reason you want more flowers (perhaps to experiment with seed propagation), you can try giving the plant more light than it usually gets, and make sure to regularly rotate the plant so all sides get even light. You may be rewarded with small white flowers about 1/2 inch across. You can also try skipping repotting, as these plants seem more likely to bloom if they are slightly root-bound.

Fertilizing does nothing to encourage blooms—in fact, withholding fertilizer will probably be more helpful if your goal is flowers.

Potential Problems With Spider Plant

Spider plants rarely cause serious problems, and those that do occur are usually quite easy to solve:

Plant Is Too Sparse

The natural impulse when a spider plant appears to be struggling is to increase its water or fertilizer rations, but in the case of spider plant, that’s the wrong approach. Instead, the solution may be to repot and divide a plant that has become overly root-bound. These are fast-growing plants, and if yours begins to suddenly struggle after months of being a healthy plant, it likely needs more room for its roots.

Cutting away some of the baby “plantlets” can also help, as this redirects the plant’s energy into producing more shoots.

Tips of Leaves Are Burned

Spider plants are among several types of houseplant that are especially sensitive to the chemicals or salts that are found in treated tap water. If your plant begins to show these burned tips, it’s best to shift to watering with collected rainwater or untreated bottled water.

Brown tips can also occur if a spider plant is getting too much direct sunlight. Remember that these plants prefer indirect light or shady conditions.

 Non toxic