First, let's clean up your plant. This allows the plant to direct its energy to new healthy growth. Remove entire brown leaves (they will not turn green again) or the affected portion with a pair of sharp scissors or pruning shears. Wipe the blades of your scissors with rubbing alcohol between each snip.
If your spider plant isn't getting enough light, new leaves grow thin and weak, and they are prone to falling over the side of the pot and cracking. Low light levels can't support active photosynthesis, so older leaves will turn brown and die off. Simply peel them off.
Individual damaged leaves will not recover, so it is best to trim them back or completely off, whichever looks better. Keep that side of the plant facing the primary light source so it has the best opportunity to grow back in. In the interim, the undamaged side of the plant should continue to grow.
Using the tapwater from your faucet includes an elements called fluoride. Spider plants are very sensitive to this element and the tips of the plant will start to turn brown. You can easily change this by using distilled water or rainwater. Another reason your spider plant can discolor is due to inadequate watering.
Brown Leaves
If you notice the leaves turning brown, your spider has likely been overwatered with tap water.
Try to water your spider plant about once a week. Letting the soil dry out a little between waterings is a good idea. If you start to see fungus growing, yellowed leaves, or root rot occurring on your spider plant, you may be overwatering.
A: For propagation purposes, you can cut or leave the babies on the spider plant and root them while still connected to the stolons. If you don't intend to multiply the plant, you should cut the spiderettes during pruning sessions.
Your Spider Plant will do well in normal household humidity but will thrive with a bit more humidity. Brown leaf tips may indicate the air is too dry, so mist your Spider Plant regularly using a Mister.
Answer: Brown leaf tips or edges can happen on any indoor plant but are common on some species like spider plant and dracaena. Trimming the brown portions off the leaves with a scissors can improve appearance, but new browning will occur if the root cause is not addressed.
Snip off any brown tips, give it a light mist every now and then and wipe dust off the leaves, but looking after your spider plant doesn't need to be too fancy. If you want to give your spider plant a boost, feed it some liquid fertiliser once a month during warmer seasons.
Spider plants are typically propagated through stem cuttings. You should cut the plantlet (also called a spiderette) below the roots or the area beneath the leafy base where the roots form, says Melinda Myers, gardening expert and host of the Great Courses How to Grow Anything DVD series.
Benefits of Pruning. Pruning your Spider Plant isn't just about keeping up appearances; it's a vital health check-up. Snipping away the old and yellowed leaves gives your plant a fresh start, encouraging new growth that's lush and vibrant.
Too much, too little or inconsistent watering are major contributors to houseplant decline and can cause brown tips on houseplants. Overwatering, the most likely cause, decreases the amount of oxygen available for root growth and creates an environment susceptible to root diseases and rot.
Where to grow a spider plant. Grow these easy plants in a bright spot out of direct sun as this can scorch their leaves. They can cope with a bit of cold, but don't leave them anywhere where the temperature will drop below 8 degrees in the winter. The best room for a spider plant will depend on the light.
Should You Cut the Brown Tips Off Spider Plants? You can cut the brown tips off your spider plant to get back the aesthetically pleasing appearance of your green companion. The damaged fronds may not affect your plant's overall health but pruning them will make your spider plant look so much better.
A good spider plant watering routine, often once a week will usually suit these easy plants; however, no plant should just be watered because it's the day you usually water them. All should be first checked regularly in case they are thirsty, or drowning from over-generous watering.
Under Watering -
This can also cause the plant to drop leaves. This doesn't necessarily mean that you are consistently under watering, as it could have only happened one time to cause the browning. The brown leaf tips will not turn back to green but you can trim the brown edges to get the plant back to looking healthy.
The long stems with the plantlets are why spider plants look best as hanging plants, or on a pedestal so that the long stems can hang down. Spider plants do best in bright, but indirect sunlight and some humidity. They have fleshy roots that store water so only water them when they are dry.
A spider plant likes bright, indirect light. Avoid direct sunlight as it has the potential to scorch the leaves. Spider plants will grow in low light, but they'll grow slowly and may not produce plantlets. In low light, striped spider plant leaves may lose their variegation.
You can keep your spider plant healthy and pest-free by sprinkling coffee grounds into its pot. Naturally high in caffeine and compounds known as diterpenes, both of which are highly toxic to insects, coffee grounds are the perfect defense against pests that plague spider plants, like mites, aphids, scales, and flies.
You can propagate spider plants through cuttings rooted in soil or water. The stolons, also called runners or baby offsets, can be clipped and replanted.
Reviving a Dying Spider Plant
Overwatering is a common misstep. To promote recovery, let the soil dry out before watering again. This isn't a cactus, but it's not a fan of soggy feet either. Check the top inch of soil; if it's dry, it's time to hydrate.
Flowering in Spider Plants is a sign of maturity, a botanical coming-of-age if you will. It's the plant's way of saying, "Hey, I'm thriving here!" But it's not a common sight, which makes it all the more special when it happens.