Your plants are lovely and look very healthy. for taking some time to share them with us.

Thank you for the pictures Gita. As always your plants are beautiful. You certainly have a way with growing plants.
Thanks for stopping by, I am sure you have lots to share if you just had the time. Have a great day.

OK, I need help, big time. This winter has been really hard on my plants in the greenhouse and in the house. I can understand the greenhouse problem but the one I am going to show you has me completely at a loss. The houseplants (some of the spiders only) are showing signs of distress and damage on the new growth coming out. The new growth is in some cases not opening and turning brown, others are turning brown after the leaves open on the very tip. What would be doing that?

I know I am using water that is coming through a softener but up until this year that never bothered them and I have not changed my watering habits.
I also know that light can do this but they have not changed their positions in the room.
I have not changed a thing except they had a rough winter with very little sunshine due to the weather. I had inside lights but only the regular overhead. Windows are around two walls and they are all at the same place they were last year. These plants are showing to me, a lack of sunshine being the only thing I can think of. We had a month in February of almost no sun at all. This room gets only morning sun and sometimes the sun did not shine until afternoon and that is the only thing that was different. Any suggestions? I am praying I do not loose them.

This is what some look like now.
Their color is faded also. The second picture if you look from left to right you will see the brown stem between the third and fourth green stem is all brown and never opened.










Looking forward to your input and suggestions.

I don't know what the issue (sorry), but I am concerned about the softened water. I have read either extreme is not good (hard or soft water).

Planto

I am thinking the plants may have reached the peak of what it can tolerate with the type of water it receives. I would pull out the plants and examine the roots, if it is still okay, and change the soil. If the roots still okay, even a little, it will eventually come back. It is a remarkably enduring plant, and change watering habit to regular water no softeners.

I can not change the water. We live on a farm and have well water. I am too old to try and gather rain water. Thanks for your help. I would bet it is not the water. Something different has happened to these plants and I am at a loss to know what it is. I must find someone who propagates and raises mostly spiders. I have been raising these plants in the same location, same soil, water, etc. and never had a problem until this year.

Good luck! Hope your plants recover soon! On the good side, Spring is here, renewed vigor comes about with the plants as temps warm up and light goes longer.

JB,
I hope you figure out what's going on, I know how much you like your Spiders.

Planto

The reason I am not really sure about the water is that the greenhouse uses the same water the house does and those plants show no signs of this and some are the same age. The color of the plants is pale compared to those in the GH also. Tis a mystery. Thanks for your concern .

How often were you watering them during winter JB? My spiders are grown outdoors year round, though our winters are milder, it does get cold too at times in the low 30 to mid 30's with some hard freeze warnings when we dip into the high 20's. So often I get ratty looking leaves. During winter I hardly water them, just whatever Mother Nature gives them. I have one indoors growing in clay rocks and a little water, so it goes even drier.

Try to pull one out and check the root zone. If the roots are still firm and fat, it should carry on, as Spring conditions improve more. Just remove the dead leaves.

I just went out to check on my Spiders, there is this one baby I kept on stepping on last Dec, so I moved it to another basket, it was still young then, so during winter, it really had a tough time. I thought it was dead, all leaves downright brown, but pulling out the plant I saw the roots are still firm and new ones are clearly forming now. There is a tiny new leaf coming out on the side too, so I returned it to the basket. Such a resilient plant.

Mine are all inside Tarv, and they were beautiful until the end of February. These are all different unusual species that I bought them from a special dealer of spider plants and they were all healthy. I have had them a year and they were just all re potted into larger pots and combined for them to be used as stock plants for future babies. I water less in the winter and never usually feed in the winter due to the lack of light etc. They do not like to be fed in the winter. I did feed one time late February because they were looking sad and I thought I would give them a boost. Did not work obviously.
Lights did not seem to do any good. Water I use is the same in the greenhouse as in the house and the greenhouse plants are in beautiful condition...I have been watching them closely since I lost so many of them in February due to the sudden drop in temperature to below 30 in the GH back in February. It has been a very trying winter here in NJ. and I am determined to save these plants.
The snow is still coming down and we have six more inches. When I can get to the GH I am going to repot all of them again. Maybe there was something in the soil since I re potted them all from the same bag. Hmmmm. Just thinking.
Thanks for your concern and comments. I take every suggestion to heart.

There you go...the culprit could be the fertilizer too, maybe just not the right timing for it, causing root burn.

I believe that fertilizer burn is caused by watering when dry or using too much (both are a big no-no), but to fertilize in the Winter, I don't think that causes fertilizer burn. It could make the plants grow more despite the lack of light (and probably make them look funny, etoliation), but I personally haven't heard of fertilizer burn from watering in the Winter. I haven't read it all or heard it all though.

But, I have read fertilizing a sick plant will do more harm than good, sadly.

Planto

I just do not fertilize anything in winter, most plants are at rest.

I still do, but at a reduced rate. I have some that need a memo that it's Winter. They continue to grow as if the temperatures or lighting didn't change at all.

Planto

There are some plants that enjoy the cooler temps, so they do grow nicely, as long as they get good bright lighting and kept drier or just moderately moist. Home indoor conditions vary anyways, so maybe it is warm and conducive enough for the plants to continue growing. But for me, I just do not apply fertilizer during winter time.

Tarev,
I know that fertilizing in the winter isn't for everyone, especially people who live in colder parts of the country with less light. In the end, as you said, home conditions vary, so I myself wouldn't advise everyone to do what I do.

Planto

I am so happy. I spoke to my supplier, showed him pictures of the sad plants and immediately he said, lack of humidity. He is absolutely correct...I had mentioned to my friend that the house is dry and I keep wondering why it is so dry when all the plants are damp and there seems to be no reason for it. It had to be that, so I am misting and if necessary I will invest in a humidifier. I never had to have one before, and I have no reason to think something has changed inside, but it is obvious the plants in the GH had more humidity than the house and they are fine. YAHOO...

I didn't know that Spider Plants required humidity. You learn something new everyday right?

Planto

He should know and he did not even hesitate when I hold him the difference between the plants in the GH and the plants in the house with the different heat.....Also the house has consistent heat at 70 deg. and the GH fluctuates as does the humidity. I noticed the other day the house humidity was very low and I mentioned it to my SIL (the nurseryman) but I really did not think it would affect the Spiders. We both learned something everyday. Thank Goodness. I have been misting and the humidity in the bird room is now almost as high as the GH. I will be so glad when I can take them all out to the GH and open everything for some fresh air.