Hello,

This is the first spider plant I have tried growing on my own. I used clippings from my father's and have been successful thus far (8 months in and it is still alive!)

I keep this one at the office and lately these weird burns have begun appearing on a few random leaves. I fertilized the plants at the beginning of the spring and perhaps I should not have, but I really have no clue what the cause may be. I have since plucked a few of the burnt leaves, but more are appearing. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks!

Overall the plant looks OK, IMO. In your office I assume means not a lot of light. Is that a cactus in the background of pix #2? I fell sorry for it and we just met. Gene

gasrocks said:Overall the plant looks OK, IMO. In your office I assume means not a lot of light. Is that a cactus in the background of pix #2? I fell sorry for it and we just met. Gene

Thanks! Any idea what may have caused the burns? I have the plants right by a window facing north and they keep the office lights on until around 3AM (don't ask why I know that lol) so the plants receive plenty of light.

And it is indeed a cactus! Why do you feel sorry? They're all babies and appear fairly healthy. Anything I can do better?

It doesn't matter how long they leave the lights on, office lights are not meant for cactus. Nor north windows. A lot of people I have met and talked to like cactus because it is hard to tell how they are doing and they take a long time to die. Sad. Gene

Evs212- are you the only one that waters the plants? Just wondering if someone else might be too, regarding the spider plant.

That's a pretty big window so the plants might be ok during summer. The cactus looks fine now but it should be on the sill. It will need west or south facing window during winter though if you have the option.

Cactus need lots of light, which is what Gasrocks meant. I used to live in AZ and those type of cactus would get full sun all day.

Glad you add nice plants to the office. Always a good thing to spruce up the place.

I have terrible luck with spider plants, I wonder if the brown streak is caused my too much moisture/too much watering. Maybe what Alyssa is hinting at. They have little tubers and do not need constantly moist soil. Mine have rotted at the leaf base though.

Allow the spider to be somewhat dry before you water. They have the ability to store moisture in the bulbous like roots. Spiders like a high quality water, no Chlorine and chloramine. For just a few plants I would just use bottled water. Something like a Brita filter removes Chlorine and chloramine.

Your plant looks healthy and a occasional brown spot is fairly normal. Filtered water on the right schedule makes brown tips and spots a rarity.

I just started these in the past week. I can see new growth already.

Thank you all so much! I believe I am the only person watering the plants, but I will be sure to let them dry out more going forward. I also use strictly filtered water, so I don't think NYC tap is the reason.

Should I be plucking those with the brown marks? I read somewhere that I should, but is it strictly for aesthetics or will letting them stick around spread the issue?

If I have a black tip I may snip it off, it looks better. A leaf with a spot I leave until it is looking really bad. Once a week I look them over, trim if needed and look close for scale. I get a soft brown scale here and I can kill it with a soap spray, amazing how fast they multiply.

Hello Evan, spider plants are such drought tolerant and heat tolerant plants here in my area, they grow like weeds here. I am thinking it maybe fertilizer burn on your plant. To be honest, I never fertilize my spider plants, just a thorough watering once a week and it is okay. In between days, I give it a nice spritz, since our area has such dismal humidity. They are in active bloom mode here right now, Maybe one more thorough watering to help wash off accumulated fertilizer salts on your plant. I just snip off brown tips if it looks annoying. It is quick to grow new leaves.

I grow my plants outdoors year round, so it has taken all the heat, cold, drought conditions it can take. It does get some nice shade from the city trees later, so I guess it helps during our triple digit dry heat days.

Hope your plant makes the bloomstalks soon!

thank you all so much! I had no clue they were so draught tolerant. I will be sure to water less and certainly fertilize less (if at all). Thanks!

Glad to help Evan. Just to give you an idea how fatso those roots can go and hold water nicely:

tarev said:Hello Evan, spider plants are such drought tolerant and heat tolerant plants here in my area, they grow like weeds here. I am thinking it maybe fertilizer burn on your plant. To be honest, I never fertilize my spider plants, just a thorough watering once a week and it is okay. In between days, I give it a nice spritz, since our area has such dismal humidity. They are in active bloom mode here right now, Maybe one more thorough watering to help wash off accumulated fertilizer salts on your plant. I just snip off brown tips if it looks annoying. It is quick to grow new leaves.

I grow my plants outdoors year round, so it has taken all the heat, cold, drought conditions it can take. It does get some nice shade from the city trees later, so I guess it helps during our triple digit dry heat days.

Hope your plant makes the bloomstalks soon!

That is one happy spider. That's c. vittatum isn't it? Do you have a Hawaiian AKA golden glow? it's the most robust of all my spiders.

HI Steve, sorry I do not know what type I got, just a small plant when given to me years ago and has multiplied earnestly. It is one avid growing spider indeed.