Tag: Spider Plants

Our guide to growing spider plants covers everything you need to know about care and cultivation.

In this guide, we’ll talk about the diseases and disorders that can trouble spider plants. Here’s the lineup:

This list is short, but we’re going to cover a lot of important info, so let’s jump right in.

1. Leaf Spot

In theory, spider plants can suffer infections from pathogens such as Alternaria, Cercospora, Fusarium, and Phyllosticta spp., which cause leaf spots. But there have only been a few cases documented.

That doesn’t mean that it can’t happen, since researchers aren’t usually concerned with documenting the experience of home growers, but if it does happen, you have used up all your bad luck for the year, and you should buy yourself a lottery ticket.

If the leaves have brown, black, or yellow spots, not speckles, which could be the feces of a visiting pest, it’s possible the specimen is suffering from leaf spot disease.

To deal with it, grab yourself a good, broad-spectrum fungicide.

Or, it can be caused by the oomycete Pythium splendens, or the fungi Rhizoctonia solani or Sclerotium rolfsii, all of which thrive in wet, soggy environments.

The specific cause isn’t important, so don’t worry about trying to figure out which is the source of your woes. The important thing is to act quickly to resolve the situation.

Take your spider plant out of its pot and remove all the soil from around the roots. Trim away any dead or mushy roots.

Then wipe the container clean, and sterilize it with a mixture of one part bleach to nine parts water.

Repot the specimen with fresh, clean potting soil, and keep your watering habits in check going forwards!

3. Tip Burn

If just the very tips of the leaves are brown and dry rather than the whole leaf, it’s most often a problem caused by either extremely low humidity or too much sun.

This species prefers bright, indirect light and humidity between 50 and 65 percent.

However, if the tips are brown and the browning continues to expand up the length of the leaf, that is more likely to be a result of too little light or overwatering.

I have a spider plant in a wide, shallow pot, and it’s a challenge not to overwater any specimen in a pot like that. There’s nowhere for the excess water to escape, so there is little room to make mistakes.

I tell you this as an illustration that overwatering isn’t just caused by watering too often or too much all at once, necessarily.

The type of container, time of year, light exposure, and relative humidity can impact how often a houseplant needs watering and how much water it requires.

You should always check the soil before adding moisture, especially if you are growing in a small or shallow pot.

4. Wilting

Wilting can be a sign of root rot, so check out that section above if the leaves are looking floppy and sad.

But root rot isn’t the only cause of drooping foliage. Both over- and underwatering, as well as too much sun exposure, can result in wilting.

We often assume that if a specimen is wilting, it needs more water. I know I’ve been guilty of making that assumption. But if you touch the soil and it feels moist, it’s more likely that it has been overwatered.

If that’s the case, you might be able to get away with withholding water for a while, but if it doesn’t start to perk up after a day or two, it’s time to act.

If the soil is wet, unpot the C. comosum and inspect the roots as discussed above.

Wilting can also indicate a pest problem like fungus gnats or spider mites, though with the latter you’ll usually see webbing or the physical presence of pests if that’s the case.

If the soil feels dry, the solution is easy. Just add water! We have a guide that discusses how to revive a wilting spider plant if you’d like to learn more.

5. Yellowing, Pale, or Solid Leaves

Sometimes, a specimen will start to look just a little bit sickly without any specific symptoms.

Maybe the leaves will turn yellow, or instead of vibrant green they’ll become pale. Other times, the leaves become solid green even though they’re supposed to be variegated.

If the leaves turn pale or lose variegation, it could be issues with sun exposure or the amount of water you’re giving, or your C. comosum could be underfed, and adding a dose of fertilizer may be all that’s needed.

To learn more about fading or loss of variegation and what to do about it, please visit our guide.

Yellow leaves can indicate too much sun or overfertilization, a pest problem, overwatering, iron deficiency, or if the leaves are primarily toward the outside of the specimen, could just be older leaves that are getting ready to shed.

Learn more about troubleshooting yellow foliage on spider plants in our guide.

To discerning, rare plant collectors, that scraggly little ragamuffin wasn’t the prettiest specimen in the world. But to me this ugly duckling was the most exquisite creature I’d ever laid eyes upon.

That first houseplant was just the beginning of my love story with plants.

I’ve learned an awful lot about being a plant parent since then, and I know a thing or two about spider plants in particular. Lucky for you, I’m here to pass on my knowledge, from one spider ivy parent to another.

Spider plants can be propagated in different ways and shared with family and friends, as my friend shared with me.

And in the same way my friend did, these houseplants can be divided, or split. But how will you know if you should divide your specimen? And when is the best time to do this?

This article will specifically address dividing spider ivy – why, when, and how to do it.

For the whole story on caring for these houseplants, read our comprehensive spider plant growing guide.

Here’s what’s ahead:

Let’s get cracking!

Why Split Spider Plants?

There are three good reasons to divide spider plants: to manage the size of an overgrown specimen, to encourage healthy growth, and to propagate new plants to share or add to your collection.

If given enough room, mature spider plants can grow more than two feet wide! And the thick, fleshy tuberous roots and rhizomes of these houseplants grow quickly.

Although they prefer to be slightly pot bound, the roots can eventually become too crowded, so dividing and repotting will keep them healthy, happy, and looking their best.

If the roots and rhizomes get too cramped and crowded, the central, inner section of the root ball can become damaged. You may notice signs of stress like leaf yellowing or browning, withering, and poor health in general.

Splitting the roots and potting up the divisions rejuvenates the plant and keeps it at a manageable size, so you don’t need to keep repotting into larger containers as it grows.

If you’re a thrifty or generous houseplant parent, you know that propagating at home is the best way to fill more pots with new specimens to green up your space and to share the love with family and friends.

This is the way I became a plant enthusiast, after all. Why not pay it forward to someone else?

When to Divide

Spider plants can be divided at any time of the year. If you notice the rhizomes pushing up out of the soil, or if the roots have filled the pot, it’s time to repot into a larger container or divide the specimen.

This could be every one to five years, depending on the size of your specimen, the size of its original pot, and your plant’s conditions and growth rate.

If you need advice on how to repot your spider plant, check out our guide.

These houseplants do best when they’re snug in their pots. But it can seem like a fine line between “snug,” or comfortably pot bound, and too darned cramped.

If your specimen looks healthy and it has some room in its current space to grow, there’s no need to disturb it – unless, of course, you decide to propagate new plants!

So if your spider ivy is busting out of its pot, or if you want to make some baby plants, read on to learn how to divide your spider plant.

How to Divide

Before you begin, gather up the items you’ll need. It’s best to plan ahead, so you’re not scrambling around looking for the right tools when you’re in the middle of performing surgery.

The new containers should be a minimum of three to four inches wide, or larger, depending on the size of the divisions – and remember that spider plants like to be a little snug in their pots, so keep this in mind when making your selections.

And whatever containers you choose, make sure they have adequate drainage holes.

When you have everything you need, prepare a space where you don’t mind getting things a little messy. I like to work at my kitchen table, but a counter or the floor works too.

In the basement, or in the garage, wherever you decide to work, set yourself up for a smooth and efficient workspace.

Put down some old newspapers or find a tray to work over to make cleanup a little easier. Or, if you don’t mind a little dirt, just go for it! That’s what brooms and vacuums are for.

Now you just need to rustle up your plant and you’re ready to go. I don’t know about you, but I talk to my houseplants. I tell them how beautiful they are and how much I love them.

I also like to keep them informed. This would be a good time to explain what you’re about to do and reassure your spider plant that everything will be ok. Because it will. You got this!

Start by removing your spider plant from its pot.

Squeeze the sides of the pot to loosen it, then while supporting the plant at the base of the foliage near the roots, gently wiggle it out of the container.

Try not to damage the roots. Set the spider plant on its side so you can inspect the root ball.

Next, using your hands, shake out most of the soil from around the roots so you can see what you’re working with. Trim off any damaged or dead roots.

Depending on the size of the specimen you have, and the size of the divisions you’re aiming for, decide how you’ll split it up.

It’s important not to make your divisions too small. If the new root balls are too small, it will take longer for the spider plants to recover and put on new growth.

When you’re ready, use your hands to separate the roots into sections. If the roots are tough or dense, use your knife to cut them. Each section should have a good amount of healthy foliage and rhizomes.

When you’ve got your new divisions split and ready to pot, prepare the containers. Scoop some fresh soil into the bottoms of each pot. Set the new division in the pot, and support it while carefully adding soil around the roots and gently firming it into position.

The top of the soil should end up being about an inch from the top edge of your pot, and just covering the roots and rhizomes, leaving a bit of the crown exposed. Adjust the plant’s position if necessary and add more soil.

When you’re satisfied with your work, give your divisions some water.

This will settle the soil around the roots. If it settles quite a bit, and the roots are exposed, add some more soil and then water it a little more. Repeat the potting process with all of your divisions.

That’s it! You did it! Congratulate yourself and reassure your new divisions with a few soft words of encouragement.

Avoid fertilizing for at least a month to allow your little spider plants time to root in their new containers and recover from any stress.

While they look very different from the underground parts of many other houseplants, they are actually just tuberous roots.

However, I have to say that calling them “just roots” really doesn’t do them justice.

Also known as “spider ivy,” “airplane plant,” “St. Bernard’s lily,” or “ribbon plant,” these tubers are part of what makes Chlorophytum comosum one of the easiest houseplants to care for!

Would you like to learn more about this part of your plant’s anatomy?

Of course you would!

Keep reading and you’ll get to know the workings of your houseplant’s underground world, so to speak.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

We’re going to get up close and personal with the subterranean anatomical features of your spider plant.

But before we get started, if you want complete guidance to caring for these houseplants, be sure to read our article on growing and caring for spider plants.

What Should Spider Plant Roots Look Like?

I’ve heard a few horror stories about indoor gardeners seeing those large, white tuberous roots while repotting their specimens, assuming that there was something wrong with their plant and taking the drastic step of trimming off these storage organs before repotting.

Let me make it clear that there’s absolutely no reason to do that – and taking such brutal steps will possibly kill your specimen or at best, make it hard for it to recover from the ordeal.

Now that you know what not to do, let’s consider what you should see when you remove the pot from your specimen’s root ball.

When you unpot these houseplants, you’ll likely notice a couple of different types of roots running through the soil.

You’ll find small, thin ones called “feeders” – and this is the main type you’ll notice in younger specimens that are just becoming established.

These thin structures will look similar to the underground anatomy of many of your other houseplants.

But as C. comosum specimens settle into their potting medium and start to grow, they’ll soon start producing larger, tuberous roots as well – the type that indoor gardeners sometimes find so perplexing!

These roots are long, white, and taper at both ends, thickening in the middle, and left to their own devices with sufficient space, can grow to be up to four inches wide and six inches long.

The Purpose of Thick Roots

These thick white organs are what make spider ivies such resilient houseplants – they are able to store water in these tubers, just as succulents store water in their leaves and stems.

These storage organs allow C. comosum to survive when water is sparse.

This adaptation allows the species to thrive in a variety of different habitats – which is why it has a widespread range in its native habitat. It can grow in many different environments, and is no fussy hothouse orchid.

Additionally, this ability to store water also allows C. comosum to survive the sometimes irregular visits of the bearer of the watering can! Because of this resilient adaptation, you’ll have to really neglect it to make your spider plant wilt.

However, water isn’t the only thing these tubers store – they also store nutrients for later use.

What to Do When Your Pot is Full of Roots?

If the tuberous roots gave you a surprise when you unpotted your houseplant, you should have gotten the message by now that all is well, and that this is part of the normal underground anatomy of C. comosum.

But if your plant’s pot is particularly full of these tubers, so much so that there’s barely any growing medium left in the container, you might be wondering what to do?

If you have unpotted your spider plant and see that the white roots are growing so thick that the specimen is pot bound, or if tubers are emerging from the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot or out of the top of the growing medium, it’s time to consider a larger container!

These three scenarios, along with a more frequent need for water, indicate that it’s probably time to repot your specimen.

When transferring a pot bound root ball to a new container, massage the tubers a bit to try to loosen them up first.

This will allow the houseplant to spread into its new soil more easily, making the transition more successful.

And if you’d like more tips on repotting spider plants, be sure to read our article. (Coming soon!)

This article will provide you with step by step guidance, answering commonly asked questions along the way.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I’ll cover:

In this article we’re going to cover the process of repotting spider ivies to different containers.

If you’d like to know more about caring for these houseplants, read our article for a full guide to growing spider plants.

1. Make Sure You Need to Repot

When was the last time your spider ivy was repotted? Generally it’s a good idea to repot small specimens once a year, and larger ones every two years.

However, before you transplant your houseplant into a new container, make sure that you do indeed need to repot. One way you can do this is by inspecting the specimen’s root ball.

Specimens without much sub-soil growth, where there is more growing medium than there are roots in the pot, still have plenty of room to expand in their current containers.

On the other hand, if roots are emerging from either the top of the soil or out of the drainage holes, or if the plant is potbound – when the root system fills up most of the space in the container – then it’s a good time to repot.

Making it exceedingly clear that a change of container is in order, some ribbon plants will even burst their pots as they grow!

Beyond root considerations, the best time to repot a spider ivy is in the spring, at the start of an active period of growth, so if your specimen hasn’t yet cracked its container, try to wait until then if you can.

Finally, there are a few other situations when you might want to repot into the same sized – or an even smaller – container no matter the time of year:

If your specimen is growing in a container with no drainage holes, this constitutes a houseplant emergency – replant it asap!

Another cause for immediate action is if it’s planted in an oversized pot – such as a two-inch specimen transplanted into an eight-inch container.

The growing medium in oversized containers will take a long time to dry out between waterings. This is a situation that can make your houseplant vulnerable to the disease known as “root rot.”

If your specimen is in an oversized pot, go ahead and repot to one that is a tighter fit – there should only be about an inch of growing medium between the edge of the rootball and the edge of the container.

Finally, if overwatering, poorly draining growing medium, or an oversized container have caused root rot, try to salvage the houseplant by transplanting it to the same sized or smaller container, with fresh growing medium, after trimming off any rotting roots.

2. Gather Your Supplies

The list of supplies you’ll need for this project is fairly short: a new pot and houseplant growing medium. If your specimen is quite root bound you may also need a butter knife, which can be used to help pry the plant out of its container.

Whether you’re looking for a decorative option, or are fine using a simple plastic nursery pot, the first requirement is that the new container must have drainage holes.

If you already have a plastic container you’d like to use, but it doesn’t have drainage holes, or it has inadequate drainage holes, you may be able to drill holes in the bottom.

Be sure to wear safety goggles and to handle power tools with caution!

While you can also use a drill to add holes to ceramic and terra cotta containers, this requires a masonry drill bit. Go slowly, drilling only in short bursts if trying this method, and make only one hole in the bottom of the pot.

When choosing new containers for houseplants that have outgrown their pots, the second feature to look for is that the new ones are just one size larger than the old ones.

You might think, “I’ll save myself some work and go ahead and move my spider ivy to a much bigger pot, giving her plenty of room to grow and skipping a few years of repotting.”

Well, friend – this is not such a good idea. That’s because oversized pots often lead to root rot – a problem that can cause a spider plant to wilt, before eventually killing it.

So go ahead and be prudent when choosing that new container. If you have to choose between one that’s just a little bigger or one that’s a lot bigger – go with the smaller option.

4. Unpot Your Plant

Now that you know you’re transplanting at the right time for your houseplant and you have a new container as well as some fresh growing medium, it’s time to get your hands dirty!

Well, okay, if you prefer you can wear gardening gloves.

Unfold your repotting mat onto your work surface, if you’re using one, and grab your bag of growing medium and new pot.

Before you unpot your spider ivy, get the new container ready by placing about an inch of growing medium in the bottom of it.

Now let’s inspect the spider plant in its old pot.

If roots are emerging from the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot, trim them off with scissors or garden snips.

Next, remove the root ball from the container – you may need to slide a butterknife between the root ball and the inside of the container to free it and pry it out.

For very potbound plants, you may even need to break the old pot to remove the plant.

Once the plant is out of the old pot, rub the sides of the root ball to loosen the roots. This ensures they will be able to grow into their new potting medium more easily.

5. Transplant Into New Container

Once the spider ivy has been removed from its old container and its outer roots have been loosened up a bit, it’s time to situate it in its new pot.

Place the specimen into the new container. There should be about an inch of space between the top of the root ball and the rim of the pot. Adjust the amount of soil under the spider plant to achieve this level.

Once the plant is at the right level, fill the sides with growing medium, then gently tamp down the top of the soil.

After tamping down the soil, you may need to add a bit more growing medium as air pockets are filled in.

If you are new to growing spider plants, check out our guide to learn more. Feeding C. comosum is one of the ways you can boost their health.

But it’s important to choose a proper fertilizer and also to only apply it when it will help, not harm, the houseplant.

In this guide, I’ll share why you might want to offer your spider plants extra food, and also give you fair warning about the ways improper fertilizing can do more harm than good.

Here are the topics I’ll cover:

Do Spider Plants Need Fertilizer?

Heads-up, houseplant lovers who tend to overwater and then bemoan the death of your plants.

Spider plants not respond well to excessive fertilizer any more than they do to oversaturated soil.

They can certainly benefit from a modest amount of food during the growing season, but they’ll languish quickly if you feed them too much or too often.

The macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in fertilizer provide the necessary nutrients for the plant to produce healthy leaves and strong roots.

The drawback is that a build up of fertilizer in the potting soil can cause salt deposits that will burn roots and turn leaves brown. If a specimen is already languishing, applying fertilizer can hasten its death.

Now let’s look at the timing that will spell success or failure.

When to Fertilize

First, let’s discuss what you shouldn’t do!

Don’t feed your C. comosum for the first four months after you acquire it from a nursery, store, or online vendor.

The C. comosum has most likely already received a dose of fertilizer from the grower, perhaps in the form of a time-release spike or an application of slow-release granules.

Also, and I realize this is counterintuitive, never feed a houseplant that is already languishing and looking sickly. It’s too hard on the roots.

Nor should you apply fertilizer once a C. comosum stops actively growing leaves. The parent plants usually start sending out offshoots that bloom and then form baby spiderettes in autumn, even when they are grown indoors.

At that time, extra nutrition will promote the growth of more foliage, not baby plantlets.

When your spider ivy is thriving, apply a balanced, all-purpose indoor plant food once a month during the growing season.

If you live in an area with fluoridated tap water, consider mixing the fertilizer with distilled or rainwater instead.

You’ll ordinarily get the best results without risking root burn or brown leaf tips by mixing water-soluble food at half the strength recommended by the manufacturer.

If you live in a warm area and the spider plants are outside where they require supplemental water in summer, only add water-soluble food once every few times you water.

Alternatively, you can apply a slow-release fertilizer in the form of granules or plant food spikes.

Schedule your application of slow-release products so they’ll be done releasing fertilizer into the potting mix before late autumn or early winter at the latest.

How to Fertilize

Thankfully, it’s simple to apply fertilizer properly once you’ve got the schedule down.

You will need to apply the product at the surface of the soil without spraying it on to the leaves.

If you consistently wet the foliage, the fertilizer can burn it and the moisture may also promote fungal diseases like powdery mildew.

Allow time for the water to soak all the way through the soil and drain out of the holes at the bottom of the pot. Discard any excess from the saucer beneath.

Remember, spider plants don’t like wet feet, and root rot could result from pooled water in the pot or saucer beneath it.

If you are using slow-release granules or plant spikes, follow the manufacturer’s recommendation for application.

But if the directions on the package recommend year-round applications of slow-release products, tweak the process so you’re only fertilizing when the specimen is actively growing leaves.

A buildup of salts from fertilizing, even when done properly, can also cause root burn that can kill the roots and invite disease.

If you see a white salty coating on the outside of terra cotta pots, or a thin film in a ring around the inner rim of the pot, you may be overfertilizing.

While the film doesn’t necessarily mean you’re providing too much fertilizer, it does indicate that you shouldn’t proceed without some changes.

You may be able to solve the issue by flushing the buildup of salts from the soil with several deep waterings, allowing each to drain all the way through and discarding the extra.

Or you may need to replace the dirt or at least add fresh, unfertilized potting mix to the top couple of inches in the pot.

Then keep your favorite leafy arachnid healthy and vibrant with just the right amount of food.