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Can someone help with my poor Spider Plant? Within the past week… | Anything about plants | Planta community

Callen

Can someone help with my poor Spider Plant? Within the past week maybe week and a half, I noticed my Spider Plant has been fading in color. I asked Dr. Planta and it says its underwatered. I'm not sure, I watered it last week...so before I water it, here's some background on the plant which I hope is helpful. The plant has been on the stand since I got it, probably at least since the early spring. It grew like a weed, it used to just be a lil baby, probably the size of the babies you can see in the overall photo of the plant. The plant site gets morning indirect sunlight and then bright direct light in the afternoon, as you can see from the photos, for about 4 hours. The soil seems fine, its not overly dry or compact like a desert. I suspect the plant is bothered by the direct light but unfortunately I cannot place the plant anywhere else to get enough light. I'm in a townhouse and that window is the only window that gets a range of light that the Planta light sensor does not consider shade. My concern is if it is the amount of light, why is it just now showing up since its been about 6 months in the window. I'm also not sure why the leaves not getting most of the direct light are the ones turning yellow?

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4 likes 13 comments

13 comments

  1. Southern Grace

    I’m not an expert, but my guess is that it may need to be transplanted to a bigger pot. Since it has grown so much, the roots may need more room. 😊

    4 likes
    • Callen

      Good point! I have been meaning to put it in a larger pot..

      2 likes
  2. NattieB55

    It does look a water issue, at least that’s what mine does. Have you checked the soil to see if it’s dry? If it’s grown a lot, then it may need watered more often. Also, I am bad about updating the plant size within the app, which means it can’t provide the right care.

    3 likes
    • Callen

      The soil is not overly dry or compact, its loose. Hmmmm it could be the plant size in the app, its been some time I've updated it

      1 like
  3. KJM

    Spider plants are very durable plants. I don't believe your plant needs a new pot they like to be quite crowded and often won't produce babies until it is crowded. Too many hours of direct sun can cause issues but I don't think this is the problem. I think it's watering. If your pot does not have a drain hole, move it to one that does have a drain hole. When you water, water until water runs out the bottom of the pot and then let it drip for a few minutes before putting it back in its place. Do not let it sit in a saucer full of water. Then, don't water it until it's dry to an inch or two. Depending on your weather and the condition of your home this will be about every 7 to 10 days. My thought is using this method, you can never over water but you can water too often. I think you're watering too often and when you do water perhaps it's not deep enough. If the pot is too large then it holds too much water for the amount of roots that you have so if anything the pot size would be to large rather than too small. If you tip the plant out of the pot and you see nothing but roots everywhere then you can replant otherwise let it be.

    3 likes
    • Lynda

      Great answer!

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    • Callen

      The pot has a drainage hole, I always make sure any plant I buy has one. I'll try giving it a little more water than normal! Hopefully this is the problem....I did try tipping the plant out of the pot and I do still see a bunch of soil, so I'll leave it alone for now at least. Maybe in another month I'll revisit moving it to a bigger pot. Thanks for the tips, very helpful!

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  4. KJM

    Also, some yellowing of the older leaves is typical of a spider plant. You can just remove them.

    3 likes
    • Callen

      Ah, noted. I will remove some of them then!

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  5. Plantingsherry

    Everyone says spider plants are easy, but mine really did struggle after I transplanted it and it’s finally started to grow after months of me wondering if it even wanted to live or not. I’ve had a diagnosis of underwater and overwatering and too close to the grow light and too far from the grow light all in one session with the AI. The only thing I can recommend when it comes to watering is get a grow meter of some sort in water when the plant gets dry I use this kind from Amazon and it never scares me wrong.

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    • KJM

      I am not familiar with your type of water meter but there are some that respond to ions in the soil and if you are using fertilizer the water meter can be thrown off. The best water meter for me anyways is my finger.

      2 likes
    • Callen

      I typically just use my finger to test how dry the soil is, but I may look into a meter. Could be useful

      0 likes
  6. KJM

    Meters are definitely useful but you just have to use a little common science sense.

    0 likes