Hello. I have a spider plant (well, it's two in one pot), and the tips of the leaves are turning brown. The plantlets are ok (there are about 18 of them), but the leaves on the Momma plant and some of the leaves that grow over the node things on the stems are brown. Does anyone know what can cause this? Also, out of curiosity, how come some plantlets grow at the end of their own stem, but some of them grow straight out of a node on the stem without their own stem? I had a stem where the plantlet broke off accidentally, but now there are three plantlets growing out of that stem without their own stems... I don't know if that makes sense.
Spider plants are particularly sensitive to high levels of salts in the soil, much like peace lilies and a few others, so it's important to have loose well draining soil, nothing heavy that would retain water for a long period of time. Dry soil can also cause brown tips, as well as over feeding, using hard water and being in the wrong light. I like to use pots not much larger then the roots/rootball, using well draining soil and keeping the plant in bright indirect light with a little direct sun during the morning and others in the afternoon. My spiders get watered weekly "IF" the soil is almost dry by that time. Dilute feeding once in a while seems to enough. Using bottled or rain water can help. Hard water with Chlorine and fluoride can cause tips too. Where ever there is a flower on the spider stems, you'll get babies....
Ok, thanks! Wow, I think I water it too much. No wonder it was the only one of my 6 plants that wasn't almost dead when I was on vacation for 10 days and my coworker forgot to water my plants! I water it about 3 times a week. I also use tap water so there's probably chlorine in it. I'll water it less often and let the water sit overnight first. Thanks!
1) Chlorine isn't necessarily a problem; fluoride is. (Some plants are touchier about it than others.) Fluoride doesn't dissipate when water is left out. (Chlorine used to, but most places now use chloramine instead of chlorine, and chloramine doesn't evaporate.) 2) If your problem is high levels of minerals in the soil, you actually need to flush the soil out with lots of water, to dissolve the minerals and carry them out of the pot. This is usually easiest to do in a sink or bathtub. With my own spider plants, I always water them in the tub, to flush out the soil, then pour in a little bit of fertilizer at the end, and my plants don't have burnt tips. 3) Being in a spot with a lot of hot, dry air will cause really fast tip burn as well. 4) I'm not sure there's a "reason" why the plantlets will grow on the stems and at the end of the stems. It's just how the plant grows.
