Q&A for How to Care for a Spider Plant

Spider plants do enjoy bright light, however, they need to be protected from too much direct sunlight. They flourish in partial shade.

The most common reason behind brown leaves is overwatering or letting the foliage rest in water. The soil of spider plants should be left to dry slightly between waterings,

They can be grown either inside or outside. It's best to begin a seedling indoors, then they can easily be moved outside.

Brown tips can generally be avoided by watering your plant with distilled or purified water.

Yes, you can certainly place the spider plant in your kitchen window, as long as it’s not being subjected to direct sunlight, as that will scorch its leaves. If your windowsill is too sunny, choose a different side of the house or place it in your bathroom, hallway or a bedroom. Always keep it on a saucer or base, to catch runoff from watering and prevent stains on your windows, furnishings or paintwork.

Spider plants don’t need too much water and if they get overwatered, the leaves will go brown. Equally though, too little water can cause the same problem, so check your watering schedule. Another cause can be related to a bacterial leaf blight, more common when the atmosphere is humid a lot of the time. Remove such leaves and throw into the trash can to prevent spreading it any further. In future, when watering the plant, water the soil sparingly, and do not get water on the leaves. Other causes of browning can include water that has a chemical imbalance (some tap waters contain minerals in a ration the plant dislikes) and pests; try distilled water or eliminating the pests.

Try adding some color to spice up the green and white of the spider plant. You could add some nasturtiums, geraniums, begonias, or carnations. A trailing asparagus fern or baby's breath would be a lovely complementary addition alongside a spider plant too.

The spider plant is a very forgiving plant and will tolerate a fair amount of neglect and imperfect indoor conditions. However, the more you take care of your spider plant, the more it’ll give back to you by way of luscious growth, many cascading spiderlings and a healthy overall glow.

According to the ASPCA, the spider plant is non-toxic to both puppies and dogs. For good measure, it’s also non-toxic for cats but they are apparently attracted to it as a mild hallucinogenic and if they chew too much, they usually vomit it up. Thus, it’s a good idea to keep this plant out of reach of reach if any of your pets like chewing it!

A spider plant doesn’t need a great deal of sunlight. It will grow well in shade and even in the bathroom or bedroom where little natural light reaches. If it is exposed to too much direct sunlight, the spider plant can easily scorch, turning its leaves brown.

The spider plant is a fairly hardy little house plant but it cannot tolerate intense direct sunlight, especially not of the sort concentrated through a hot window. It also dislikes many hours of direct sun. It is best grown in a bright light area without direct, intense sunlight, to avoid burning. Outdoors, give it semi-shade to partial or dappled shade and it’ll grow just fine. Indoors, windowsill placement is fine for south-facing windows, keeping it about 12 inches (30cm) back from the window’s edge during the hotter months. Since spider plants don’t need a great deal of natural light, it’s ideal for your bathroom or bedroom too.

Provided you trim off the spiderlings carefully and don’t hack at the whole plant, it doesn’t harm the mother spider plant. In fact, this is an expected outcome, for the spiderlings will sometimes drop off when animals brush against them or wind blows too hard, allowing them to strike out on their own. It’s just a lucky happenstance for this plant that we humans can’t resist helping it to grow too!

In my experience, spider plants only need watering once a week. When you do water it, water it just until water comes out of the bottom, so that it won't sit in any extra water.

Absolutely! Just don't hang them in full sun. A shady porch is perfect for them if they get a few hours of indirect sun. Too much sun will scorch the leaves.

It is not recommended. It may be possible for the plant to come back in the spring, but it would be unlikely.

When you find that you have a small bunch of leaves at the end of the original spider plant, cut it off with clean scissors and plant it in its own plant pot and continue the process of how you did with the original spider plant.

Leave the flower bud attached to the mother plant until leaves appear. Roots will soon follow. Once roots have started to grow, remove by cutting just below the root system and planting.

It's not a big problem, only you need to know few things. When houseplants get brown tips on their leaves, it's generally an indication of poor watering habits. The best way to water a houseplant is to thoroughly flush it until water runs freely out the drainage holes. Shallow watering can cause brown tips on the leaves. During growth, water occasionally; once fully developed (within one year), water moderately. In the spring and summer months keep the soil moist. Do not let soil dry out. Fertilize twice a month in the spring and summer, however, avoid over fertilization.

You will need to start off with a spiderette or plantlet: look for a cluster of leaves on a long, brownish, knobby stalk. Cut the leaf cluster stalk off using a pair of clean scissors; try to include about a centimeter of the stalk. After this, you can stick the plant directly into a pot of soil, or start it out in a cup of water for the first week or so. Some people find that dipping the cut end into a rooting hormone helps.

Spider Plants should be in a temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit; it's not likely a spider plant will survive in a hot climate.

There may be aphids causing this problem -- look for small insects or movement. Try spraying with a plant shampoo or just putting the plant under a gentle shower spray.

The spider plant is listed as non toxic to cats and other pets. But, it's still not good for cats to be eating spider plant leaves -- they may pose a potential risk. Spider plants contain chemical compounds related to opium.

Giving them more light might help, because they won't need as many photosynthesizing cells. This definitely works for pathos plants, It would seem that the same would be true of spider plants.

Vinegar will kill the plant. Epsom salts in moderation are great.

Those shoots are stalks, and they are how spider plants reproduce. Eventually, the stalk will grow small groups of leaves. You can cut the stalk off at the leaves and grow a new plant.

Sounds like you might have spider mites or scale. Use a household pest repellent from a nursery or garden center, or look up recipes for homemade insecticidal soaps.

You can, but be aware spider plants grow very quickly.

Get some new potting soil and replant what is left of the plant. After the plant starts some green shoots, try using plant food sticks to feed it. It should start up again and be beautiful.

Yes, you can absolutely leave them be. They will only flower the first year, and after that will just continue to grow into new leaves.

The shoots really cause no harm to the plant. You can cut a centimeter above the leaves at the end of the shoot and replant it as a separate plant. You would then cut the rest of the shoot all the way back, but this is really unnecessary, you can just leave the shoots as they are.