Spider Plant
Chlorophytum comosum
Through the year 🗓️
☀️ Summer now
Keep evenly watered; brown tips mean dry air or tap minerals, not disease.
🍂 Fall
Taper feeding; runners keep coming wherever the light is good.
❄️ Winter
Fine in cool rooms; let the soil dry further between drinks.
🌱 Spring
Repot before the thick roots crack the pot; plantlets root fastest now.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect; tolerates medium light; direct sun bleaches leaves
- Ideal PPFD
- 100–300 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 18–24 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Water when the top inch is dry; well-draining pot. Fluoride/chlorine in tap water browns the tips, so distilled or rested water helps.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced feed at ½ strength, monthly in spring–summer; overfeeding browns tips.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Standard well-draining houseplant mix; pH 6.0–7.2
- Humidity
- Average (40–60%)
- Temperature
- 60–80 °F
- Mature size
- 12–15 in mounds with 2 ft runners
- Repotting
- Every 1–2 yrs; thick roots crack pots when crowded
- Propagation
- Plantlets ("spiderettes") root in water or soil while still attached, the easiest propagation in the plant world.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellow, limp leaves; rotting center
- Underwatering signs
- Pale, folded leaves; brown papery tips
- Common pests
- Spider mites (ironically), aphids, whiteflies
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Spider Plant looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
Brown leaf tips
Likely cause
Fluoride and salts in tap water — spider plants are unusually sensitive.
What to do
Water with filtered or rainwater and flush the soil occasionally. Trim tips for looks.
Pale, washed-out leaves
Likely cause
Too much direct sun scorching them.
What to do
Move it back from the window to bright indirect light.
No baby spiderettes
Likely cause
Young plant, or not enough light to send out runners.
What to do
Give it steady bright indirect light; babies come once it is established and slightly pot-bound.
More like this 🌿
Have a spider plant?
Track it in DueDrop, with watering every 9 days, feeding every 28 days, prefilled for you.
Start tracking free