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Trying to save my spider plant

15 years ago

The other day my mother gave me her poor, beaten up looking spider plant. She didn't know what went wrong but the leaves have either gone limp and wilty, or died off all together. I re-potted what was left and found for the most part that the roots seem healthy and the plant hasn't been overwatered. My mom said she was spraying the plant every other day with an insecticide/fungicide (for fungus gnats), so I am thinking that the leaves got super saturated and wilted? Not sure if that can happen or not. I read in another post that spider plants can be revived as long as the base of the roots is intact. That's pretty much all I have left, so I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do, or if my plants are a lost cause.

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Comments (5)

User
15 years ago
Seems to me that spraying it w/ insecticide fungicide every other day is basically poisoning it every other day.

Gnats tend to come from overwatering, so maybe you could teach her better care, so she doesn't overwater & therefore can lay off the insecticide, pls. remind her it's POISON!
Mentha
15 years ago
I would wash the roots really well in a mild bleach solution for about 15 minutes and rince well before repotting in clean new peat-free soil. Fungus gnats love peaty soil, they also love eating roots which have been damaged. I'd advise cutting the roots up into the white and let them heal a day or so before repotting. They will be fine as long as they heal over. Make sure the soil has a lot of substance, like perlite or pumice which will make it airy. You can also grow spiders in water. I had one I converted to a bowl of marbles, the roots attached to the marbles and really took off.

When my soil grown spider plants look really bad I cut all the leaves off up to the roots and force dormancy. You do this by cutting all the leaves off, do not cut into the stem. Put it in a cool dark corner and do not water it but just enough to keep the root alive. I would let it stay that way until fall when you can bring it out of dormancy and then gradually water until they get what is needed. You must make sure to force dormancy or else you risk losing them. Usually spiders are heavy drinkers, so a well draining soil is a must for them otherwise you'll be rotting roots right and left.

Good luck and keep us posted.
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Dave, I second repotting. Someone started a similar thread a few years ago..those who tried this experiment ended up with unhealthy plants. I don't know what you mean by blanching water? Was salt added in the veggie water? I thought about trying this experiment, but without salt and of course, cooling water first. In the meantime, I'd remove the entire spider from its pot. If you have access to an outdoor garden hose, 'not cold/icy water,' wash soil off roots...toss soil. Since you've been leaching soil and it's not helping, this should be a last resort. While you're at it, hose pot, too. Repot in fresh soil, or whatever mediums you use. Keep water in a container overnight before watering your spider. They don't like water directly from tap. Water should sit at least 12 hours prior to watering. One last thing. Have you ever heard of a product called SuperThrive? It's got 50 vitamins and hormones. I have complete faith in this product, been using for years. Superthrive helps stressed, 'among other issues,' plants. It's sold locally in some states, but easily found online..and less expensive, too. Good luck, Toni
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A few months ago I came home to find that my bf had transplanted my plant. I appreciated it (it was something on my to-do list). However, it was a plastic pot with no drainage. I'm a very busy grad student and have never kept plants really. I thought if I tried to transplant it that day it would go into shock or something and die, but I kept forgetting to do it and now I see that the stalks have turned brown and the bottom leaves are drying out/falling off. I read that usually in these cases it's usually too severe of a case of root rot to save the plant. Should I try to examine the roots, get the bleach and fungicide and save it or should i just toss it before my neighboring plants catch the fungus? Because of my schedule I am almost leaning towards just throwing it out... It's a shame because it was doing so well before :/
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jinjur
Original Author
15 years ago
Yeah, I've reminded my mom not to overwater on a regular basis. Gnats are persistent little buggers which is why I think she went crazy with the spray. I pointed out to her that the bottle says "weekly basis" on it, so hopefully she'll use a lighter touch in the future.

That sounds like a lot of useful advice, mentha. I'll be sure to use it, and I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks a lot!
ines_99
15 years ago
I had a really ratty spider plant once, I got sick of looking at it, there was no way to fix the tattered leaves, so I just cut it back....within a few months, I had a full plant again. They are surprisingly resiliant.
greattigerdane
15 years ago
For old ratty looking spiders, or over-watered ones, or whatever the problem may be. You can cut off ALL the roots and re-root the now bare bottoms into a small pot like any other plant that you take stem cuttings from.

Something I did a month ago to an overgrown all green spider. It's smaller then it was, but it's nice and healthy looking again. I lost maybe two or three leaves from doing this operation!

Billy Rae

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