Hmm. I'm fairly new to growing houseplants myself but I have several pothos and even more spider plants so I thought I'd give my input. Leaves can turn yellow on pothos for a number of reasons but I think most commonly it's a watering issue. Either over or underwatering. I noticed that I had some leaves turn yellow on one of mine so I cut back on watering and haven't seen any yellowing since. On the other hand, my marble queen was suffering from underwatering and was getting brown tips. I've fixed that now as well. It's a learning process.

As for the spider plant, you already know that tap water isn't good for it but it sounds like you might be overwatering it. They have large roots and are good at storing water so they don't need watered often. They're very drought tolerant. I've also noticed that while they can live in low light, too little light can also cause the leaves to turn brown and start to die, as I've experienced with one of mine. If I was in your shoes, I would pull the plant up from the dirt to check the roots for rotting, trim back if needed, and then repot it and let it dry out some before watering again. I was always under the impression that plants needed watered daily but that isn't the case. Hopefully you can save yours!

It looks extremely wet. Yes you should let the water sit for a day or two before you use it.

@ Matt K: Sadly, it's been lie that for maybe a week. It's really overwatered...but I thought that was ok since what I read said to reduce the fluoride, I needed to flush it out with water. I even read that it can be place in a water bath! So I didn't think this would kill it.

@Van S: Can you paste a video on how to trim back. I dont want to make any more mistakes. These are my first plants and Im clueless

This should help: https://youtu.be/x3BlQZF7xVA

I always thought you had to be extremely gentle with the roots but I've learned that you really don't need to be. Healthy roots will be white. If yours are dark colored then they're dead or dying.

I'd love to know how this goes for you if you have time to keep us updated!

Update: As of this morning, all the leaves are soggy. Even the healthy looking ones in the picture collapsed. I did nothing else.

@PS- The pothos has been doing well and growing. I think the yellowing was due to insufficient sunlight but that was because it was facing the wall. I rotated it.

And yes, there is a window in front of them. There's a build right in front of us and we are facing north so no sunlight comes into the apartment. However, it is fairly bright in the day and I try to turn on the lights as well.

I thought that's all they needed. Should I try to suspend it from the window? There are birds, though....

@Van S: thanks for the video...looks scary! I don't have extra soil and will need to go to the next city to get good soil from te same place I bought them. I wont be able to for another two months. Is this the only solution?

Can I do that and reuse the same soil???

What do I do with the dead leaves? Just leave them? Cut/pull them out?

Also, what you do think about this idea. I was thinking of hanging outside the window maybe with plastic forks in it to ward off birds. Also, I wanted to add blended banana peel and an egg shell as a fertilizer...maybe this will give it the light it needs and the air it needs to dry out.

Good idea???

If you must reuse the soil, bake or microwave it first.

I think the spider plant is just a goner. They do not recover well from overwatering unless you really know what you are doing.

pothos are very low maintenance plants. They do better being underwatered than overwatered, though proper watering is always the best option.

Dont put eggshells and bananas and stuff in it. I think it's fine to hang it outside to let it dry out if it's overwatered.

@Lauren, that's so sad. So, if it's really a goner, do I just throw it out? Can I use the soil with seeds to plant something else? I'd hate to waste everything for nothing.

I guess I'm just one of the few people that can kill even the resilient plants...HHHhhhhhh...

I wouldn't give up on it just yet. If the roots are okay, it can grow back. Many years ago, I had one that I left out in my garage one winter. It didn't receive any sunlight or water, and the leaves had completely died back. When spring rolled around, I moved it outside and it began to grow again.

To me it looks as if the spider is far too wet which is causing the base of the leaves to rot. It possibly also has insufficient light but since we can't see where it is that's hard to say. The overwatering is far more important than fretting over the type of water. Does the pot have drainage holes?

I put it outside the window to get more light and dry it out. Ill try to check the roots today and post a picture later.

I'm wondering...if it's completely dead with no hope, if I can reuse the soil and plant a piece of mt pothos to get another pot going...???

Best not to reuse mix from dead/dying diseased plants when one doesn't know why they died. Not good plant hygiene, I wouldn't risk it, why would you? To save money?

The pot has holes. Whenever I water, it drains right away. I don't know what happened here, but the company I bought it from is said to have the best soil we have here.

anyone?

The roots look ok still. I don't see a reason to re-pot. When it dries out it should recover. These are very resilient plants.

The roots look pretty good. What matters, however, with the spider plant is what those roots near the top look like. Those are probably the ones that started to give out when it was overwatered.

Ive brought one or two back from the brink, but only because I cut the roots back where they began to rot.

Can you show pics of the base of the plant and roots at the base? That would help.

thanks matt...do you think I should leave it like that without the pot to dry out outside or just repot it and wait?

thanks lauren...so I should shake off all the soil? I'm kind of scared that there are creepy-crawlies in there lol

While deciding what to do, try placing the bare root ball on a stack of newspapers or other absorbent stuff to wick out some of that excess water. If the soil is really wet, that might remove enough water to let the surviving roots breathe.

The roots you're specifically concerned about are the very fine and white ones that take up water and nutrients. The thicker light colored ones in your pot don't actually absorb water from the soil, I think they just carry it once the fine roots have taken it in.

The light colored roots in the picture look fine, but ideally the soil would be infiltrated by lots of fine white roots, and I can't see any in the picture. A plant that's been overwatered (or underwatered) for a while is likely to have plenty of thicker roots with only a few clumps of fine ones. Can you poke around to see if there are any fine roots inside the soil?

Good luck--it might take a while for the plant to turn around, but spider plants grow so fast that it should look much better in a relatively short time.

You are going to have to shake the dirt off eventually. If there are creepy crawlers, you need them out of the plant anyway.

second everything litterbuggy said...

Finally, here are the roots. The last picture shows them after allowing them to dry in the washroom over night.

bump

Okay, yes, this is what I meant about seeing the top part. Is that all that is left of the plant? Or are there more leaves elsewhere?

Oops--did you let the fine roots themselves dry out? If so, they're almost certainly dead.

What you want to lose the excess water in the soil, which will leave moist, not wet, soil that will provide oxygen from air between the soil particles to keep the finest roots aliive.

Dead roots can't take up water for the leaves, which is why an overwatered plant generally looks just like an underwatered plant. Still, that little cluster of healthy leaves tells me that there are enough roots to allow the plant to recover--eventually. It will take some time for that to happen, and the water retentive soil will make it a challenbe to provide them with air and moisture, but if you're careful the fine roots will grow back enough to support healthy new growth aboveground.

Of course the alternative is to get a new healthy plant and use what you've learned to keep it that way. No judgment; you'll have to decide for yourself whether to keep working on this one or give yourself a fresh start.

Looks to be a goner at this point. The thicker roots look mushy and the feeder roots look dried up.

@Lauren, there aren't any good leaves if that's what you mean. the pictures are a combination of the roots/base of the two plants that were in the pot.

@littlebuggy, I thought I was suppose to let everything dry out. I didn't know I was to leave some of the plant in the wet soil. ugh. I only did that for a night and then put it all back in the pot.

@dave, I'm willing to accept that if it's true

ill try to get better pictures today and add a picture of whats left of the leaves. I really hope someone can give me a detailed response as to what to do if it can be savaged.

Oh. I forgot these pictures!

Sorry to say your plant is gone.

It was rotting from the base of the leaves & the roots appear to be mostly gone. This is TOO FAR GONE to bring back, I am sorry to tell you.

I'd throw it ALL out plant, roots & soil & start over. It's part of the learning curve.

Oh goodness yes, it is a goner. I thought there might be something salvageable at the base, but no.

Can you show me what it's suppose to look like?

What the roots should look like? Or the whole plant? I've got spider plants for days, so I'd be happy to post a pic for you. I just want to clarify what you are asking for:)

the roots...normal, healthy roots