Why Spider Plant Leaves Turning Brown – It’s a familiar sight each summer those gorgeous spider plants gracefully swaying in the breeze, their long leaves reaching towards the sunlight. But while they offer a pleasant visual respite, their extended exposure to heat and humidity can often cause leaf tips to brown. If you’re noticing this happening with your own prized plants, knowing why it’s occurring and how to prevent it can help restore them back to their former glory. In this blog post, we’ll be taking a look at what causes spider plant leaves turning brown and tips on how you can keep these carefree houseplants looking healthy all season long!
Why Spider Plant Leaves Turning Brown
Overwatering can cause brown leaves
A common reason why leaves turn brown is from overwatering. It’s easy to get excited and want to give your plant all the water it needs, but too much of a good thing can actually harm your Spider Plant.
Although they are fairly resilient, spider plants can die if overwatered. If this happens too often, the plant will develop root rot, causing leaves to fall out and turn brown. Without proper nutrients from the soil, the plant will be unable to sustain healthy growth.
If you overwatered your Spider Plant, the best course of action is to replace the soil immediately. This will prevent any long-term damage to the plant. Be careful when removing the old soil from around the roots so as not to damage them further.
Before watering your Spider Plant, make sure to check the moisture in the soil. There are two quick and easy ways to do this: first, check the moisture at the top of the soil. If it’s still damp, wait a few days before watering again. Second, lift up your Spider Plant and compare its weight before and after watering; when it’s time to water again, you’ll be able to tell by how much lighter the plant is.
Underwatering often causes light brown leaves
Just as you can harm your Spider Plant by overwatering it, not giving it enough water will also have negative consequences. Although occasional forgetfulness won’t kill your plant, if you consistently underwater it then its health will start to decline. Signs that you are not watering your Spider Plant enough include drooping and paleness.
Instead of watering your Spider Plant every day, wait two days in between waterings for a week.
If you think your Spider Plant needs water, don’t immediately drench the plant. Such a sudden change in environment can be harmful to your plant; they can get shocked just like people do. Instead, reintroduce frequent watering but spread out over a week or two. This should take care of the problem.
Brown leaves can also be caused by drainage issues
If your Spider Plant is browning, it might not be because you’re watering it wrong—it could be poor drainage. To improve drainage in the pot, mix a small amount of perlite into the soil. This will make water flow more easily through and out of the holes.
Too much direct sunlight can scorch the leaves
Just as lighting is important to all houseplants, it’s also necessary for Spider Plants. If your plant gets too much bright light, you’ll notice the tips of the leaves turning brown and yellow patches on various leaves. Sunlight burns the leaves, so this damage is unfortunately irreversible. To help your Spider Plant, try moving it into a shadier place; if there’s no improvement after a week or two, move it again until you find its ideal location.
Brown leaf tips can mean chemical sensitivity
Brown leaves on spider plants may be a symptom of fluoride or chlorine sensitivity. Both chemicals can damage roots over time, so if you live in a hard water area, it’s likely that your spider plant is struggling to cope with the high levels of chemicals in the tap water.
There are two methods you can use to ensure that the water given to your houseplants is free of pollutants. Firstly, leave a jug of tap water out for 24 hours so that many of the chemicals will evaporate. Another option is to set a tray outside during rainfall and collect rainwater to give plants; this way you know the chemical levels will be lower than what’s in treated tap water.
Diseases
Brown or black leaf tips on your spider plant is a telltale sign of bacterial leaf blight. Bacterial leaf spot typically occurs due to excessively hot and humid conditions.
The most effective method to prevent your other plants from catching this disease is by getting rid of the one that’s already infected. This may seem drastic, but if you don’t remove the plant, the disease will only spread and infect any others in close proximity. To stop the disease in its tracks, avoid overhead watering and remove all dead or discolored leaves as soon as possible.
Don’t over-fertilise your Spider Plant
Spider plants don’t need to be fertilized every month. Fertilizing them every 3 months is optimal during the warmer months, and they should not be fertilized at all during the colder, dormant months. If you continue to fertilizer your spider plant more frequently than necessary, it will damage the main root system which could eventually lead to its death.
Use a diluted, water-soluble fertiliser on your Spider Plant to reduce the frequency of fertilisation and ensure that no shock or damage is caused to the plant. You can also skip the fertiliser entirely; we don’t add anything to the water for our Spider Plants and they still grow healthy new growth and more spiderettes than we could ever need!
Fluoride Content in Water
Fluoride in water can damage your plants over time! For example, spider plants may experience browning tips if they are exposed to fluoride-rich water.
Fluoride can be deadly to your plants if it builds up too much. It will prevent photosynthesis and damage tissues. If you see browning on the edges of leaves, that’s a sign fluoride has entered the plant through the stomata. To avoid this, make sure your tap water doesn’t have fluoride in it.
If you think fluoride might be causing your plant’s leaves to brown, regularly flush the soil with distilled water. To do this, pour a few containers of water into your plant’s pot and wait a few minutes for it to drain out completely. Then repeat the process.
fluoride can potentially damage your plants, but by rainwater and using a high-calcium soil, you can help prevent any fluoride toxicity.
Low humidity could also cause brown leaf tips on your Spider Plant
It is essential to water your Spider Plant regularly, but you should also try to increase the humidity levels around it if you want it to thrive. The air inside our homes can get very dry, especially during winter when we tend to have the heat on all day long. This lack of humidity causes the plant leaves to droop down and turn brown and crispy from the tips up.
Fortunately, there are some simple ways that you can increase humidity for your Spider Plant:
Misting the leaves
A easy way to improve the humidity for your spider Plant is to mist them lightly a few times each week.
Pebble tray
Your Spider Plant will thrive if you place it over a tray of pebbles with fresh water. The plant will absorb the water it needs from the evaporating tray throughout the day.
Move your Spider Plant to the bathroom
By placing your Spider Plant in the bathroom, you can increase the humidity since bathrooms tend to be more humid due to shower water.
Buy a humidifier
By investing in a humidifier, you’re not only creating a more comfortable environment inside your home, but you’re also improve the quality of the air. Most units are reasonably priced and easy to operate. Some models come with features like timers and monitors that make it even easier to get the perfect level of humidity for your needs.
There are many reasons why your Spider Plant’s leaves could be turning brown. However, don’t worry! If you have caught the problem early, there is still time to save your plant. By changing up your watering schedule and monitoring new growth closely, you should see it return to full health in no time.
Don’t hope for brown leaves to turn green overnight—it’s not going to happen. Additionally, don’t yank off dying or dead leaves as it can damage your plant. Be patient and wait for them to fall off naturally or cut away the brown parts once your plant is doing well again. With these tips, you should be able to keep your Spider Plant healthy for many years and even pass it down through generations.
