Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) care

Vines & trailers · easy to keep

Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) wants bright indirect light. Water it every 6 days. Keep lightly damp in summer, drier in winter. They store water in the roots and survive a missed fortnight. Pot it in standard compost with perlite. A balanced feed at half strength monthly in spring and summer; over-feeding causes brown tips, and repot once a year. Humidity: room humidity is fine. Non-toxic to cats and dogs.

The spider plant: arching striped leaves and long runners carrying miniature plantlets — the babies that made it the most-shared houseplant in the world. Its thick white roots store water, so it forgives a missed fortnight, and the brown tips nearly every specimen has are usually fluoride in the tap water.

Quick facts

Water: Water every 6 days. Keep lightly damp in summer, drier in winter. They store water in the roots and survive a missed fortnight.
Light: Bright indirect light.
Humidity: Room humidity is fine.
Soil: Standard compost with perlite.
Feeding: A balanced feed at half strength monthly in spring and summer; over-feeding causes brown tips.
Repotting: Repot once a year.
Toxic to pets: Non-toxic to cats and dogs. Cats are unusually drawn to chewing the leaves, which is harmless but hard on the plant.
Difficulty: Easy.
Mature size: 30–50 cm with runners to 60 cm.
Native to: Southern Africa.

Watering a Spider plant

Water every 6 days. Keep lightly damp in summer, drier in winter. They store water in the roots and survive a missed fortnight.

That cadence is the one PlantParlour sets for this species when you name it, and it is deliberately on the cautious side — a plant that asks a day early is safer than one that asks a day late. Log each watering and the reminder moves with the plant rather than with the calendar.

Light

Bright indirect light. Spider plants cope with less but produce fewer runners, and the variegation is sharpest in a bright spot out of direct sun.

Humidity and temperature

Room humidity is fine. Central heating in winter is what turns a comfortable room into a dry one, and it is the usual reason an established plant suddenly browns at the edges or picks up spider mites.

Soil and potting

Ordinary compost with perlite. Spider plants build thick white water-storing roots that will crack a pot when they run out of room.

Feeding

A balanced feed at half strength monthly in spring and summer; over-feeding causes brown tips. Stop feeding in autumn and start again when you see new growth in spring — feeding a plant that isn't growing just builds up salts in the pot.

Repotting

Repot once a year. Every spring while young. A spider plant that is not producing babies is usually one that needs a bigger pot — or, occasionally, one that needs a smaller one, since they flower when snug.

Common problems

Brown tips on most leaves
Fluoride and salts in tap water — the classic spider plant complaint.

Fix: Switch to rainwater or filtered water, flush the pot occasionally, and feed less.
Pale limp leaves
Too much direct sun.

Fix: Move it out of the sun's direct path.
No babies
Too young, too dark, or too much pot.

Fix: Give it a bright spot and leave it slightly potbound.

Propagation

Peg a plantlet from a runner onto a pot of compost while still attached to the parent, and cut it free once it has rooted.

A cutting taken in PlantParlour keeps its link to the plant it came from, so a propagation years later still traces back to the mother plant — which is the point if you ever sell or trade it.

Toxicity and safety

Non-toxic to cats and dogs. Cats are unusually drawn to chewing the leaves, which is harmless but hard on the plant.

Named cultivars and variegations

Chlorophytum comosum is sold under several cultivar names. Care is the same unless noted; variegated forms carry less chlorophyll, so they grow more slowly and want more light than the plain species.

Cultivar	Also sold as	Water
'Vittatum'	Variegated spider plant	every 6 days
'Bonnie'	Curly spider plant	every 6 days

Questions people ask

Why does my spider plant have brown tips?

Fluoride and salts in tap water, nine times out of ten — spider plants are unusually sensitive to both. Switch to rainwater or filtered water, flush the pot through with plain water a few times a year, and ease off the fertiliser.

Why isn't my spider plant producing babies?

It is either too young, in too little light, or in too large a pot. Spider plants send out runners when they are mature and slightly potbound. Give it a bright spot and leave it snug.

How often should you water a Spider plant?

Water every 6 days as a starting point — that is the cadence PlantParlour sets for Chlorophytum comosum. Keep lightly damp in summer, drier in winter. They store water in the roots and survive a missed fortnight. Light, pot size and the time of year all move that number, so treat it as a reminder to go and check rather than a rule.

How much light does a Spider plant need?