Spider Plant Care

Spider plants are one of the most popular house plants for good reason. They’re beautiful and super easy to care for. They’re practically maintenance free besides a quick watering once a week or so, and cleaning up dead leaves once in a while. This makes it the perfect starter plant for any beginner indoor grower. Whether you’re looking for the company of just one or two plants or want to live in an indoor jungle, Spider Plants can help you get there.

Spider Plant Benefits:
This plant is great at cleaning the air. Chosen as one of Nasa’s clean air plants in their 1989 study, they’re shown to clean formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene from the air. And you only need a mere 1 plant per 100 square feet. So go ahead and place 1, 2, or 3 in any room you’d like cleaner air.

POTTING & REPOTTING

Most likely the spider plant you purchased from the Treasure Market is a baby clipped off a mature plant and not potted. You can either place the baby in water to root and then pot or just pot it and keep soil damp for a few weeks and then water regularly.

As with most houseplants, make sure to use a pot with good drainage.

Give this plant 2″ of room to grow. Spider plants grow quickly, but don’t mind being cramped inside their pot. They actually prefer to be a little root bound, so you don’t have to be overly diligent about repotting. Use regular potting soil from the hardware store, Spider plants don’t need anything fancy. Remove the plant from the original pot. Break up the roots a little bit. Fill the new pot 2″ with soil. Plant in the new pot.

LOCATION & LIGHTING

Never put your spider plant in the sun. Spider plants like vibrant indirect light. It’s best at 6 feet away from a south-facing window or door. Make sure the sun doesn’t wander onto the plant for too long during any part of the day.

Many plant owners are accustomed to bringing their indoor plants outside for the summer. Just be sure to not place plant in direct sunlight. Find a shady spot and the spider plant will thrive.

WATERING

Spider plants thrive with slightly moist soil and an occasional misting. Distilled water or rainwater works best, as they dislike chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals often present in tap water. Water the plant more frequently in summer, once or twice a week, and let soil dry between waterings.

In most indoor growing environments, you will need to water your spider plant once or twice a week during the summer, using the finger test to learn your plant’s preferred frequency. In winter, stick with the routine of watering when the soil is dry. This may be anywhere from once per week to once every three weeks, depending on other conditions.

FERTILIZATION

Add half strength of an indoor fertilizer solution while watering. Do this once a month, maybe twice for the best Spider plant growth. Remember to only fertilize during the growing season. During winter, plants slow their growth or go dormant totally. Stop fertilizing in the fall and winter. Start again in the spring.

PRUNING

Most of the time it’s not necessary to prune your spider plant. But sometimes, it might need a little help.

Cut off any leaves that are brown, broken, or flopping. Cut it back all the way to the soil. When you’re cleaning up a spider plant, you can cut a lot off before damaging the plant. This guy is pretty tough. It will grow back.

ARE SPIDER PLANTS TOXIC?

CATS love spider plants. Thankfully, the Spider plant is not toxic to cats or other household pets. So if they ingest some or even a lot, it won’t hurt them. However, you don’t want your cat to destroy your plant. So if your curious tabby takes an interest in your spider plant, you may want to move it to a higher shelf or hang it from a hook.