Brown Tips on Spider Plants and Other Care Problems
The spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) is a popular indoor hanging plant because it is so easy to care for.
And while the spider plant is certainly a low-maintenance plant, there are a few common care problems.
Overwatering, seen through yellow leaves, soggy soil or root rot, and underwatering, visible as dry, brown tips on leaves, are typical issues. Spider plants are sensitive to fluoride and chlorine in tap water, leading to brown leaf tips, and they may suffer if exposed to direct sunlight. Address these problems with appropriate watering, filtered water, and bright, indirect light.
What’s wrong with your spider plant?
When you got all the general spider plant care issues covered, but are still experiencing problems, it’s time to troubleshoot and find out why your plant might look like it’s dying.
You can expect some issues like droopy leaves or brown tips if you just brought your plant home or after repotting. Your plant is adjusting to the new situation. Give it some time to settle in before you do anything else.
Looking to buy a Spider plant? Find it for sale on Amazon!
1. Brown Tips on Leaves
It is common for the leaves of indoor spider plants to turn brown at the tips. When this happens, it usually means one of these things:
- Your spider plant wants more humidity.
- Too much fertilizer or chlorine in the water.
- It is getting too much direct sun.
If the air in your home is dry, mist your plant regularly or put a humidifier nearby. You can use sharp scissors to carefully cut off the brown leaf tips.
Brown tips could also be due to high levels of chlorine in the tap water. Switch to distilled or purified water. You can also use rainwater or leave tap water out for 24 hours before using it on your plant.
Is your plant hanging somewhere where it gets a lot of direct sunlight? If so, the brown spots could very well be sunburn. Move your plant to a location with less direct sun.
2. Leaves Turning Yellow
Yellow leaves most often occur because of overwatering or underwatering. In the case of underwatering, the yellow leaves will feel dry and crispy. When it is overwatered, the soil will be wet and the leaves mushy.
Remove affected parts, and adjust your watering routine going forward. You can buy a moisture meter to help you with when to water.
The leaves of your spider plant can also turn pale yellow because your plant is not getting enough light. Variegated spider plants can even lose their white stripes entirely and turn solid green when in low light for too long.
The easy solution is to move your plant somewhere where it gets plenty of bright, indirect light. Or make use of a grow light. In the past, these were often very large and expensive. Nowadays there are many small, more affordable plant lights available.
3. Drooping Spider Plant
When your spider plant is drooping and the leaves are wilting, it is probably a watering issue.
It might have not been watered in a while or is overheated by too much time in the sun. Give it a good watering.
On rarer occasions, but also possible, your spider plant is wilting because it got too much water (stop watering, let it dry out completely first), or because it received too little light (move your plant to a lighter location).
4. Leaves Turning Brown
If you notice the leaves turn black or dark brown, this is almost always a sign of root rot because of overwatering.
It usually starts in the middle, from the center crown at soil level. If nothing is done, it will spread throughout the plant.
First, make sure the soil you use is fast-draining, and second, watch that you are not watering your spider plant so often that the roots drown in all that water.
Remove the damaged leaves and let the soil dry out before watering again. And it might be a good idea to read up on the basics of how and when to water your indoor plants.
5. What to do with Spider Plant Babies?
If your spider plant gets the right care and conditions, it may grow long runners from the center of the plant. Delicate white flowers will grow from these runners. After blooming, small baby spider plants will form where the flowers were.
As long as the flower stems are healthy and not dried out, you could leave the spider plant babies attached to the mother plant if you like. They will get their water and nutrients through the runners.
You can also make new full-grown plants by removing the spider plant babies and propagating them.
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my plant has brown spots on it all over don’t know what to do .
Hi Colleen, without seeing the plant and knowing its conditions and care it is hard to say because it could be because of a couple of reasons. Are they burnt spots because the plant is getting too much direct light? Have you watered it too often without giving the soil a change to dry out? Have you been using regular tap water? Start checking these issues and adjust as needed. Good luck!
My spider plant’s leaves are curling up (envision a taco rather than a cinnamon roll), it’s got brown tips, and it looks pale. Help!
Hi Addie, Oh my, that doesn’t sound good… Without knowing your spider plant’s living conditions and care, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause of your problems. Start checking all the basics. Start with watering. How often do you water? Do you let the soil dry out first? Are you using tap water? Is your spider plant getting enough light? Hope you can save your plant!
I received my grandma’s spider plant when she passed 4yrs ago. It was really root bound so 6 mon. ago I split it, repotted it, & put it back in the same location. The past 3 months the leaves and stems all turned yellow but 1. I have trimmed off the dead leaves & any mushy feeling ends, and tried a new spot with more light. It’s not quickly dying but it is not growing either. Please help me save my plant!
Hi Hollie, How is your spider plant doing now? Was just one plant having a tough time, or both seperated cuttings? It’s hard to say what is causing the issues. My guess is that the propagation and repotting caused the plant some stress, as it does, but maybe something happened after that to add more stress to your plant? Maybe there was too much or too little light? Did you water it a lot and often after repotting? I do hope your plant pulled through.
Hello!
Thank you for all the advice, you website is wonderfully complete and useful!!
I couldn’t find more information on one thing, though! My spider plant made a lot of babies, and I left them there for a while as the plant was healthy. But recently the runners started drying up! I usually just replant the babies, but is it because there a problem with the mother plant? I kept the same kind of watering schedule and care as usual…
Thank you!
Hi Maggy! Congrats on all the spider plant babies! Love! And thank you for your kind words about my site. Much appreciated!
I wouldn’t worry too much about your Spider plant. I have it happen occasionally that a runner dries out. When I notice that happening I just remove the baby or babies and water root. If you don’t, that little one will not survive hanging on the dry runner.
If everything else is fine with your plant, just remove the runner. Good luck with your plant!
Hi, thanks for your articles about spider plants, they are great. I’ve got a spider plant which is pretty old, and for a long time was situated above a radiator, and as a result the growing tip of the plant is about 6 inches from the soil, and connected to the soil by about 6 inches of brown stem with some dried up leaves. The plant is feeling happier now that it is in a good position with better light, no radiator etc, but it’s not happy with its growing tip dangling so far out of the pot before the green starts, the green itself being very very long and heavy, and I’m a bit worried that it might snap off. I’ve read in a couple of places that you can snip the plant off back at the base and it will regrow but does that include cutting off this 6 inches of brown? What do you think? I’ve also had it suggested to me by a friend that I could re-bury the plant with the 6 inches of brown stem under the ground so the growing tip is at the surface of the soil. What do you think about that? What would you do. Wish I could show you a pic. Thanks in advance.
Hi Nicky, you don’t need to send me a photo, I think I know exactly what you are talking about. I once had a spider plant that just didn’t have room to grow all around because of the wall, and was reaching out to get more light, it was sad. And it grew just like you are describing yours is. The brown stem at the bottom, growing all lopsided looking like it’s about to collapse. The difference was that my plant was growing a couple of babies. So the first thing I did was water root those. I didn’t cut the plant back to above the brown stems. That would leave you with a lot of loose cut leaves. I did do what your friend said. Repotted my spider plant with most of the brown stem under the soil. New roots can grow from this stem. I also removed any leaves with brown tips.
After that, the plant looked better instantly. It settled and started showing new growth. Much happier now.
Hope this helps. Let me know how your plant does!
Hello!
We have a very robust and healthy-looking spider plant with lots of babies. However, in the last week, the babies have been dropping several leaves each day. The leaves look like they have been cut at the base of the plant.
Do you know why this is happening?
Hi John, how has your plant been doing? I have experienced the same thing once before. In that case, it was that the runner had dried up a bit higher, so the babies weren’t receiving any nutrients. I immediately removed the babies to propagate and cut back the runner. So I would advise inspecting the runner to see if it has dried out anywhere. Good luck!
Hello! My spider plant soil had developed a yellow looking fungus with some small bright yellow balls attached the root. I disposed of the old soil, cleaned off my plant and repotted in fresh soil, but the plant has been limp since then. I can’t figure out what happened!
Hi. My i bought my spider plant two weeks ago. Since then it developed brown tips. I read somewhere else that it might be because it is adapting to the change of environment from outdoor to indoor. I tried misting them regularly. But recently it developed brown spots on its leaves. Some of it torn into two. Do you know what might cause it? It is hang br my stairs, on the same level of my downstairs fluorescent light, about two metres away. Should o just kept it outdoor like it used to? Hope you can understand what I’m trying to say here.
Hi Anis, It’s true that plants can go through some stress after they have changed locations like that. But brown spots could also be burnt spots because the plant is getting too much direct light. You mention that your plant is getting fluorescent light. Is that all the light it gets? Plants need real sunlight or light from a special plant lamp.
Another thing to look out for when you see brown spots is your watering. Have you watered it too often without giving the soil a change to dry out? Maybe you used regular tap water? Start with checking these issues and adjust as needed. Good luck!
Hello, thank you for sharing your tips in this informative article! It was a great read.
I also had a question about my spider plant. It is all healthy except for the middle has gotten taller. So it’s like the main stem is higher up but the lower leaves are still low like they had been and the new leaves are starting their growth higher (not in the way that it would produce babies though). My thought was that it was stretching for more light like some other plants do, but I couldn’t find any info on stretching spider plants. I am tempted to cut the new growth down lower and hope that those leaves regrow from their center. If needed I can get a picture to you as well. I have since added grow lights and pointed one in the direction of the area of the spider plant. I also mist it a couple times a week and water when the leaves start to wrinkle.
Any assistance you can give would be great. Thank you!
Hi Claire, I once rescued a Spider plant from someone that was very lopsided and had similar growth as you describe. Old normal-looking leaves on the bottom, and super long, stretched leaves growing up from the middle. It had definitely been stretching itself to where the light came from. Yes, spider plants do that too. What I did was repot the plant because it was also in need of more room. With repotting it, I could reposition the plant a bit so it wasn’t so lopsided anymore. I also gave it a good prune and removed any damaged leaves. I gave it a spot with good light and room to grow on all sides. It took a while, but eventually it started to look way better. Hope this helps you a bit. Good luck!
I have had several spider plants in the past but the one I purchased most recently (about 6 months ago) is not behaving like my earlier ones. Specifically, the babies are growing on very short stems, not hanging like usual. I mean like they’re still located among the leaves of the mother plant. Otherwise the plant is doing well. Any ideas as to what’s going on with this one?
Hi Suzanne, Could you tell me why you are worried that the runners are shorter than you would expect? I’m not sure if it matters a lot. The fact that your spider plant is growing runners and babies is a sign that your plant is overall doing well. If you are caring for it as you normally do, and the rest of the plant is looking fine, maybe the runner will grow longer with a little time, or other runners might grow out and be longer.
My spider leaves are twisting/spiraling
Have very small brown tips also. But standing high and full.
Hi Stef, the brown tips are a common problem with indoor spider plants and can have a couple of reasons. Have you watered it too often without giving the soil a chance to dry out? Or have you been using regular tap water? Spider plants don’t like chlorine so switch to rainwater, distilled water or let tapwater stand for about 24 hours before using it to water. Good luck!
My spider plant has little brown dots along the leaves,I can scrap them off. Should I cut these leaves our?Is it some kind of aphid>
Hi Diane, how is your spider plant doing now? Without seeing it I can not say what the dots are, but I would suggest investigating closer and if needed use some neem oil to combat if it is aphids. Good luck!
My new spider plant has some type of bug biting holes in the leaves, eating the new leaves and baby’s coming out and leaving brown dirt like debris behind. I looked over the plant and can not see any thing, any help or idea what I have.
Hi Nyree, how is your spiderplant doing? I’m not a pest expert and without seeing what it is that is happening to your plant, I am not sure. But those holes and brown spots do sound like some sort of insect is eating your spider plant. So do inspect further. Look especially close at the new leaves if you see any bugs. You might find spider mites or aphids. If so try to treat them with something natural like neem oil.
Going forward, try to keep the humidity around your plant a bit higher. Pests love dry air.
Hope you can save your plant, good luck!
@Nyree, my spider plant did this when I had it hanging outside. I finally found that it was caterpillars eating it and they leave the brown dung I guess, behind. The worms started out very small and were had to see, but it didn’t take long before they were much bigger from eating my plant! I picked the caterpillars off and started inspecting my plant every two days or so. I trimmed all the leaves back and put any babies in water to grow. It looked oretty rough for a while but finally got to looking better. Hope this helps
My plants have wavy slightly twisted leaves but is growng well with many spiderlets. A grown on spiderlet has the same problem
Hi Wendy, How is your spider plant doing?
My first instinct is to ask you if you might have a different type of Spider plant called a Chlorophytum comosum ‘Bonnie’. Or, curly Spider plant. I have a photo of one in the other post talking about general Spider plant care. That would definitely explain the wavy, twisted leaves.
My spider babies are wilting? Is there a way to combat this? There was some root rot and I replanted but wondering if anything to save some babes
I have a mature spider plant that has never made babies. How can I encourage it?
my spider plant wasn’t growing at all, suddenly she’s giving me flowers and little babies (about 2 inches now and not enough roots yet to pot) the runners’ flowers started to yellow and now the plant is looking pale and sad. It’s been in the same spot all the time. I’m planning to repot, but it’s still cold in here (NV) and I really really want those babies and my bright green spider, how do I get a super bright green spider? Thanks alot.
My spider plant is growing well gettin bigger but no babies
I like to keep my babies from my spider plants in water. They do very well. I have a spider plant in water and I noticed a foul order, so I washed off the roots. I have to do these several times a week. I have many other spider plants in water and they are fine.
Can you please help e.
For the first time in the many years I have owned spider plants one dropped bright orange leaves. I mean carrot orange not yellowish orange. Has anyone experienced that?
My Spider plant is extremly limp because it was moved to the basement, where there is very little sun, and I didn’t pay attention to it’s condition until a little bit ago. I have put it outside in 70 degree weather with plenty of water, but what else can I do to help it?
Hi, My spider plant has got what look’s like a trunk growing out of it, it’s right out of the soil. Please help.
I just bought a spider plant from Walmart and the next day I noticed it has turn brown in the middle of the leaves going down what should I do
Hi Sherry, How is your Spider plant doing? Hope it did survive. It sounds like it might have been overwatered at Walmart before you got it. You can carefully take the plant out of its pot and inspect the soil and the roots. If you see rotted roots, remove those. Report it in dry soil. Any brown leaves can be removed as well, those won’t recover. Spider plants are strong so I’m hopeful it can bounce back.
Hi!
Thank you so much for your articles. I have a family of 4 spider plants 3 are on the same pot but with enough room to grow. The oldest of the group(the mom) is growing green and beautiful, but the two babies that are in the pot with her started to look pale and leaves are pointing down instead of up. They all receive the same sun light, and get the same water, soil and the same food. Mom and the bigger sister (that grew too big that I had to Repot, it’s even bigger than mom) are looking green and gorgeous but I don’t know what to do with the babies.
Do you have any idea what can be the issue?
Thanks in advance.
First off, I love coming here for all things about plants! While I seem to have thankfully inherited easy luck with most plants, this past Texas winter wasn’t at all kind to my green friends.
So here’s the problem: I live in Central Texas. We might have a few nights when it’s below freezing during the Winter normally. So instead of bringing all the bigger plants inside, I always just pull them close together, water them like normal & when we get freeze warnings we cover them…til this winter we never lost a plant. But due to February 2021 my spider plants in planters never sprouted leaves but the dirt is packed solid with what appear to be live bulbs. Will the bulbs do anything or should I give up. (Oh & by the way, the babies that have fallen off over the years & then grew in various flowerbeds…came back lush & are already big & putting off babies. Just the ones in pots seem to have damage or death.) Help!!
Hi Susan, Thank you for your kind words, much appreciated!
I’m sorry to hear the Spider plants in the planters are having a tough time. I must admit I know more about plants kept indoors than outdoors. But if I were you and the planters are not in the way, I would keep caring for them, even though they don’t have leaves now. You said you still see bulbs in the soil, I guess you mean the tubers. I have never tried propagating from just the tuber, but it’s definitely worth a shot. They are strong plants and it wouldn’t surprise me if new leaves will start to grow in time. Keep me posted if you want, would love to hear what happens to them!
I had my spider plant outside for two days gathering up the rain water and sunshine along with the humidity we have been experiencing in western pa. However this morning upon leaving the house, my plant was drug out into the yard and missing all its leaves, like completely gone. Something took my plant clear down to the root stems. Now this plant was THRIVING & FULL, so very green and healthy. I have no clue what destroyed it through the night. Any ideas what could have taken my poor spider plant ? I’ve tried searching but did not come up with anything other than caterpillars and slugs- which would not have completely destroyed a full plant overnight.
Hi Samantha, I am so sorry to hear what happened to your spider plant. It sounds like a horror movie! Did you figure out your Spider plant mystery already? I have no idea about the wildlife where you are, but thinking small, I know many cats go crazy over spider plants and love to munch and destroy them. Could it be a neighborhood cat? Or a group of cats? They could eat it faster than caterpillars and slugs.
@Mod and Mint, I live in Ohio and we think the culprit might a skunk or raccoon, which have destroyed some of our plants that we put out through the summer to get refreshed.
My spider plant and its babies, (3 tiers, babies have babies)all have a black dust spots on their leaves. I can wipe the black off with my fingers. What is causing this. It is really full of the black dust spots. Can I use soap and water to wash it off. What is causing this and what should I do. The underside of the leaves are ok.
My spider plant (big mamma) is 5 years old. She’s really acting strange since her last pups. The whole plant is laying down almost growing towards the floor with new off shoots sprouting from up from the tops. It looks like the roots are growing out of these big thick parts of the plant growing downwards with big rods.
Hi, I have 6 largeish spider plants that have been growing really well over the last 2 years, however this summer they have all started to droop and loose leaves, going yellow and brown and then falling off, and many babies too 🙁
I also have been propagating several babies in water in jars with established roots which were growing well but have also succumbed to the same strange fate.
I feel something major has changed, could it be the water? We have been using filtered water since last year and no plant has been upset…until now when suddenly all of them are being affected. Note other plants such as Pothos and Aloe Vera in the same rooms are thriving as always. I am at a loss. Any suggestions to what may cause this? I have a sneaky feeling the tap water that we filter has changed in composition in some way which may be affecting them. Any ideas how to revive them as it would be sad to loose so many plants.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
James
The stem the baby is on bent but i kept it on so it had a chance to grow what do i do
My indoor spider plant is shedding brown stuff all the floor. It’s gets plenty of sunshine & I have only watered it about once a month. What do you think is the problem?
SueAWoodruff@yahoo.com
Hi I purchased a spider plant from the garden centre approximately two months ago it was pot Bound so I’ve reported but also split into three pots one of which completely died the other two look healthy and appear to be growing I noticed brown tips and have been missing but I’ve now noticed that the leaves oh yellowing I’m going brown therefore date at the base please help
What can I do to remove the brown spots do they have a spray I can use
Hello – The runners from my main spider plant are turning brown and thin with the attached baby spiders wilted and not really growng. Can I do anything about this?
Hi, my spider plant has been doing fine until I moved the location to a class and since the leaves have started to get small see though sections. It’s only been moved since the 24/01 this year!
My spider plant NEVER puts out babies. What am u doing wrong?
My plant seems healthy and has shoots with babies but the babies remain really small and then seem to go brown/die off. I water once a week and feed every 14 days and the plant is below a window. Any advice? Thanks.
My spider plant has these brown almost egg like things mostly on the stems where the babies are sprouting out. What are they?
My friend got a spider plant that was her gmas she now has dementia and since she has gotten it the plant is almost black what can we do to save her plant and what did she do wrong
Hi Belinda, I am so sorry I didn’t see your message until now! Have you been able to save the plant? Without more details, it’s hard to say exactly what she did wrong, but usually, black leaves indicate root rot. My mom has dementia as well and she tends to give her plants water way too often, forgetting she already watered them 🙁 Soil doesn’t get a chance to dry out and the roots of the plants will start to rot, and leaves will turn black. So maybe your friends grandma did the same and the process already started before your friend got the plant?
Remove the affected leaves, no saving them. If there are any baby spider plants growing, propagate those. Other than that, check the soil, if it is very wet, repot in dry soil.
Hope the plant makes it and wish your friend and her gran all the best.
So this lady forgot to mention what causes the yellow on the plant. Well I’ll tell ya I have 7 spider plants I never have this problem because you are supposed to cure the tap water. Don’t use water right out of the faucet. Since I was a child my mother had a business selling plants. She always told me fill up a gallon of water and let it sit for 24 hrs to cure the water. So your plants don’t turn yellow. My spider plants till this day never turn yellow. Have a great day.
Hi Andromeda, You are right about letting the water sit before using it. Spider plants are indeed known to be sensitive to chlorine found in tap water. This lady did include this information in the section about why your Spider plant might have brown leaf tips: …Brown tips could also be due to high levels of chlorine in the tap water. Switch to distilled or purified water. You can also use rainwater or leave tap water out for 24 hours before using it on your plant… So we completely agree on this! It is also included in the Spider plant general care article. Thanks for sharing your plant knowledge! How wonderful it must have been to grow up with a mom selling plants!
So I have a weird question, our dogs ran in to our mature spider plant and flipped it on its top, breaking all but 10 leaves. Can I cut the plant all the way at the base or do you have preferred method to basically start over without trashing the plant ?
My plants didn’t get enough light. So I put heavy screw hooks around my skylight. WOW are they growing and babies galore. Ask someone where the studs are before you hang 😊
Hi Becky, that sounds wonderful! It must be a beautiful sight to see! Now I want to drill screws in front of all my windows lol.
My spider plant seems to be dropping leaves but the soil isn’t dry and some leaves are dying I did sprinkle some fertiliser on soil
Not sure what to do
Thank you
Why do some spider plants have very short leaves and some have long ones?
Hi Bonnie, In my experience, the amount of light makes a lot of difference. Spider plants in lower light often grow longer leaves, reaching toward the light.
But it also simply comes with maturity. Older plants generally have longer leaves than younger plants.
Mine has real sticky substance on leaves. I wash what I could took babies off put in water for now.. what is this glue like substance??
Help
Thanks