Spider plant revival? Help!
Cheyngel
Posts: 4,193
Hi! 
Neighbour has just foistered a spider plant into my care and it looks rather ill. It's all droopy, and I was wondering - should I water or keep it dry? Feed it, trim, or give up?
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Cheyngel
Posts: 4,193
Posts
Water it, remove all dead leaves from the base and pot it on into nice fresh compost ... it'll soon be rejuvenated.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Into a larger pot or just change the compost? And sorry to sound daft but how do I know which leaves are dead
Brown leaves are dead, green stiffish leaves are healthy, green droopy leaves are not well but may improve with watering. If a green leaf is brown and brittle at the end, you can break that bit off and the green bit may recover. Spider plants are very resilient, thanks to their thick fleshy roots which store water. When it recovers, as it probably will, it will produce baby plants on long stems. You can leave them on the plant, and they look very decorative if you can stand it where they can dangle. Or you can detach them, poke them into small pots of compost, and have lots more plants.
If its roots fill the pot it's in, then put it into something a bit bigger ... if there's still a bit of space, just freshen the compost.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Just remember, you really can't kill a spider plant. I had one in a house I only went to every three weeks or so and I hardly ever remembered to water it. Apart from the leaves going very pale and the soil very dry it was fine. We still have it several years on and it is still neglected (OH does the indoor plants, I do the garden) but it is still alive. Dunk yours in a bowl of water for an hour or so if it is really dry as that will be more effective than just watering from the top