How to Care for Chlorophytum (Spider Plant)

Chlorophytum comosum, known to everyone as the spider plant, is probably the most passed around houseplant in Britain. It forms an arching rosette of slim, strappy leaves, usually striped with cream or white, and once it is settled it sends out long wiry stems carrying little baby plants at the ends. Those babies are the reason so many people have one: they are almost impossible to fail with.

The genus has around two hundred species, most of them African, and the spider plant itself is native to coastal South Africa. It grows in dappled shade under trees and among rocks, in ground that dries out between rains. To cope with that it stores water in thick, white, tuberous roots, which is why a spider plant forgives a forgotten watering so readily and why its roots look so chunky when you repot it.

How Much Light Does Chlorophytum Need?

Spider plants prefer bright, indirect light and cope well with medium light. A position near an east-facing window, or set back from a brighter one, suits them perfectly.

Variegated types need decent light to hold their cream stripes, and in a dim corner those stripes fade towards plain green while the plant grows more slowly and produces fewer babies. Keep it out of strong direct sun, though, which bleaches and scorches the leaves. A hanging pot or a shelf where the leaves can arch freely shows the plant off best and gives the babies somewhere to dangle.

How Often Should You Water Chlorophytum?

Water when the top 2 to 3 cm of compost feels dry. In spring and summer that usually means once a week, dropping to every ten to fourteen days in autumn and winter.

Those fat storage roots mean a spider plant handles a missed watering far better than most plants, so err on the dry side if you are unsure. Water thoroughly until it runs from the drainage holes, then drain the pot fully.

Water quality matters more with this plant than with most. Spider plants are notably sensitive to the fluoride and salts in tap water, which accumulate and burn the leaf tips brown. Rainwater or filtered water makes a real difference, and flushing the pot through with plenty of water every couple of months helps wash the buildup out.

What Humidity Does Chlorophytum Need?

Chlorophytum is comfortable at 40% to 50% humidity, which covers most homes without any effort.

Its native habitat is subtropical rather than rainforest, with a proper dry season, so it has never depended on constantly moist air. You do not need a humidifier or a pebble tray. That said, very dry winter air combined with hard tap water is the classic recipe for brown tips, so if your rooms drop below about 35% it is worth grouping plants together or running a humidifier nearby.

What Temperature Does Chlorophytum Need?

Spider plants grow best between 18°C and 24°C and are unfussy about it.

The lowest temperature one can withstand is around 7°C, which makes it one of the toughest plants in this series. It will sit quite happily in a cool hallway or an unheated but frost free porch over winter, as long as you water it much less while it is cold. Below 7°C the leaves yellow and collapse, so keep it above that and away from frost.

How Do You Propagate Chlorophytum?

This is the easiest plant here to propagate, because it makes the new plants for you.

Wait until a baby plant on the end of a runner has a few leaves of its own and some small stubby roots showing at its base. Snip it off the runner, then either pot it straight into a small pot of compost and keep it lightly moist, or stand it in a glass of water for a week or two until the roots lengthen and then pot it up.

You can also root a baby without detaching it. Sit a small pot of compost next to the parent plant, rest the baby on the surface and pin it down with a hairpin. Once it has rooted into its own pot, cut the runner.

Division is the other option for a large mature plant. Slide it out of its pot, pull the clump apart into sections with roots and leaves attached, and pot each one separately.

Why Are My Chlorophytum Leaves Turning Brown at the Tips?

Brown tips are the single most common spider plant question, and the usual cause is tap water rather than anything you are doing wrong. Fluoride and salts travel to the very ends of those long leaves and burn them. Switching to rainwater or filtered water stops it from getting worse, and occasionally flushing the pot clears the buildup. Dry winter air and overfeeding make it worse, so feed no more than monthly in spring and summer. Existing brown tips will not heal, but you can trim them off with clean scissors, cutting at an angle to follow the natural leaf shape.

If whole leaves are turning yellow rather than just the tips, look at watering. Soft yellow leaves with compost that stays wet for days mean the roots are waterlogged, so let it dry down further between drinks. Yellowing with dry, shrunken compost means the opposite, so soak it thoroughly.

A couple of other things are worth knowing. Pale, washed-out leaves usually mean too much direct sun. Fading variegation means not enough light. And if your plant is healthy but has never produced babies, it is most likely too young, in too little light, or in a pot that is too large, since spider plants tend to send out runners once they are comfortably snug.

Shop Chlorophytum at House of Kojo

After a plant that is genuinely hard to kill? Explore our spider plants at House of Kojo, from classic cream striped varieties to the curly leaved forms. Each plant is hand picked, carefully packed and sent with straightforward care instructions.