Spider Plant

I have a very large (root bound) spider plant
that has a large number of babies. My question
is: Why are some of the leave tips on the main
plant turning brown? Does this have anything
to do with the water or lack of fertilizer?

While necrotic leaf tips or margins can occur in this plant from over/under-watering, in fact, it's much more common for the actual cause to be a high level of soluble salts in soils. It's also commonly reported that this plant is particularly intolerant or fluoride, but it's still more common for the cause of leaf burn to be a high level of solubles, to which fluoride can be a contributor, than it is to be fluoride itself. WHEN there is a high level of salts in the soil, low humidity can be a contributor, but low humidity alone rarely presents an issue, it must be in combination with a high level of soluble salts in the soil or either over/under-watering.

Of course, you cannot correct the already burned tips (they won't 'heal'), but you can take steps to keep it from happening:

A) Most important is to use a soil that drains very freely. This allows you to water copiously, flushing the accumulating salts from the soil each time you water.

B) Fertilize frequently when the plant is growing well, but at low doses - perhaps 1/4 the recommended strength. This, in combination with the favorable watering habit described above, will keep soluble salts levels low, and keep levels from rising due to the accumulative effect we always see when we are forced to water in sips when plants are in water-retentive soils.

C) When watering, using rainwater, snow melt, water from your dehumidifiers, or distilled water also eliminates the soluble salts in your tap water and will go a long way toward eliminating or minimizing leaf burn.

D) If you make your own soils and use perlite, be sure the perlite is rinsed thoroughly, which removes most of the fluorides associated with it's use.

E) Allowing water to rest overnight doesn't do anything in the way of helping reduce the amount of fluoride (the compounds are not volatile), and it only helps with chlorine in certain cases, depending on what method of chlorination was used to treat your tap water.

Al




This message was edited Sep 1, 2009 1:38 PM

The leaves get "burnt" from chemicals in the water; at home I water my spider plants with normal tap water but at work I use filtered drinking water - both have the "burnt" bits on. If you don't like it you can cut it off; I don't mind them so I've left them.

IMO, "Leaves get 'burnt' [sic] from Chemicals in the water" is too narrow in focus and leaves out the distinct likelihood that your fertilizer program, soil, or watering habits, or any combination of the three are more likely to blame. The "chemicals in the water" are only a small part of the 'solubles' I referred to above, and as a stand alone issue are very unlikely to be so concentrated that they can take the brunt of the blame. IOW, they can be a contributor to necrotic tips/margins, but to place sole blame on tap water is probably an error. It would also be much easier to build a case around any one of the three other possible causes just mentioned than it would be to build a case around only the solubles in your tap water.

Al

Why is it tapla that everything I write you manage to find some snide remark; if you have a problem with me I'd appreciate you did it via D-mail.

If you don't agree with me, you could just write something nicer and politer along the lines of "I don't agree, yes it can be that but it is more likely fertilizer, soil or watering habits".

oh and tapla apologies for my spelling mistake I am not perfect like you!

Just a thought; burnt isn't even a spelling mistake. Not for the UK anyway.

P.S. Apologies to greenwood for having a rant on his thread. I hope you get your problem sorted. I should add; my spider plants at work with filtered water have a lot less 'burnt' on them than the ones at home.

I think I was very polite, to the point, on topic, and what I said is rooted in sound science. On the other hand, what you said is misleading because tap water is only a possible contributing factor to the high level of soluble salts I outlined as only one of the possible causes for necrotic leaf margins and tips.

Whenever someone enjoys the luxury of an opinion w/o considering how the information disseminated might affect the growing experience of others, they should expect a differing opinion, which is exactly what happened. I would have said the same things to anyone else who might have offered what you did.

If you have disagreement with anything I say, you should try to remain on topic. If you actually dispute what I wrote, you should point out my error(s) and offer to the rest of the forum something that supports your disagreement, instead of getting emotional and attacking me personally.

I've asked someone at Dave's to look at this thread. I hope they express an opinion either on the forum or directly to you.

Al