What's happening to my Fire Flash

He's turning pale green and just doesn't look good. I've only had him for a week. Surely I'm not killin him already. He's been spending time outside on the porch where it gets morning sun. Here he is today.

Debbie

Here he is 1 week ago. A healthy darker green.

From what I'v e read about them, the Fire Flash spider doesn't like as much light as the "regular" spider plant. In other words, definitely no direct sun, and the light just a bit less bright, and I bet the leaves will eventually go dark again. Bleached out leaves can often mean too much light for some plants. Also, are you fertilizing him too much, maybe? What have you been using?

Randi

I'm certainly not an expert here either but it looks like too much light and maybe not enough humidity. The air is really starting to get dry now so it's time to fill all of our water bottles and start misting our babies as often as possible. MOST plants (with the exception of those with fur on their leaves like AV) LOVE to be misted frequently. They absorb water through their leaves and it keeps them a beautiful rich green. I am only able to grow most of the plants that I grow in Maine because I am faithful about misting. I keep water bottles handy EVERYWHERE. A hint about misting, I find they like room temperature water better than cold water on their leaves so when I'm done misting I refill my bottles to sit and warm up and distill until the next time that it's time to mist.

I hope this helps in some way

Kim

Baja,

I have one too and it's reallllll finicky....I have him in my lanai and he does not get sun until Very late in the day. I have him next to some philodendrons and he seems to like it there. Had it bloom and set seed last year and I only have the three babies left. Take heart....

Hap

Mine doesn't seem to like my hard water. I have started using bottled water for it and it is looking much better. The leaves were turning black on the tips. My draceana Janet Craig does the same thing.

Lori

I assumed he'd be just as easy as a regular spider. Randi, I've only had it a couple weeks so I haven't used any fertilizer on him. I'm backin off on the sun and misting.
Bottled water? Really? Wonder if filtered tap water would work.

That may just be a sensitivity to the chlorine and fluoride in your water. I have very hard water. My spider (not a Fireflash, though) and dracaenas (except one really picky one) will let me use hard water but I have to let it sit out, uncovered, for 24 hours first to let the chlorine and fluoride evaporate. It's worth a try anyways.

I just wanted to add my 2-cents about my fireflash..... She seems to love lots of indirect light. I water her every 3-4 days and she is growing very well. I did notice that she does not like to be cold, so I moved her away from the window.

Char

Oh my... Maybe they like swampy conditions because I put mine out on the porch and he's gone wild all summer. I water from the hose and that's about it. We have hard water which I swear is pumped straight out of Lake Pontchartrain but people tell me I'm wrong. I wouldn't drink it unless I was dying of thirst.

He gets maybe two hours of evening sun and shade the rest of the day. The humidity here is wicked though. If you are in a dry area perhaps that's the problem?

I'm planning to leave him out for the winter since he won't freeze here. We'll see what happens. My other spiders stay out year 'round with no problems.

LOL Nem!!! Gotta a pic of yours?
I've been misting him every day and altho he's not lookin better, he's not lookin worse. It is dry here when you have to use the heat.

Debbie

Mine is pretty ugly too Debbie. I'm constantly clipping off leaves because they either get this ugly yellow tint or the leaf tips or margins become black. I hide it from passersby and hope for the best. LOL

GH

Well, whatever it is, it must be catching, because now MY Fireflash is looking terrible. The leaves are yellowing, and its lost several leaves already. Also, the black tips that others were talking about. Its done fine until now, and I've had it for a year, so can't figure out what's the problem. I do open the window to air the house out when its cold out, so maybe it doesn't like the cold draft. (its right in front of a north window) Also, when I do turn on the heat, its super dry. So the combination is not making my Fireflash happy. I think I may lose it. I'll get another if that happens, and keep it further back from the window, somehow. I have so many plants all over the house that space is always a big problem.

Randi

Randi,

I think that the coolness may be your problem. It doesn't need much light, but warmth and water...

Hap

Hi- Randi(Seaecho) from GW? Hiya!!!!!

I may switch mine to a plastic pot just to combat the constant dryness. It seems not to be one who can tolerate my choice of clay pots and inclination to allow the soil to dry out! It's not close to the window- maybe about 3 feet from the window. BUT it is sitting on the floor. Because the cold air stays closest to the floor, all these combos could be doing the poor gal in, huh?

Well, change his location and see how it goes....Good luck

Hap

I've had mine for 3 years now and it always seems to get ugly during the cooler months. I remove the ugliest leaves and water infrequently during the winter.

Then I move it back outdoors (it is still in its original container) for the summer and is basically neglected other than watering by a sprinkler 3 times a week, but by the time I move it back indoors it looks pretty good again.