When and How to Fertilize Spider Plants

When and How to Fertilize Spider Plants

There’s a fine line between choosing a houseplant that thrives on neglect and not giving that plant any support at all.

Spider plants, aka spider ivy, Chlorophytum comosum, are particularly easy-care, from their light and temperature needs to their ability to get by without much water on occasion.

But you don’t want to push their tolerant nature to the point where they struggle to grow, look tattered, or stop producing those appealing plantlets.

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If you are new to growing spider plants, check out our guide to learn more. Feeding C. comosum is one of the ways you can boost their health.

But it’s important to choose a proper fertilizer and also to only apply it when it will help, not harm, the houseplant.

In this guide, I’ll share why you might want to offer your spider plants extra food, and also give you fair warning about the ways improper fertilizing can do more harm than good.

Here are the topics I’ll cover:

Heads-up, houseplant lovers who tend to overwater and then bemoan the death of your plants.

Spider plants not respond well to excessive fertilizer any more than they do to oversaturated soil.

They can certainly benefit from a modest amount of food during the growing season, but they’ll languish quickly if you feed them too much or too often.

The macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in fertilizer provide the necessary nutrients for the plant to produce healthy leaves and strong roots.

The drawback is that a build up of fertilizer in the potting soil can cause salt deposits that will burn roots and turn leaves brown.