i dont know too much except what ive seen. when i was younger one of my friends parents had a fish tank with a very large spider plant growing out of one of the openings in the top, the roots were quite large and i know that they frequently trimmed them back so they wouldnt take over. the fish used to use the roots as a hiding place. now for fertilizer im not sure, im sure it got plenty of nutrients from the fish poop so im not sure about anything else. maybe if u have a fish tank you could just use water out of that to change the water in the pot/vase you would be using?

In my opinion, there isn't many plants that will thrive in water alone. I have a 14 year old lucky bamboo, which of course was purchased in a vase of water. It merely survived for a couple of years, until I potted it up; then it really took off, and is still thriving.

Should you choose to attempt the water thing, which I don't recommend, you'd have to get a full scale fertilizer such as foliage pro 9-3-6, which provides ALL nutrients, including the micros. Also, you must change the water frequently, or you face the problem of salts and other chemicals building up in the water.

Spider plants have some serious root systems, that can quickly fill up a pot. When that happens, you have a mass of roots, and little soil to hold moisture. The plant will start to decline due to lack of water and nutrients. Spider plants have always frustrated me for that reason; I'd recieve a baby from someone, and it would GROW GROW GROW. I'd repot as needed, but it seemed like after about 3 months, the darned thing filled the pot with roots again. I got tired of it, and currently do not have one, but I am due to recieve a baby from an all green version, which I'll attempt....again. This time though, it'll be in a barkless gritty mix. Good luck!

Joe

Marj, what happened to your Spider? Maybe I missed a thread, but the last thread I read, you said your Spider was doing well. What happened?

Are you having problems w/mom Spider or shoots? Problems rooting?

The only plants I have that thrive in water are Ludisia 'orchid,' Philodendron, unknown species, Pothos and one Spider shoot. Once Spider roots mature, they're going back in the pot w/mom. A few cuttings are rooting in water, but will soon be potted in soil.

Some people grow plants hydroponically, vow their greens do great. Maybe you should read up growing plants strickly in water???

I'm so sorry your Spider is having problems. I know how much you love your plant.
Did you anything different? Toni

Toni- It "somehow" got direct sunlight for a good portion of the first hot day,(a few weeks ago), burned pretty bad. Since then, every day I am pulling more and more dead leaves off of it. I am TRYING to ignor it and let it heal, tho I did put new soil in it shortly after. (not thinking about the stress it was under)

But the babies dont look good to me, all wilty, soft, browning... they were like this before the sun hit it.

There is no new growth in it, now new shoots forming, again, this was happening BEFORE the burn. Has NOT been growing anything new since about Jan. It isnt root bound or rot. (first thing I checked when re-soiling)

I took this a few days ago-- most the browning leaves are gone now. But they just keep coming back and I dont know what to do for it. I am not over-watering it or feeding it,I make sure it is very dry before watering it fully.

{{gwi:86665}}

I can understand why it burned, but why wont it grow? Like I said, since Jan. there has been no new growth at all. It just sits there looking all sad. Makes me want to cry. :(

but this is getting away from the subject, I just wanted to know if it "could" survive in just water?

and if you have any advice on my poor mama plant,, PLEASE give freely-- I will listen and learn!
Marjie

Hi Marjie,

If it were mine, I'd cut off all the browning growth & browning tips & simply leave it alone to give it time to recover. I wouldn't repot or re-soil or re-anything. I think this will need several weeks AT LEAST to recover. I would just water from time to time & skip fertilizer for now. I wouldn't put this back out in direct sun for at least ONE month.

I don't believe this would survive in all water, nor do I think it would survive the transition.

Marj, I agree with Pirate Girl.

I see where leaves faded from too much sun/heat. When you brought your Spider outside, was it in complete shade?

Remove brown tips and leaves. When I remove brown tips from a Spider, I leave about 1/8" of the brown on, otherwise the leaf will continue browning. Try w/a few leaves as an experiment.

I'd then shower leaves, 'not soil.' Let dry. Afterwards, set in a bright, indirect sun, cool room.
If you use Superthrive add 10 drops per gallon, 5 drops per half-gallon of water, 'when watering is needed.'

If you top-dressed the soil adding fresh/new, w/o unpotting, it didn't stress your Spider.

Did you repot since it stopped growing? If so, what size pot did you repot in, and what size was its previous pot?

Otherwise, did you make any changes before it stopped growing? Toni

Pirate- Thanks- going to leave it alone for a bit, just water now and again. I will keep pulling/cutting dead leaves off.

And the babies were what I wanted in water..to see if they could survive and grow... Just to see.. :)

Toni- When I put it outside, it was in shade, then mom decided that full sun should be good for it..(can't get mad at her) I didn't know till way late. (we were very surprised she could actually move it, thought it would be too heavy for her)

I re-soiled the first week of this month, took off about 99% of the old soil off, rinsed out the same pot and put new soil in it (Al's 5:1:1 mix) and potted in the same pot.
Other than that, b4 I found this forum, I repotted it when I got it,(MG- all purpose) that was a year next month. And no, I did not change ANYTHING in the way I was taking care of it b4 it stopped growing. That is what I dont
understand.

Some of the shoots broke off around that time, and that was it, nothing grew after that. Not even mamma plant, but she looked healthy so I wasn't worried then. There are only 2 shoots that were left of about 5. They have very few babies. They are not growing either.

I leave some brown on the tips when I trim it, but the brown just keeps growing. I am getting to where I am pulling/cutting the leaf off at the base.

Like I said, I am at a loss with it not growing anything new since Jan. It was so pretty before. Now it just looks sad.

Sorry I misunderstood you meant babies only in water.

Yes, you could do that, it'd be OK, they CAN be fine that way. I currently have 1 in a clear plastic cup in an inch or 2 of water just rooting. It can stay there for some time like that.