Spider plants are a very common house plant for beginners because they are easy to take care of and grow without much maintenance. They are also attractive looking, with their dangling leaves giving an interesting aesthetic to any room.
However, problems can arise when their needs aren’t being met completely. If your spider plant leaves are bending, read on to find out some reasons why and some solutions to try to help your plant.
What Is a Spider Plant?
Spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) get their name because of their spider-like looks. This plant is native to parts of southern Africa. It is evergreen, which means it stays green year-round, keeping its leaves even outside its growing season. They are easygoing and great beginner plants as long as you meet their needs.
Why Are My Spider Plant’s Leaves Bending?
Spider plants have long, spindly leaves reminiscent of a spider’s legs. These leaves can start to curl sometimes, though, which is typically caused by their needs not being met.
Issues with how you water your plant are one common cause of bending leaves. Both underwatering and overwatering can cause the leaves of your spider plant to curl. You can determine if over or underwatering is the issue by checking whether the soil is too dry or too damp.
Another water issue could be the mineral content is too high. Spider plants respond poorly to water with high mineral content. Over time, minerals build up and harm the plant. When this happens, the leaves may bend.
Too much or too little sunlight is another common cause of bending leaves on spider plants. Too much sunlight can harm your spider plant. They need indirect exposure instead of direct exposure, like many plants. Not enough light hurts the plant, too, because it leads to them being unable to photosynthesize enough. When this occurs, leaves will droop and bend.
What Do I Do About This?
Since the spider plant’s unmet needs cause bent leaves, it’s important to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Once you determine the issue with your spider plant, you can act.
Too Much or Too Little Water
If your spider plant’s leaves are bending because of too much or too little water, it is a very easy problem to solve once you determine which one is the cause. You should water your spider plant about once a week or whenever the soil is dry to the touch. Adjust to a different watering schedule if your current schedule is causing leaf bending.
Poor Quality Water
If you are using tap water to water your spider plants, your problem could be from that. The mineral content may be too high, harming a spider plant. To fix this, you should water your plant with distilled or rainwater.
You can collect rainwater to water your plants using a barrel. You can either set it out for the rain to fall into or attach it to your gutter downspout and collect that water.
Too Much or Too Little Sunlight
If your plant is getting too much sunlight, you may be able to tell by the crispiness of the leaves. If you watch your plant throughout the day, you can see how much sunlight it gets. You should move it if it gets direct sunlight, so the light is entirely indirect but still bright. If it’s fully in the shade all day, move it to somewhere brighter.
Enjoy Your Spider Plant!
Now that you know how to help your spider plant be healthy and happy again, you can return to enjoying its growth and tending to it without worry. Spider plants make great house plants and can also be grown outdoors. Enjoy!