Withering roots
#4
  Re: (0...)
I have never seen anything like this before. My mom has a spider plant, potted, hanging inside near a window. This plant gets lots of light -- from the window as well as from the fluorescent (sp?) light above it.

Recently she told me it's been kinda pale and listless, so I offered to re-pot it for her. I thought it was root-bound, but what I found was a mass of withered, limp roots that fell off. And the roots that are still on the plants are withering, too.

I re-potted it, added some fertilizer, but I have no idea why the roots were withering, and what I can do to stop it. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Patience
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#5
  Re: Withering roots by patience (I have never seen an...)
Did the plant dry out drasitically at some point? The tubers of spider plants can store water for a long time. However, if the plant was allowed to dry out to the point where the soil began to pull back from the sides of the pot, then later waterings would mostly just run down the pot sides and out the bottom, rather than allowing the plant to retain any moisture. This means that, after the drying out, even with successive waterings, the plant would still be dry and would have to utilize the water stored in the tubers. Once the tubers' water ran out, the plant would become listless, and the tubers would wither.

Repotting the plant should help, but keeping the plant well watered, so that new tubers can grow and plump up properly, will be the best thing for it. Just make sure that the plant drains properly after watering, too. They don't like staying soggy for very long periods. Putting it an area with a little less light would be OK, too. A cooler, east-facing window works very well for spider plants, and may reduce how rapidly the plant dries out, too.

Of course, this all assumes that dryness, not disease, was the problem. But even if it was disease, having the bad roots off the plant and being in fresh, clean soil should be the right prescription. Good luck!
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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#6
  Re: Re: Withering roots by IntrepidMeredith (Did the plant dry ou...)
Most often I have found that root rot is caused by a potting soil that is kept too wet. Most all house plant problems are from excess watering rather than too little watering.
West Central Michigan along the lake shore.
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