A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Strange spider plant question

I swear I'm not really as looney as I might act sometimes. Well, not completely, anyway. That said, going out on a limb here, and I'm gonna ask yet another strange question.

I rescued a spider plant about a week ago, and noticed this at the time and thought it was just a passing thing, but I still notice it now -- my spider plant smells like stinky armpits.



Have you ever tried to find 'spider plant stinks like armpit' info on google?

But, I'm serious! What causes that? Do I need to give it fresh soil or something? It's well drained - I mean, it's in a pot with drainage, not that I've repotted it, so I dont' really know what all is going on under the soil there....

I haven't had a spider in years, but I don't remember them smelling like anything. It couldn't hurt to give it nice, fresh soil and check for root rot while you're in there.

margaret, that is what i was thinking. the beauty of spiders is that they will tolerate having all their soil removed and then replaced. that is where i would start. let us know how it goes!

Wasn't it spiders that take bad chemicals out of the air(air purifier)..."my spider plant smells like stinky armpits." Maybe the past owner had a ummmm errr...problem with hygiene!
Go knock on the door where you picked it up and take a deep breath.

catlover, you are BAD!! but, yes, spiders are one of the air cleaning plants, so that might have been part of the problem!

Your sister in law is never going to live this one down, I just know it lol.

Some of the benefits of being a non-smoker huh Mary. I chased around the apartment for days trying to figure out a smell that I couldn't place. Finally figured out the problem was the lack of an overhead fan for the stove. The odor actually lingers for several days. I had never noticed it before because of the smoking.

Oh man, this is good -- something to give my SIL a hard time about! On a serious note, she does have a teenage kid - and he does hang out in the area she had the plant -- so I'm thinkin now may be it was stinky, Jr. I'll try changing the soil though and see. The good thing is, I stopped smelling it for a day or 2 now - the bad thing is, it's probably because I took in some lantana to try to root in my kitchen, and that stinks worse!

It's okay Catlover, we 'got it that way' so I'll be SURE to tell her why my spider plant stinks She'll get a kick out of it being the stinky pit boy of hers

There's no plate under it, so I'm thinking I'll just give it a change of soil and see how that goes...

I think I'm gonna give up on tha lantana...can't have my kitchen smelling so stinky! Unless i put it in a ziplock and try rooting that way. If I'm lucky they'll overwinter here (not supposed to in 6) and I'll have done all this for nothing I would definitely not mind paying for it again each year. I've gone crazy looking for the berries that it's supposed to produce...ugh - I'm getting so off-topic!

I know this topic stinks, but it also deserves a serious reply.

Because this is a rescued plant, there is no way to know what might have been put into the soil. Replacing all of the soil is a major operation that might kill the plant.

Try mixing some horticultural lime with the water the next time you water. Give it a thorough drenching with the lime water. That will probably take care of the odor.

As an alternative, use a clothes pin!