Something is happen to my peace plant;the leaves had turn yellow on it just a few days not sure why.Can any one help
how long have you had the plant? when was it repotted last? what kind of soil is it in? does the container have drainage holes? how often and how much are you watering? not sure where dunn is. n carolina or somewhere else? if you're using tap water, are you allowing it to sit for at least a day before using it on the plant? is the water softened? if it's well-water, has it been tested for contaminants?
the plant was giving to me about 2 months ago.So i don't know when it was repotted last last;or what type of soli is in it.I water it well once a week sometimes twice depending how how wet the soil is.Yes pot has drain holes.Yes i use tap water after it has set for 24 hours.Have other plants that are doing great with the same water.my water has not been tested for anything.should i just repot if so what kind of soil do i need;and can i fertilize this plant.
this plant was doing very well last week;the leaves got like this in just a few days.maybe in some kind of shock.
if the water has been allowed to sit and is at room temp, then the yellowing wouldn't be due to shock (water too cold) or too much chlorine. excess ammonia still might be an issue. it could also be due to root rot or the soil is just depleted (which happens over time even if fertilzier has been used). rot can still happen even with drainage...if you allow the pot to sit on the drip dish and there's water sitting there, the soil will stay too moist and will, eventually, cause the roots to rot. i'd unpot and take a look at the roots. cut off any that are brown/black and/or mushy and repot. since you have no idea when it was last repotted, doing so now is a good idea. even if it turns out the roots are okay, it's just as likely that the soil is just old and that's causing the problem.
Your Spathiphyllum is an aroid. There are many species of Spathiphyllum but this one is almost certainly a hybrid. All aroids produce an inflorescence which has a spathe containing a spadix. Aroids are characterized by the growth an inflorescence like the "flowers" you once saw which aren't flowers at all. The inflorescence contains the reproductive organs of the plant. The spathe is simply a modified leaf which appears in the shape of a hood while the spadix is located at the center of the inflorescence. The spadix is a spike on a thickened fleshy axis which can produce tiny flowers. Despite being called a "flower" on far too many websites the spathe is not a flower. Flowers contain near microscopic sexual parts including the anthers, stamens, and stigmas when the plant is in the reproductive process. A spathe contains none of these sexual characteristics but all can be observed with a good magnifying glass on the true flowers along the spadix. Your plant will do OK in very dim light but in time will revolt. The ideal soil is a very porous mix that contains something like Miracle Grow Moisture Control Mix that has peat moss, orchid bark containing charcoal and gravel (Schultz brand is fine), some compost, Perlite and a bit of sand mixed in. Use about 40% soil, 20% peat and equal parts of the balance. Keep the soil evenly moist but don't allow it to dry out too much. Despite all the commonly given advice these species actually grow in water during the rainy season in South America and do great. They don't grow in water year round in most cases but sometimes will. My friend and aroid expert Dr. Tom Croat at the Missouri Botanical garden calls them "water hogs". Their roots like to dry just a bit from time to time which is why you need the fast draining soil. They do best near a window but I have grown them outside when we lived in Florida in very bright indirect light. In my atrium I have at least 5 or 6 off in a corner where the light is a bit lower and the plants have stayed healthy for 7 years. You need to cut off all those bad leaves right away. Cut off both the blade and the petiole which is the stalk that supports the blade. If you repot the plant in the soil mix I described and keep it damp the plant will grow new leaves in a few months and begin to produce the inflorescences again. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/What is a stem. What is a petiole.html Hope that helps you to make it flourish.
Watering it twice a week could be the problem. You want the soil on the moist side letting the top get close to drying about an inch down before watering it again. You can grow these plants in water instead of soil long term by cutting the roots off if they have rotted and any part of the stem that has rotted. You can also re-root the stem in soil, then watch the amount that you water. Fertilizing will NOT help, only healthy plants should be fed.
Aha! My hunch was right, I thought the spathe, as you call it was in fact a leaf first and foremost as I see them all the time in Garden centres and it seems to start off green and then turn white. I guess most people buy them in full 'flower' and don't realise it starts off green! Thanks for finally clearing it up:)
well i finally took the plant out of the pot it was in and it did have a lot of root rot.But now the hole plant has died.thanks for the help anyways.
Sorry to hear that, at least you now know that watering 1-2 times a week is too much for a Peace Lily in that sort of soil. Will you try again or try another type of plant? x
Jen, I'm sorry that folks will think I'm nuts for saying this but it isn't the water that kills Peace Lilies in homes. It is the poor light, neglect and poor soil condition that most of them experience. I described the best soil mix above. If the roots of this genus which is Spathiphyllum don't have the ability to move freely in the soil they rot. It isn't the water that causes them to rot it is the soggy, sticky, thick, gummy soil. The only way to allow them to poke around easily in the soil is to make it of a very porous consistency. In the silt of Ecuador's standing water these plants can run their roots all over the place. For some reason people believe they can just go buy "potting soil" and anything should grow in it. That is the kiss of death to many tropical plants! On my website I frequently tell people exactly where the plant grows in nature. That info is given so serious collectors can figure out what the soil consistency of the region is. Some plants need wet porous soil. Some need drier soil. Some need rocky soil. There are all kinds of mixes and you can't use "potting soil" and make them all grow in the same stuff. Good growers mix their soil to match what the plant needs and wants in order to make the plant prosper. These species need extremely porous soil or their roots will rot. But it isn't watering that causes the rot and eventual death of the plant. It is the soil! Growers try to compensate for this by under watering the plant. Please remember... these are rain forest plant species and they live in an extremely wet environment. For 6 to 8 months a year it rains much of the day! Rather than trying to force the plant do do what we want it to do we need to do what the plant needs. I find it regrettable that many home growers are just down right lazy when it comes to taking care of their plants and use what I believe is an excuse of under watering to make themselves feel better. It sure doesn't make the plant feel better. The growers really don't care since if you kill it you'll probably go buy another one and that makes them money. Retail sellers are the same way and pass on "old wives' tales" all the time. "Don't water it too much or you'll kill it". My very good friend Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis is the world's leading expert in the plant family Araceae. A Peace Lily is in that family. Tom calls them "water hogs"! Why buy one if we are just going to force it to grow "my way" and not treat it the way it wants to be treated. These plants love water but they must have fast draining soil. You can easily create that by mixing peat moss, shredded sphagnum moss, orchid bark, charcoal, a little gravel, Perlite and compost into the mix if you begin with a moisture control soil mix. Give the what it wants and water it often! If you do you'll be shocked at how many spathes (inflorescences) the plant will produce. I've grow these plants in water. Right now I have 5 very big ones in my very wet tropical atrium. I have friends that grow them in aquariums and they grow in standing water all over Ecuador, Colombia and western Brazil. Pot them properly and give them bright indirect light and they'll live a long time. They also need a regular doses of Osmocote 30-30-30 fertilizer to keep them producing inflorescences. Fertilizers with lower numbers will not do as well. I'm attaching two photos. The first belongs to my friend Devin Biggs and the plant in the left corner is a Peace Lily. The second is of my personal collection in NW Arkansas of some 300 aroid species. I post these not to try to be brazen or a smart-alec but it is scientific fact these plants love water. Growers need to pay attention to what the plant wants and needs and not even buy one if they aren't going to treat it right.
Yes, these plants grow well in water, the root system is also different then ones grown in soil. If over-watered in soil, especially not well draining soil, and/or if they are over-potted, the roots can easily rot:)
Thanks Jen. No problem at all for anyone to point out what they have observed. I've just found it interesting for a very long time that we all pass along the same advice and the plants keep on dropping dead for at least some. I just went back yesterday and updated my own web page on the plant since I've been passing along the same basic bad info for years on the net. I've become a firm believer that if we do it "nature's way" the plants will flourish. Despite the info passed along for many years by the companies that produce these they do in fact need water, brighter light and porous soil. Many of us could make the plants last for a very long time if we just followed nature's advice instead of the info from the folks that make money when a plant dies and we run out to buy a replacement. And if I just ticked off any commercial grower, I apologize...... sort of.
Well I just write what makes sense to me, from my experience/personal research and then wait for someone to correct me if its wrong, I usually say if I'm not 100% positive so whoever I'm trying to give advice to doesn't just go off and assume I'm right! I don't mind being corrected because it means I'm learning new things:). I think a lot more people should listen to your motto Steve, it makes perfect sense!
