I am new to the whole gardening thing and I have grown to really enjoy it but I am scared I am going to kill some of my plants because I don't really know what to do. I was given a plant about 4 years ago that was half dead. I don't know how it survived because at the time I could care less about plants. Anyway I got a Peace Lily from my Grandmothers funeral, I noticed that the Peace Lily and my half dead plant produced the exact same flowers, although the half dead plants stems were more like stalks. I was told it might be a giant form of a Peace Lily. I was told it needed to be in a deep pot. I have it in a 5 gallon bucket at the present time. I have included some pictures of it. My problem is I want to get it to grow OUT and not UP, it is like a darn tree! It is about 4 foot tall. I recently have been putting a few drops of fertilizer in the water and I have noticed a little new growth but I don't know if I should trim it or even HOW to trim it. I know how to handle the flowers but the main stalks are my issue. Can anyone help me figure out how to make this plant flourish?
Thank you I think you are right about it being the Chinese Evergreen. Although I haven't found much info on how to trim it IF it needs to be trimmed or even if it is acting right or if I need to repot it in something else. Like I said I am new and I have it in an Eastern facing window that gets quite a bit of light but this plant is off to the side of the window. I see it is a low light plant but I guess it likes its new placement because I have a little new growth down in the soil.
Yes, it is Aglaonema modestum. I believe it is the nature(*) of this plant to grow vertically. My neighbor's plant is exactly the same way. It was overgrown and had become unsightly with long bare stems with some foliage at the top. I removed such stems (and their supports) which had the effect of encouraging growth of the younger ones. The result was a much better looking plant. The stems that had been removed were given to other family members to start their own plants. * I'm guessing in nature the stems would fall to the ground from the weight of the growth, at which point the stem would take root and new plants would emerge.
