Ugliest, Most Pitiful Peace Lily Ever

17 years ago

This weekend I took possession of a peace lily. The woman that had it is moving and didn't want to chance taking it with her. She said it was a large, cool looking peace lily. I had already affirmed to myself and to my husband that I would not take in anymore plants. I'm almost at 100 now. But who can pass on a big, beautiful peace lily?

I got to the lady's home to pick up the peace lily and it was the ugliest plant I'd ever seen in person. Part of me wanted to turn around and walk away. The other part of me - the plant lover - saw possibility. So I took it. I wish I had taken a picture of it before I unpotted it. Almost half of the leaves were brown. Some of the leaves had been chewed on by a cat. The soil was horribly compacted. There were inches and inches of bare, brown stem at the bottom were leaves had once been. On my way out, the lady said to me, "Oh, I just love peace lilies!" Yikes! lol My husband wanted to find the nearest dumpster and pitch it. He couldn't believe I was going to take it home. I had to promise to wash it off and unpot it outside to make sure there were no pests.

So here's my main question...

It's about the bare stems. Each piece of the peace lily (there are four) has 5 - 6 inches of bare stem at the bottom. When I repotted I buried those bare stems in the soil. Was that the right thing to do? Should I have let them sit on top of the soil? When I picked up the plant they were exposed on the outside. Please give me your input.

Thanks.

Amanda

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Comments (15)

User
17 years ago
I don't mean to be cruel, but why even take it when it's so far gone? (Maybe she was legally blind & didn't happen to notice its horrendous condition)
amany
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi Pirate Girl. No, you're not being cruel.

I see it as a challenge. I want to see if I can help it come back. It would be great to look back on this a year or two later with a pretty peace lily on hand. If I can't, all I've wasted is a gallon of gas and some potting soil.

Legally blind? Hmmm... Maybe. Somehow I doubt it though. :-)

BTW, I've learned that those long stems are rhizomes.
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In riparian settings where PLs naturally occur, root physiology is adapted to provide a pathway for O2 from the atmosphere to the roots. Roots use this O2 sourced from outside of the rhizosphere (rootzone) to fuel root function/metabolism. Plants grown in a solid medium (potting soil) have root systems adapted to use O2 from the rhizosphere. When the rhizosphere is flooded or partially flooded, the root system is functionally crippled and the entire organism suffers (spoiled/blemished foliage, poor water/nutrient uptake, poor health/growth, reduced ability to resist insects/disease [like root or crown rot], ....). Unfortunately, roots can't transition back and forth, allowing them to utilize O2 from outside the rhizosphere today and from the rhizosphere tomorrow, which is exactly what we ask them to do if we use a water-retentive soil. BTW - fading blooms should be removed from plants, but whether or not foliage you might think unattractive should be removed is a little more subjective. If your plant is healthy, you can remove leaves that are going over with very little impact on the plant's vitality; but, if the plant is weak, there are advantages to leaving the leaves on. First, we should clear up the notion that the sad looking leaves are an energy drain on the plant. They aren't. If a leaf is using more energy than it's creating, chemical messengers inform plant central that the leaf isn't pulling it's weight. At that tipping point, the plant will start 2 processes. 1) to shed the leaf lackey, and 2) while the shedding process is advancing, the plant will be salvaging mobile nutrients and other useful biocompounds from the offending leaf and translocating them to other plant parts - another way Mother Nature recycles. If your plant is struggling, you should be a little more reluctant to remove leaves until the plant signals it's done with them. Al
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Anthuriums are epiphytic (meaning they grow up in the canopies of the rainforests on the sides of trees), just like orchids, and they grow in the same habitats as orchids as well. Tho they can adapt to growing in a fast draining soil mixture that's blended with orchid bark, perlite, and charcoal. They are closely related to Peace lilies. Peace lilies also prefer a fast draining soil mixture that doesn't stay soggy either. So as long as the roots can breathe and have access to plenty of oxygen, you'll never have to worry about "overwatering" them. Both of these plants live in the rainforests, where they can get rained on on an almost daily basis. So they're no strangers to water. It's a common misconception that overwatering a plant is about giving them too much water, when it's not. It's when the soil mix holds on to too much water, cutting off the supply of fresh air to your plants' roots, causing them to suffocate. For my plants, I don't ever let them dry out. But I also use a proper soil mix that doesn't hold on to too much water either, no matter how much I water them. With it being wintertime, I don't water them as often as I do throughout the rest of the year. I have a similar sized plastic bucket that I sit my plants in and fill it up to the soil line with water, and I let them soak for about half an hour. Then I'll remove the pots and let the excess water drain away. You notice how the runoff will have a slightly brownish tinge to it from all of the dissolved solids in it. That's when I'll flush the pot out with some fresh water, until it starts to run out clear from the bottom. This helps to get rid of any excess mineral deposits and fertilizers that would otherwise buildup in the soil over time. These plants come from the rainforest, and they absolutely love water. But they also need for their roots to breathe as well. And I don't worry about spraying them either. They'll do just fine without it. Here's a couple of links to the Exotic Rainforest's website for properly caring for these plants. It offers a wealth of accurate information on these wonderful plants: Caring for Spathiphyllum & Growing the Tropical Anthurium As for the old spathes, you can just let them naturally die back completely on their own. They don't expend energy from doing this. In fact, letting them die back on their own gives them a chance to reabsorb any nutrients and/or chlorophyll from the spathes, which they can reuse in other areas of the plants. This is why they turn yellow beforehand. Once the old spathes have completely turned brown, they'll easily separate from the plant when you go to gently pull on them. This is no different than when the leaves of deciduous trees change color before the trees shed them in Autumn. Because they're reabsorbing all of the nutrients and green chlorophyll to reuse again in the Spring, rather than having to make them from scratch all over again.
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birdsnblooms
17 years ago
Amany, I understand how you feel..for one it's a challenge, furthermore, not accepting it might present a problem: embarrassment. Was this a free plant?? LOL
I don't think planting it deeper will cause harm..Of course, brown leaves should be removed. Do you know which Spath it is? Toni
amany
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi Toni. Thanks for responding.

No, I have no idea what type it is. I'm still a novice with this sort of thing.

Yes, it was free. I can't imagine having paid for it. It came with a really nice pot though. So I guess I was the one who got a payment. Of sorts... ;-)

I cut off all the brown leaves and had to cut back some of the roots too. The root ball had a lot of really dry pockets and the roots just crumbled away. I have faith that it can come back though. Through the powers of patience and spring time... lol

Thanks again. I'm so glad you're back.
Amanda
riptidefrog
17 years ago
Amany,
I completely understand your desire to take a sick plant and make it better. Often it is so easy with just a little care and then down the line you can see the progress. I love sucess stories like that.
About planting it further down....i'd question that. I think that plants that have a central crown like that are sensitive to rot if the plant is planted too deeply. I have never seen or heard of this from a peace lily though so who knows. Is the base of the plant completely covered or is it just a bit deeper than it was before?

Just thought i'd toss that out there just in case you experience some problems. Good luck with your fixer upper. :-)
greattigerdane
17 years ago
Amanda,
You'll be amazed how quickly your peace lily will turn around now that it will be getting better care.
These plants can very forgiving as long as they aren't over-watered and their other little demands are met!

Good luck with it!
Billy Rae
amany
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks everyone. I'll update things in about a month.

Riptide, I have completely buried them. Not deeply, but they're covered now. I hope nothing rots as a result.

Billy Rae, they are nice plants. So pretty!
User
17 years ago
Well I understand the challenge; I guess just choose not to do rescues anymore; diff. strokes for diff. strokes.

But I'm unclear abt the rhizome thing, if I'm not mistaken, those long stems are just stems, they have nothing to do w/ rhizomes, not on a Spath (peace lily) anyway. Rhizomes are actually roots & grow under the mix, not above.
spiritualcipher
17 years ago
Id like to see before and after pics!
amany
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi SpiritualCipher.

It just so happens that I took some pictures a few days ago. I'll post some update pictures in about a month or so.

I know it looks over potted, but it's not. Those rhizomes/stems are just under the soil's surface. They're horizontal.

{{gwi:83756}}
black-thumb
17 years ago
OH I say keep it and wait and see. I had a big beautiful one that I took from my girlfriends service after 9/11 not knowing anything about plants when it started to brown I figured it needed a bigger pot. So I replanted it in one that had to be three times bigger. Needless to say it dwindled down to a five leaf plant. I put it back in a small pot. I thought I should get rid of it but just couldn't due to the sentimental value.

Last year it started coming back to life. I just watered it every so often and just recently last year replanted it in a slighty larger one. There wasn't much to the root, just three pieces really. It is still growing and doing well. I even replanted it wrong. I spread those three legs roots far from each other instead of just putting them down straight and together. I figure they have found there way back to each other. I didn't bother to replant just incase I do some damage. It seems to be doing well.

I don't have a before shot or a after it almost died shot but here it is now. Growing and happy. It took many years but it did get better. I'm glad I kept it.

{{gwi:83757}}.

{{gwi:83758}}.
amany
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you Black-Thumb. That was a beautiful story and you have a gorgeous peace lily. It doesn't look like it had ever been unhealthy. I'm glad you kept it too.
birdsnblooms
17 years ago
BT, like I say, Patience is the Key..look at the nice PL you have after all that's happened..Toni
spiritualcipher
17 years ago
Hello Everyone!

My mom had a peace lilly from my grandmothers funeral. That plant has been thru it all (no water for weeks at a time, planted in a huge pot with no drainage holes, too much sun, not enough sun, etc) she gave it to me about 6 months ago and with a lil attention it has gotten so big and bushy.

Peace Lillies really respond well to a bit of TLC...GoodLuck!
black-thumb
17 years ago
Thanks Amany
I'm hoping it will continue to grow until its large again. I'm sure over time you will be able to nurse yours back to health and it will be beautiful. Keep us updated on its progress.

Ugliest, Most Pitiful Peace Lily Ever

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