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Help! Done Something Wrong with my Peace Lily

16 years ago

There is something wrong with my peace lily.

Its always been a big flourishing plant since I bought it from a plant store 3-4 years ago. Its in a big tall black plastic pot but that pot is in a wider ceramic pot to catch the water (the ceramic pot is too short to house the plant on its own.) I haven't changed the pot because I just don't seem to find pots that are large enough that I actually like.

I water it once a week. I periodically let it dry a bit more but as soon as I see it start to wilt, I give it a good watering. I don't give it Miracle Grow often- maybe once or twice a year. Its been about 4 months or more since the last time.

About two-three weeks ago, I noticed some of the leaves were turning yellow, then brown and it was wilting a bit. i gave it water, then the following week, I figured I had not given it enough water so I gave it more and I cut off all the brown or yellow leaves. Now over the last week, it is almost totally wilted and there are multiple yellow leaves. I touched the soil- its still lightly moist so it doesn't actually need water. I don't think its too close to the sun- its in the corner of my living room with a window about 4 feet to the left of it.

I loved this plant but I think its dying! Any help on what to look for and do?

Thanks

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Comment (1)

birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Which direction is the window (4' from the plant) facing? Actually, I'd place the PL closer to the window.
Sounds like your overwatering. Now that days are getting shorter, and if you're running the ac, rooms are cool/cold therefore soil takes longer to dry.
Also, you said you have a growing pot sitting atop a ceramic pot..By any chance, is ther water build up in the outter pot? If this is happening, and water's touching the bottom of the inner plastic growing pot, this means the roots are sitting in water, and really getting too much. Be sure to dump water out of outter pot 1/2-1 hour after watering.
IMO, I'd set plant in a brighter location, dump any wtaer in the outter pot, and water only when soil feeds slightly dry..Toni
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Usually, PLs are divided instead of repotted, but either can be done. First, your tree is not going to die if you can purge your thought process of the idea wilting means the plant needs more water. Have faith in the idea that plants in a damp/moist medium will always be able to take up water more efficiently than plants in a wet/soggy medium. The recovery will take 1 of 3 paths. 1) New growth will stop and the leaves will remain in a wilted condition for a period of time until enough new roots are generated to meet the top's moisture needs, Soon after the plant regains turgidity (stops wilting) it will resume growth. 2) Many leaves will die due to the fact a lesser volume of roots isn't going to be able to meet the moisture demands of the pot, which will cause the plant to literally wall off the leaves to prevent further moisture loss, or 3) you could remove at least half of the existing leaves to easy the o/a demand for water. If you do that, concentrate on removing the oldest leaves. If you look very carefully. You'll see the younger leaves are attached to the crown above or closer to the center than attachment point of older leaves. Resume fertilizing when you see the plant pushing new growth. Al
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My Spathiphyllum stays outside for most of the year, and comes in during the winter months. Where it sits on an unlit shelf and gets neglected for most of that time. When I do remember to water it, I place it in a metal bucket and fill it up to the soil line with collected rainwater (& the occasional diluted fertilizer), and let it soak for roughly an hour to rehydrate the soil and let the plant absorb enough water. Then I drain the water and flush it with fresh rainwater until it begins to run clear out of the bottom of the pot. I've used a fast draining soil that never stays saturated and allows the roots to breathe. Despite not getting any natural sunlight and being in very dry air (my gas heat strips out all the moisture from the air), my peace lily has lost only two or three leaves this winter. Even when the soil is pretty much bone dry, my plant never shows any signs of wilt. Now that spring is right around the corner, I've been watering it more often and placing it outside in the shade during the daytime to slowly acclimate it back to being outdoors again full time this summer. I would have to agree that yours is suffering from poorly aerated soil that's not allowing the roots to breathe. Which is vital to the health of your plant as a whole.
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I have one that never gets white flowers and the leaves always start looking like they were burned. I have tried several different watering schedules and have moved it and nothing seems to change the outcome. I have cut it down to the soil several times and it always grows back to about 6" looks healthy and then turns to ugly all over again. I now keep it in my bathroom because I have read several places that they like high humidity. I think it is very possible mine is not rootbound enough. I have been told they like to be rootbound and everyone I see that i would normally say it needs a bigger pot, seem to love life. I just received a new huge one from my fathers funeral. I'm hope for so many reasons that this "peace" Lily thrives.
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