hi all, I'm new here. my plant needs help.
first of all I'm not sure if this is a peace lily. but from what I've been able to google I think it is.
it's actually my husband's plant from since before he was married. he's left me in charge of watering the indoor plants. bad idea as I definitely don't have a green thumb.
for the last three years the plant has done really well, with the larger section producing one white lily once or twice a year. this year the plant started looking a little more sickly. hubby thought it might need new soil, but we only talked about it for several months. he finally brought some home with him and I repotted it just about 2 weeks ago.
we thought it might have root rot so I removed the ends of some of the longer roots (not sure if this was the right thing to do, but there were a lot of them and crowded to the edges of the pot and hanging out through the drainage hole) and cut off some of the bigger leaves that looked like they were brown and dying. now that I've repotted, more of the top leaves that are left are starting to get brownish spots. this seems to only be happening to the larger section of the plant. (I also read something about dividing peace lily's but not sure if this is the right thing to do either).
one afternoon we did leave the plant outside. I'm hoping that didn't kill it either, being in direct sun. hubby wants to throw it away, but I'm wanting to save it if possible.
it had been growing new leaves quite regularly but now even those seem to be stunted and not growing.
is it still worth saving? or should I throw it away?
someone also told me that the soil might be too fine, and I should replant it using bark or perlite mixed in but I don't know if another repotting would be too traumatic for the plant or not.
he seems to think he's had this plant for about 20 years. we've only been married 3 so I don't know and he can't remember exactly.
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ABEL_U2/peace%20lily/DSC00015.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ABEL_U2/peace%20lily/DSC00014.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ABEL_U2/peace%20lily/DSC000132.jpg[/img]
It is a peace lily, and one that has seen better days. Like all other living things, Spathiphyllums only live for so long. If it were my plant, I would toss it and buy a new one.
Trimming the roots probably didn't cause any harm, but could have lead to the loss of more leaves. These are not full sun plants, though, and moving it suddenly from indoors out into full sun probably caused the leaves to become sunburned. The damage won't heal. The injured leaves will eventually die completely.
If you want to try to salvage the plant, place it near an east window where it will receive about 3 or 4 hours of early morning sun. If such a location isn't available, place it to the side of a window where it will receive bright, indirect light most of the day. Keep the soil evenly moist, but don't let the container stand in water. Immediately pour off any water that collects in the drainage tray. Remove the damaged leaves as they die. As you remove the leaves, the plant will need less water, so don't water it on a set schedule. Instead, determine whether it needs water by digging your fingertip into the soil. If it's moist ... not soggy ... an inch below the surface, then it doesn't need more water yet.
Do not fertilize it until you see it producing healthy new leaves, which may not be for several weeks.
HTH!
Trimming the roots probably didn't cause any harm, but could have lead to the loss of more leaves. These are not full sun plants, though, and moving it suddenly from indoors out into full sun probably caused the leaves to become sunburned. The damage won't heal. The injured leaves will eventually die completely.
If you want to try to salvage the plant, place it near an east window where it will receive about 3 or 4 hours of early morning sun. If such a location isn't available, place it to the side of a window where it will receive bright, indirect light most of the day. Keep the soil evenly moist, but don't let the container stand in water. Immediately pour off any water that collects in the drainage tray. Remove the damaged leaves as they die. As you remove the leaves, the plant will need less water, so don't water it on a set schedule. Instead, determine whether it needs water by digging your fingertip into the soil. If it's moist ... not soggy ... an inch below the surface, then it doesn't need more water yet.
Do not fertilize it until you see it producing healthy new leaves, which may not be for several weeks.
HTH!
thanks for your reply. it actually does live in the corner beside the sofa by the east facing window. and there are curtains which hopefully provide enough light diffusion.
the smaller half of the plant does still appear to be healthy, would you suggest that I divide the two ditching the bigger half? (with perlite or some sort of material added to the soil?) the only 3 leaves on the bigger half are the spotty sickly looking ones. perhaps the smaller half would then do better?
the smaller half of the plant does still appear to be healthy, would you suggest that I divide the two ditching the bigger half? (with perlite or some sort of material added to the soil?) the only 3 leaves on the bigger half are the spotty sickly looking ones. perhaps the smaller half would then do better?
I am glad I didn't cut away the dying leaves on the bigger section of the plant...I have just discovered today curled up inside one of the bigger leaves what appears to be the white flower starting to peak through?!I actually curled back part of the stem of leaf I thought was half dead to see if some new leaves might be coming in before I was going to cut it off, but was surprised to see what looks like a curled up white flower! hope it still blooms with all the trauma this poor plant has had recently.
