PEACE LILY problem please HELP!!

[buddy64]

Hello all,

I'm new to horticulture and also to this forum, and both seem really intriguing to me!
But here's a problem I have to ask for ur guys help,

I have a peace lily at home, repotted it with 100% heavy compost for first time after purchase, and the plant became wilted and drooping few days after the first watering, we assumed it's coz the lack of air in the soggy soil so we repotted again, cleaned and chopped off some rotted roots and, with some advise, putting a mixture of peat moss, compost, sand and bark in the pot as soil.

We watered the newly potted plant the second day after repotting, but it seems that it didn't get much better, even more foliages started to droop and turn yellow every day, especially during the night. The soil inside seems to be still moist, after no major watering for 3 days, but not soggy like last time; I spray the leaves and floor nealyby everyday just to keep the moisture high. There are some new foliages ready to unfold but the old ones aren't doing really well.

Please help if anyone knows where the problem is and what should I do now!! I would really appreciate any follow-ups I'm so desparate we all love this plant!!

Best,
BD

 

[catjac1975]

You don't say where you are from. Make sure it's not near an air conditioner vent. They do not like a lot of light normally. So after it suffering in repotting, I would put it out of any direct light and let it rest. Repotting when it is in heavy growth and bloom is not usually a good idea. Did you repot it because it was starting to look bad?

 

[buddy64]

Hi catjac thx for the reply! Yeah it looked great when I first bought it but it all started when several days after I first watered the plant the soil's still quite wet, and the leaves started to droop and didn't get any better, so I thought the soil might be too heavy and allow for little vendilation within, so I repotted ASAP with the new soil and it seems to have had a hard time adjusting from the change. Any more advise? btw what do u mean "don't say where you are from"?

 

[lesa]

I have several of these... one of them 20plus years old. They seem to thrive on neglect- and won't bloom unless stressed. I would recommend stepping away from the plant. Water it once every two weeks. I finally had to transplant my very old one- and it took at least a year for it to look really healthy and happy again. Patience! Happy Gardening!

 

[so lucky]

Does the pot holding the plant have drainage holes? It kinda sounds to me like it has too much water, rather than not enough. The large green leaves in the photos look like they are yellowing, possibly from too much water. You mentioned that when you repotted it, you cut off some rotted roots. That indicates it may have been overwatered and the roots began to rot. If the roots are rotting, they can't uptake water, so no matter how much you water it, it is not getting what it needs.
How long have you had the plant? Sometimes they are potbound when you get them from the florist or garden center. If it is potbound, water seems to run right through it, and it never looks happy for long because not enough water stays in the roots long enough to be taken up by the plant.
It's hard to diagnose what is wrong when your plant just doesn't thrive, without knowing what else is going on. It doesn't appear to have obvious insect damage or sunburn. I can't see the pot, but id does look small for as big as the plant is.
I don't like the cheap potting soils on the market. They pack down and turn to cement. One of the brand name potting mixes like Miracle grow, Fertilome or Jiffy mix have soil amendments like perlite or vermiculite that lighten up the soil and allow water to be retained for a while, work much better than the bargain potting soil at big-mart. The heavier the bag, the more compacted the soil is. Yuk. Don't use garden dirt in a potted plant, either, because it will compact and the plant roots can't get what they need. (Peace lilies can grow in just water, which seems to be a contradiction, but if the water has nutrients in it, the plant can thrive just fine. Think Hydroponics ) They just don't like to sit in soggy soil, or struggle through soil that has turned to cement.
All that being said, if your plant was potbound, you can either cut the root ball (and foilage) into several pieces and then plant each one into a different pot, or leave the root ball whole and plant it into a larger pot, about two inches bigger, one with drainage holes. If you do that, gently tease the roots apart so they aren't all spiraled around the root ball. Be sure to trim off any dark or mushy roots. Roots should be white and firm. Cut about an inch up from the mushy part. Check to see if roots inside the root mass are healthy. If not, cut 'em off. There is a possibility that you won't need a larger pot if you have to cut away a lot of rotten roots. The new soil needs to be moistened, and this sometimes takes some doing, if it has dried out from sitting. The peatmoss is hard to get damp once it is completely dry. Once a plant is divided and/or repotted, you can water it well, let it drain, set in a light but not sunny area for a few days. No need to fertilize for a few weeks, I would think.

 

[catjac1975]

The reason I said that was for the reason of an air conditioning vent perhaps being nearby. Good point about drainage. Was it wrapped in gift foil? That's the first thing I remove in a potted plant.Sometimes when a plant's environment is changed you sometimes get poor results. But the peace lily is a common gift plant and usually is easy to keep. I think they do better with a bit of neglect,less watering. Repotting in bloom is never a good idea. Good luck.

Hi catjac thx for the reply! Yeah it looked great when I first bought it but it all started when several days after I first watered the plant the soil's still quite wet, and the leaves started to droop and didn't get any better, so I thought the soil might be too heavy and allow for little vendilation within, so I repotted ASAP with the new soil and it seems to have had a hard time adjusting from the change. Any more advise? btw what do u mean "don't say where you are from"?

 

[buddy64]

I have several of these... one of them 20plus years old. They seem to thrive on neglect- and won't bloom unless stressed. I would recommend stepping away from the plant. Water it once every two weeks. I finally had to transplant my very old one- and it took at least a year for it to look really healthy and happy again. Patience! Happy Gardening!

Hi Lesa thx for the reply 20+ yrs-old plants that's awesome good for you!! Yes you might be right the poor thing's been through a lot these days...but ahh it's so hard to just watch it and not to do anything about it you know? Hopefully I did the right thing...

BD

 

[buddy64]

Does the pot holding the plant have drainage holes? It kinda sounds to me like it has too much water, rather than not enough. The large green leaves in the photos look like they are yellowing, possibly from too much water. You mentioned that when you repotted it, you cut off some rotted roots. That indicates it may have been overwatered and the roots began to rot. If the roots are rotting, they can't uptake water, so no matter how much you water it, it is not getting what it needs.
How long have you had the plant? Sometimes they are potbound when you get them from the florist or garden center. If it is potbound, water seems to run right through it, and it never looks happy for long because not enough water stays in the roots long enough to be taken up by the plant.
It's hard to diagnose what is wrong when your plant just doesn't thrive, without knowing what else is going on. It doesn't appear to have obvious insect damage or sunburn. I can't see the pot, but id does look small for as big as the plant is.
I don't like the cheap potting soils on the market. They pack down and turn to cement. One of the brand name potting mixes like Miracle grow, Fertilome or Jiffy mix have soil amendments like perlite or vermiculite that lighten up the soil and allow water to be retained for a while, work much better than the bargain potting soil at big-mart. The heavier the bag, the more compacted the soil is. Yuk. Don't use garden dirt in a potted plant, either, because it will compact and the plant roots can't get what they need. (Peace lilies can grow in just water, which seems to be a contradiction, but if the water has nutrients in it, the plant can thrive just fine. Think Hydroponics ) They just don't like to sit in soggy soil, or struggle through soil that has turned to cement.
All that being said, if your plant was potbound, you can either cut the root ball (and foilage) into several pieces and then plant each one into a different pot, or leave the root ball whole and plant it into a larger pot, about two inches bigger, one with drainage holes. If you do that, gently tease the roots apart so they aren't all spiraled around the root ball. Be sure to trim off any dark or mushy roots. Roots should be white and firm. Cut about an inch up from the mushy part. Check to see if roots inside the root mass are healthy. If not, cut 'em off. There is a possibility that you won't need a larger pot if you have to cut away a lot of rotten roots. The new soil needs to be moistened, and this sometimes takes some doing, if it has dried out from sitting. The peatmoss is hard to get damp once it is completely dry. Once a plant is divided and/or repotted, you can water it well, let it drain, set in a light but not sunny area for a few days. No need to fertilize for a few weeks, I would think.

Hi So Lucky thx a lot for such a long detailed msg Yeah I've really learnt a lot about Peacy Lily these days since it got kinda sick...I've seen the miracle grow at one of the garden centres nearby the other day but bought a big bag of peat moss instead trying to DIY a soil mixture myself, maybe I'll give that a shot next time! Now those kind of heavy compost has truly become my nightmare, they almost destroyed every plant I put into it....yeah I'll just stick with potting mixes like u suggested like, forever.....

I watered it again this morning, not long after I posted this before u guys replied, I just can't sit here and wait no longer...hopefully it won't make things worse, the soil mix I made is fairly good at draining for all I know these days. I also made some well diluted water fertilizer to go with it, don't know if it'd help......

Do u guys think if it could be of any help to get it into water, like u said do a hydroponics? I'm afraid it might be hard for it to adjust, but if the problem is still the soil then that might be the last resort.....What do u think? Thx!!

 

[buddy64]

The reason I said that was for the reason of an air conditioning vent perhaps being nearby. Good point about drainage. Was it wrapped in gift foil? That's the first thing I remove in a potted plant.Sometimes when a plant's environment is changed you sometimes get poor results. But the peace lily is a common gift plant and usually is easy to keep. I think they do better with a bit of neglect,less watering. Repotting in bloom is never a good idea. Good luck.

Hi catjac thx for the reply! Yeah it looked great when I first bought it but it all started when several days after I first watered the plant the soil's still quite wet, and the leaves started to droop and didn't get any better, so I thought the soil might be too heavy and allow for little vendilation within, so I repotted ASAP with the new soil and it seems to have had a hard time adjusting from the change. Any more advise? btw what do u mean "don't say where you are from"?

No it's just a normal potting plant I got from IKEA, it was perky and good, best among the crowd when I got it .....and there isn't any air conditioning here just room temperature, that's why I'm so confused about what could be the cause of this prolonged sickness......maybe I should just neglect it a bit more??

 

[buddy64]

And to SO LUCKY yes the pot has several draining holes I poked them wild and open just for fear that it holds water inside but now I'm really confused what could the problem be.......