Question
My peace lily was in bloom when I bought it.  It is on the small side compared to others I have seen.   My problem:  The leaves and stems turn brown or nearly black.  I cut those off and start over. It is pretty skinny now. I add a small amount of fertilizer to each once a week watering. On the floor close to an East window.  

 In the past, I have had problems with reblooming.  I never seem to get another bloom on them.  Please tell me what to do to make it more healthy. Thank you.

Answer
Hi Bev,

Dark brown leaves are nearly always a sign of keeping the soil too dry and/or inadequate light. If you have already lost more than half of the leaves, then it may be too late to save.

Peace Lilies should be located within a couple of feet of a bright, uncovered north or east window. Yours is probably too far from the nearest bright window. I so, you will have to move it closer.

You have probably noticed that Peace Lilies wilt dramatically if the soil is allowed to get a bit too dry. To avoid that, many people end up watering too often and causing root rot. It is best to water just as the Peace Lily is starting to wilt. After a while you can anticipate when that will be.

Peace Lilies also do best when kept quite potbound and repotting them almost always leads to the symptoms you have described. Hopefully, you have not repotted yours.

Peace Lilies need several things to bloom. They have to be healthy; they need to be potbound; and they need a lot of bright indirect sunlight. This is what they get in greenhouses where they are grown prior to sale. Greenhouse growers also use genetic hybrids that are bred to bloom profusely at the time of sale, which is what matters to them. Unfortunately, those hybrids are often weak flower producers thereafter. In other words, even if you do everything else correctly, you may not get a lot of flowers because of the genetic structure of your particular Peace Lily.

Fertilizer is intended for use only on healthy plants that are growing vigorously. It is not medicine so it will not help your plant ight now.

I have written an article on  Peace Lily care that I will email for free to you (or anyone else) who emails a request to me at [email protected].

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

Visit my website at: A link to HorticulturalHelp.com