Question

PeaceLily   QUESTION: My peace lily is ok but there are some yellow/brown and floopy leaves. their tips turn black as well.

The room has no window, no natural sunlight. But there is growing light shining on them who is on for 12hours. I used to water them twice a week, but i changed the watering practice that only water when soil get dried.  

MY questions:
How to get.rid of yellow leaves?
Can i spray water on leaves?
How can it flower?
What else i can do to make it nice?

Please help me~~~Thanks much!!

ANSWER: Hi Asiasun,

Leaves that are already yellow should be cut off at the base of the leaf stems.

You can spray water on the leaves if you want, but there is no reason to do it. Misting does not raise the humidity if that is what you are thinking.

To thrive and flower, Peace Lilies need lots of bright, indirect light and they must be quite potbound. There are many kinds of "growing lights" and not all of them are very good. If you rely on artificial light exclusively, then you should use fluorescent lights that are no more than a foot away from the top of the leaves. Those lights must be kept on for a minimum of 12 hours per day.

Your Peace Lily is already in a pot that is too large. Pots that are too large encourage plants to fill the pot with roots at the expense of foliage and flowers. More importantly, the excess soil in a large pot retains moisture for too long around the roots and often leads to root rot unless you are very careful not to water until the plant is almost ready to wilt. It will take yours a long time to become sufficiently potbound to flower.

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

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

If this information has been helpful, please click the Rate Volunteer bar below and enter a rating and nomination for me. I am a volunteer on this site so Ratings are the only compensation I receive for answering plant questions.

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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

Visit my website at: A link to HorticulturalHelp.com



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Will,

Thanks for your Great advice. I must follow your advice to wait for it getting better.

I found that the leaves are softer than before but they are still green. Should I cut them off or any ways to help them get back rigid??

Thanks again

ANSWER: Hi Asiasun,

Soft Peace Lily leaves are caused by less than ideal light at the time the leaves emerge. You cannot strengthen existing leaves, but there is no reason to remove them as long as they are green. Providing lots of bright indirect sunlight is the best way to promote strong future leaf growth.

~Will

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey Will,

Thanks for your great advice again!
I want to know whether my room is considered as low light condition or not.
1: No Window, No natural light
2: However a long strip of LED growing light(Red,Blue and Green) on the ceiling along the whole room, which is on for 12hours.

So, can my 2 pots of Peace lilies grow under this situation?
Actually, they are 4feet and 6feet away from the LED growing light respectively. Both receive Red,Blue and Green lights.

Is it better to add a small mirror to reflect some light for the bottom leaves.
Is it better to shorten distance between the plants and light?

Thanks Again

Answer
There has been very little research done on growing plants under LED's. Apparently yours are in the correct color range, but the intensity of that light and how well it diffuses are both issues that affect plant growth. I have no information about either of those so I cannot give you a definitive answer.

The photo sensors on plants are on the top sides of leaves and not underneath. Therefore, reflecting light from below has no value for plant growth. If the mirrors are used to reflect light to the tops of lower leaves than that will have some benefit.

The closer the lights are to the plants, the greater the light intensity will be and that is a good thing.

~Will