Question
Peace lily blooms turn
Hi Will,
About a month ago a purchased a perfectly healthy Peace Lily plant from Ikea. The plant had 2 healthy white flowers or blooms, and it came in a pot with a 6 inch diameter. I never repotted this plant, but just placed the draining pot inside of a decorative ceramic pot. I don't know much about plant care, as this is my first house plant but based on what I've been reading, I been doing all of the right things in terms of plant care. My issue is that the peace lily is still blooming new white flowers but after about a week or so, these flowers are turning from white and soft to brown and brittle dry (see image). The following is how I have been caring for it.
-Keeping the plant in a very bright room but out of direct sunlight
-Watering the plant a lot, but only when the top layer of soil is becoming dry (approx 3 times a week depending on the soil)
-Misting the plant leaves and blooms with water every other day. Side note: the spray bottle im using used to have hair spray in it- ive tried my best to rinse this bottle because I am afraid that remnants of hair spray are mixing in with the water and causing the blooms to turn brown.
-I placed the plastic draining pot that the plant came in inside of the more decorative ceramic pot. This ceramic pot is actually not large enough to hold the entire original draining pot. This means that when I water the plant, the water goes through the draining pot which hangs about an inch above the inside of the ceramic pot- water drips though the plastic pot, through the holes and then sits in the bottom of the ceramic pot, about an inch away from the plant roots and not touching.
My two issues are:
1) Browning, dry blooms instead of healthy white blooms
2) Towards the inside of the pot, the leaves are turning from green to bright yellow
Can you suggest some other tips for caring for this plant to prevent the above to problems? I am sure I am doing a few things wrong. I also would like to know if I need to have the bottom of the plant roots sitting in water for a while after its been watered? If this is the case, I will purchased a larger pot and place pebbles in the bottom of it, before putting the original pot inside of the larger ceramic one. My last question is: If I would like this plant to grow larger, do I need to take it out of it's original pot and repot it into a larger sized pot with holes in the bottom?
Thanks for reading this long winded entry! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
AnswerHi Darla,
Based on your diligence and careful research, I am sure you will do very well with your Peace Lily and other potted plants in the future. I appreciate the detail and the photo you have provided.
There are a couple of possibilities here. First, check your water quality. If your tap water is on the hard side, then use filtered or distilled water. Excess mineral salts in hard water can cause flower discoloration.
Second, check for roots hanging outside the drain holes of the nursery (inner) pot. If you find any, then trim them off with scissors.
Then, water your plant thoroughly - until a bit runs through the drain holes - and then observe how many days before it starts to wilt just a bit. Ideally, it will take 4 - 7 days for that to occur. If it takes less than four days, then it is time to move it into a 7 or 8 inch pot so there will be more soil to keep the roots moist for a longer time between waterings. If it takes more than 3 days for the leaves to wilt a bit, then keep it in the same pot but in the future water it 1 day sooner than you expect it to wilt. Curiously, either over or under watering may cause the flowers to discolor as yours have, so learning to water just before it starts to wilt is an important part of Peace Lily care.
Misting is entirely unnecessary for Peace lilies. It does not effectively increase humidity levels and Peace Lilies do fine in low humidity anyway. I suggest you stop misting, given your concerns about chemical residue in the mister.
Double-potting your plant as you have is fine as long as you monitor the water below and make sure it does not maintain contact with the bottom of the nursery pot. Using pebbles between the pots is largely irrelevant.
The yellow leaves may be nothing more than normal aging of older leaves. Or it could be a symptom of either under or over watering. Trim off all yellowed leaves so you can better monitor the situation in the future.
Peace lilies grow best in the brightest indirect light and in pots that keep the plant moderately potbound. Repot only according to the guidelines I mentioned above. Increase the light as much as possible without exposing your plant to any direct sunlight.
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.
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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC
Visit my website at www.HorticulturalHelp.com
