Worried about my peace lily

[TheWriteStuff]

Hi folks. I'm worried about this peace lily. It has great sentimental value as it came from the funeral of a beloved aunt. I'm not very experienced with plants, but I've had this one since 2008. It's never been a tremendous bloomer, and a lot of times it doesn't even blossom, just grows leaves. However I'm getting worried about it. I usually replace the soil every May. Last year I did two things different.

At the suggestion of a friend, I separated the plant into three segments. The other thing I did was I used a "moisture control" potting mix, and that last part has me especially concerned. At first I thought it was a great idea, but then I read that with this type of mix you run a risk of root rot, so I cut back on the watering. Now I'm afraid I didn't water it enough. I went and cut off all the leaves that were withering or turning brown, hoping it would help the remaining ones stay strong. So far one of the three hasn't grown back, the second looks like it has a new leaf coming in, and the third is doing best, with a new leaf or bloom coming in:

By contrast, this was what it looked like five years ago:

I plan on repotting it soon, and NOT with moisture control mix. However I'm concerned about what kind of mix to get; i.e. organic or non-organic, store-bought or special order from a small business, etc.

I've been doing a lot of online research and I understand the plant might just be in a "dormant" state from the long winter. Is it possible it just needs some new mix and it will start growing more? Any help would be appreciated.

Oh and one other thing - the last couple years I have watered her exclusively with distilled water. The tap water here is hard and full of chlorine.

Thank you!

 

[oneeye]

It will be harder to minimize the water intake in a large container. If you do replace the soil, I would recommend using a smaller container to lower the moisture level in the soil. As long as the water volume is too much for the plant roots, it will suffer. It looks like that may be your problem using the moisture control potting mix. Take the 3 plants and put them each in their own small container to better manage the watering. Take a common potting soil like Miracle Grow potting mix and mix 2:1 with Miracle Grow Cactus mix for the best drainage.

 

[oneeye]

Peace lilies are very water sensitive. If you can catch some rain water you won't have to use distilled water, I only use rain water with every plant. Here is an example of lowering the water intake with a smaller container. These two cuttings were cut and rooted at the exact time and put in the same soil, only difference is water intake due to lower water volume. The larger pot gets water every 12 to 15 days and the smaller one gets water every 4 to 6 days. Big difference in the amount of water between the two plants too.

 

[TheWriteStuff]

Thanks oneeye. I am definitely going to move them to a smaller pot/container. I've been told before that the pot is too big but I didn't want to change because that's the pot I've always used. But then I realized that if I move Mary Lee (that's what I call the plant, because it was my aunt's name) to a different pot, I could buy a new, bigger plant to put in the big pot. It's a win-win!

As for the rainwater suggestion, I live in an apartment building so if I put out a container to collect rain who knows what would happen to it. Plus I have to buy distilled water for a medical device anyway.

 

[TheWriteStuff]

Hello again.

Well two weeks ago I dug her out of the big pot and put her into this much smaller one. I filled the pot with Ecoscraps potting mix to give it organic nutrients (sorry oneeye, I forgot about your Miracle-Gro suggestion when I was at the store.) She was already starting to show some new leaves before, and now there's a new stem or stalk starting to peek through the soil. Been watering her VERY lightly since the little pot won't hold much.

I keep her out of direct sun, but let her get some light by placing her on the floor a few feet away from a window when I'm at work. Another thing I've been experimenting with is moving her to the bathroom while I'm in the shower in the morning so it can soak up some humidity. Some days I even place her in the tub after I'm done, close the curtain, and let it absorb humid air all day. The problem there is that it gets very little sunlight, if any, but so far it seems like she responds better to that than sun anyway.

Should I trim off the big leaf that's turning brown? Should I also cut off the old stalks or stems that had leaves on them previously? I cut the leaves off them when they started turning brown. Are they going to grow new leaves or just be stagnant?

 

[oneeye]

The browning is caused from too much water in the container. A plant pushes water through to the edge of its leaves, and if given in excess, this can cause veins at the edges to burst, which leads to browning. I think you should let the soil dry more between waterings. When I over water a plant, I will snip the top off a stem to allow the water to exit more quickly. If you remove too much green the plant will lack photosynthesis. So just remove only what's dead and allow the soil to almost dry out completely before watering again. Our natural tendency is to over-water because we care so much about a plant. You may need to wait a week or two to allow the soil to dry enough for your peace lily to start growing a lot of roots again.