Subject: Re: Help! My spathipyllum is dying!

From: [email-masked]
Date: 28 Mar 95 20:06:30 -0600

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Eric Peterson) writes:
> I know next to nothing about plants, but was gifted with a lovely 
> green-leafed plant sent to my office - with no instructions on care.  
> The plant lady who comes around our office told me to give it three cups 
> of water once a week (and told me later it was a spathipyllum (?)).
> 
> So anyway, a week later, before I actually watered it, the poor thing 
> drooped alarmingly, so I watered it and it started to perk up all day 
> long.  The next day I came into the office and it was drooping again.  I 
> watered it again before the weekend - then came in Monday and it's much 
> worse now - many yellow leaves.  Facts: it's in a windowless office with 
> neon lighting, but the lights may easily have been off all weekend.  
> Tonight I'm going to take it home so it can get real sunlight.
> 
> Questions:
> 1.  	Is there a common name for this plant?

Spathiphyllum is commonly called "Peace Lily", but it's more closely
related to philodendrons than true lilies.

> 2.	How can I nurse it back to health?

First you need to figure out what the problem is.  Spread out a section
of newspaper.  Put your hand around the base of the plant, turn it 
upside down, and bang the edge of the pot on the edge of a table.
The plant should pop out of the pot.

Look at the roots.  Did you get a bunch of loose soil that fell
all over your feet when you unpotted the plant?  Or did you get a 
pot-shaped wad of soil that is practically white on the outside from
roots?  Or is it somewhere in between?

   If most of the soil hit your shoes, someone probably potted up a
   cutting before it had enough roots to support the top growth.

   If the soil ball is very firm and looks like mostly roots, the
   plant is "root bound" and needs to go in a bigger pot with more
   soil.

Smell the root ball.  Does it stink?  If so, and esp. if you can see
brownish, decaying roots, you've got some real trouble.
   If you see this, trim off all the decaying roots, wash the
   rest of the soil off the rootball, and repot in a clay pot with
   good potting soil.

What sort of pot is it growing in?  Plastic or clay?  Are there
good drainage holes?
   If it's in a clay pot, it will probably need watering fairly
   often... every few days, depending on the humidity and soil
   mix.  If it's in a plastic pot, it will need less water less often.
   If it's in a pot with no drainage holes, the person who potted it
   was an idiot, and the plant also probably has root rot.  Pot it
   in a good pot with decent drainage, and put the growing pot in 
   an undrained container if you think real flowerpots are ugly.

If you don't spot any problems with the roots, look at the top growth.
Any insects?  Spots or bumps on the underside of the leaves?  Fungus?
White powdery stuff on the leaves?  Those are all insect or disease
problems, and you should gripe to the people who sold the plant.
II'd also gripe about any root problem you find, or bad pot design).

At this point, if you can't spot anything wrong with it, wash all
the soil that's loose off the roots, and repot it in the same pot
it came in (assuming the pot has drainage holes).  

Use a commercial potting mix that looks like it has little white
styrofoam beads in it... that's perlite, and you'll see it in 
decent potting soil mixtures.  The black stuff that cakes and
is fine as dust is NOT good potting soil, but can be improved
by adding equal parts of sand (like for a sandbox, not ocean beach
sand) and perlite or vermiculite.

Water it by soaking the roots thoroughly.  Put it in the sink and
pour water into the pot until water runs out the bottom of the pot.
Wait a few minutes, and add more water.  Let it drain again.  Put
the plant on a dry saucer, and enjoy it.  Don't let it sit in water
for longer than about an hour.

Now: routine watering.  Don't try to water it by X amount Y days a
week.  Stick your finger in the pot, and wiggle it down until it's
about 1/2" in the dirt.  Is the soil still moist?  Don't water it.
Is the soil dryish?  Water it.  Is the soil bone dry?  You should have
watered it yesterday.

Always water by putting enough water into the pot that some comes out
the drainage holes.    Dump the excess water out of the saucer
after 30-60 minutes.

That should take care of 90% of the usual houseplant problems.  What
you've got left to think about is light, temperature and humidity.

> 3.	Should I cut off the dead stuff?

Yup.  If it's brown, go ahead and trim it off.

> 4.	Will sitting on a radiator harm it?  Does it like or hate 
> direct sunlight?

Spathiphyllum is a tropical understory plant.  It's native to areas
with high humidity, good soil drainage, where the soil never gets 
bone dry or sloppy-muddy wet.  When you put it on a radiator, you've
just done the equivalent of parking it in the middle of the Sahara
desert: no humidity to speak of, and root temperatures way too hot.
(could this be your trouble?)

> 5.	Will putting it out on the fire escape harm it (weather has been 
> between 40 and 60 degreese lately)?

In my experience, Spathiphyllum tolerates any temp between 50 and 100
all right, as long as the transition from one temperature to another
is fairly gradual.  It is an understory plant, so it does well under
not terribly bright light (like fluorescent office lights), but it was
probably grown in full light in the greenhouse.  It can survive in
just about any light that is bright enough to read the little print
in the want-ads in, but prefers something a little brighter to grow in.

> 6.	Was the plant lady right with her care instructions?

Basically, yes, if you don't mind "following the recipes" instead of
understanding what you're doing (or the plant is doing).

See if your library has a copy of the Time-Life book on Foliage
Houseplants (or even the Flowering Houseplants volume).  This will
give you the basics of growing plants indoors... which is a lot of
fun!

> Thanks for your help!  - eric peterson

You're welcome.

Kay Klier  [email-masked]
(who killed a lot of houseplants while learning)

---

From: [email-masked] (Eric Peterson)
Date: 28 Mar 1995 16:56:37 GMT

Questions:

---

From: [email-masked] (Sara Larson)
Date: 30 Mar 1995 21:50:29 GMT

Eric Peterson ([email-masked]) wrote:
[snip]
: worse now - many yellow leaves.  Facts: it's in a windowless office with 
: neon lighting, but the lights may easily have been off all weekend.  
: Tonight I'm going to take it home so it can get real sunlight.

: Questions:
: 1.  	Is there a common name for this plant?
Spathyphyllum's good, although perhaps I've misspelled the name. Some
of them seem to be called Peace Lilies.

: 2.	How can I nurse it back to health?
Wait until the top of the soil dries out enough for you to notice it
being dry. You have been frequently watering it and yet it "still"
droops, so it may be drowning. Water it whenever the soil feels dry to
you, and certainly try to water the same amount each time so you can
get to know how long it needs to wait between waterings. Perhaps it
has root rot. If it doesn't recover within a few weeks, repot the
plant in a larger container, and water it when the top of the soil is
dry to the touch.

: 3.	Should I cut off the dead stuff?
Sure, if you want. I'd probably leave it until I had taken care of the
repotting.

: 4.	Will sitting on a radiator harm it?  Does it like or hate 
: direct sunlight?
Don't put it really close to a strong source of heat or air
conditioning. They like to be near windows, but mine in the office is
on top of my filing cabinet away from the window. It is happy to use
the fluorescent lamps for its light source. I notice, however, that it
has not flowered in a long time.

: 5.	Will putting it out on the fire escape harm it (weather has been 
: between 40 and 60 degreese lately)?
I don't know about that one. 40 fahrenheit might be a little too cold
though.

: 6.	Was the plant lady right with her care instructions?
Sure, she probably was.

-Sara

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From: [email-masked] (Laurie L. Robertson)
Date: 9 Apr 1995 18:34:05 -0400

I've found my spathe likes a little more light than most plant books indicate.
In past years, the plant has thrived enough in bright, indirect light outdoors
during the summer to survive winter in dimmer light.  This year, I found some
accent, plant halogen lights (see Altons, etc) and the plant has actually
thrived as it overwinters indoors.  I also agree, I water infrequently (I let
it beg) but thoroughly when I do.  Good luck.

Laurie
    [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Laurie L. Robertson)
Date: 9 Apr 1995 18:34:05 -0400

Laurie
    [email-masked]

---

From: [email-masked] (APepera)
Date: 9 Apr 1995 12:16:31 -0400

Eric,

My plant book says that spathiphyllum like shade, and to be kept evenly
moist to wet. They will tolerate low light intensity and like living in a
house or apartment with dry air. Use a heavy soil that is half peat moss
(retains water) when transplanting...
 
Of course, this book also says that spathes are "easy care plants".... I
disagree! My spathe is the most tempermental plant I own, and while I've
had it for about five years now, I've never been completely thrilled with
how it looks. I have found a few things that seem to keep it happier than
not however. Mine resides in a west window, which I think would be
considered moderate light, not low light.  I suggest forgetting about the
three cups of water once a week. Every two or three weeks, I put mine in
the sink and water it until it's soaked through (water running out the
bottom of the pot). Be sure to let it drain completely before putting it
back in it's saucer tho, so it's not in standing water (very few plants
tolerate that). On alternate weeks I water mine liberally, aprox a quart
to a quart and a half (my spath is in a 14" pot, so adjust accordingly
depending on how big your's is). If it starts to look limp between
waterings, I toss it a couple cups of water to get it through til the next
routine watering. Go ahead and cut off the dead leaves... the stalks left
behind will dry up, and eventually you'll be able to pull them off, but
wait until they'll come away from the plant with a gentle tug. As for
putting it outside, I've never tried it, so I don't know how it would do,
but 40 is probably too cold, and most plants would rather sit in one spot,
so they can acclimate and adjust, as opposed to being moved around, so I
guess I would suggest waiting to move it outside (if you're going to)
until nights are staying in the 60s so that you can leave it out there for
the duration of the summer.

I hope some of this helps, one novice to another... oh, and the only
"common" name I've ever heard or seen is spathe.

Good luck!

Annie