Concerned about my plant!

Hi, new to any forum about plants but I need advice and thank you for any you can give me.

I know very little about plants but I do love them especially the 4 house plants I have.
I have a garden and if you saw it, then I am sure you would be not happy with me but I love letting nature do it's thing and love all the butterfly's and bees along with the birds!

So my problem.
All my four plants are over 13 years old (one is over 20 years) but I am worried that I am not doing right through lack of knowledge!

I do not know the names of my 'girls' so my first question is, what are their names?
This is my oldest 'girl'



and this is my cactus who is atleast 13



Both of them seem to be 'OK' but I don't really know!

My biggest worry is my 'tall girl'. She has 'white' leaves now and I don't know what to do? She also has a new 'boy' and again I don't know if the new boy is affecting her??

tall girl



New boy



White leaves



I am also worried about my fourth who has never really 'took off' but I have had her for over 10 years?
So I am doing something wrong!

My 4th



I would be most thankful for any advice you can give me

 

Hello Houseplants aren't my forté, but numbers 1 and 4 are Spathiphyllums, I think. No 2 is a Christmas cactus; Schlumbergera. No 3 is a Cordyline. It looks as though it was chopped at some stage and it sprouted, so you could do that again. Either detach 'the boy' and pot it up or leave it so you've got a multi-stemmed plant. Have they been re-potted in all those years? If not, they'd probably appreciate some fresh compost

 

Welcome. Anyone who keeps houseplants alive that long must be doing something right.

 

Thank you for that, it means that I can learn about them and maybe help them!

I have never 'chopped' them, I don't know what that is?
They are as I first got them!

I did give them all bigger pots about 6-7 years ago, but that is all I have done (except very much liking them).

Thank you for your help

 

Ta very much but I just very much like them, I have no idea of what I am doing :(

 

Hi there @lake47 and



I have several Spathiphyllums ( Peace Lilly) and Schlumbergera ( Christmas Cactus) and find they're very easy to grow. Every couple of year's I repot the Peace Lillies and divide them at the same time., I now have 5 plants all taken from one plant. Your last one looks like it's in need of a drink I think.

The Christmas Cactus is easy to propagate too. If ever you fancy more plants just take one segment of leaf off and insert it in fresh compost.

Both plants let you know when they require water, the Peace Lilly gets very sad and droopy looking and the Christmas Cactus loses its plump feeling and droops and feels leathery. I always go by these signs and they soon perk up after a bit of water.....much better to wait for them to ask for water that overwater them.

 

Hi again lake47 Now, this Cordyline.....if you're fed up with it straggling, take the plunge, cut it cleanly with sharp secateurs just above the top of 'the boy' Don't remove TB at this stage(if you're planning to)...wait until the main trunk starts to sprout new growth, just to be on the safe side. You probably won't need to water as often until it's putting out new shoots. Then you can decide whether you want to keep it as a multi-stemmed plant, or detach and re-pot TB

 

Hi there, @lake47 ! You can take a pair of secateurs & chop the plant hard back. I did that this year (as well as the 2 previous years) to my Dragon Tree. I put a few photos up so you can see it. I was a bit more reluctant this year as I really wanted to reduce its height from 6ft down to 4ft but that meant I would have no leaves left on the plant! The last two times I cut it back I always left some leaves & the stems have sprouted again within a few weeks. So encouraged by the previous year I went ahead & cut all the branches back to roughly 4ft. I needn't have worried as within a couple of weeks I saw the first budding shoots starting to emerge from the headless (leafless) stems.
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As you can see no harm done!
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I've also grown Christmas Cactus & Easter Cactus for many years & they are, as the kids say, "Easy peasy"! They grow well with little fuss & flower when the feel like it! Don't be distracted with the common names as they can, literally, flower at any time. They are also very, very easy to propagate & you can get new plants from a leaf in a few weeks.

Besides if you have managed to keep them alive all these years then you are very obviously doing something right!

 

The "Peace Lily" I've only ever grown once, many years ago & it sadly died on me. I don't know why, it just did.

 

Dracaena marginata not Cordyline.