Does my Peace Lily need re-potting?

Howdy folks,

I just bought my first Peace Lilies and they arrived in good shape, but they seem really packed in...



Do they need a bigger pot or is that how they grow naturally?

One of the plants has a natural inclination to one side it seems and the other side is pretty bland, so I was trying to have a fiddle and shift some of the action to the other side, but with the stems as jam packed as they are, it proved to be a pain and I didn't want to try and force it in case I damaged the plant.

Any suggestions?

Also, they arrived with a few tips of the leaves browning. It arrived with damp soil so I don't think they were lacking in that regard, so do you think it may be sun damage or something else?

Mike.

 

Hi there Crassus, welcome to Gardener's Corner.

It does look a bit crammed, I think they sell them like that to get a lush effect at point of sale.

It would be easy to repot in a wider pot - choose one that fits inside your white pot without being too visible, ideally. Then you can just feed new compost in around the edges and settle it around the roots by tapping down and watering-in. If it's a bit lop-sided this procedure could give you the opportunity to correct that a bit.

You could possibly divide it and create several new plants but it would take much longer to recover and would change the appearance of the plant a lot so I wouldn't recommend that unless you wanted new plants.

The brown tips are probably due to lack of humidity at some stage in its life, if they bother you then you will have to cut those leaves off and wait for new ones to grow as there is no way of de-browning a leaf! I doubt if it's terminal, the plants look pretty healthy overall.

 

Thanks a lot!

I'll definitely get them re-potted them soon. I think a 14cm pot should fit in the white pot just nicely, so I'll give it a go and hopefully it has a bit more room eventually.
Would be a shame for new leaves to get bogged down and not even get a chance to grow because of the density!

The leaves; It's just the tips, very small amounts of the tip that are browning.

I read that I should spray it once or twice a week to help keep its humidity up, do you think that would help if I snipped off the brown tips and did that from then on to help keep it healthy?

I'm used to succulents... So much easier!

Mike.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Mike, after our little sorting out via Facebook

Sounds like you'll fit in in our Cacti & Succulent section then.

 

Thanks for the help, Zigs!

Yeah I love succulents. Mostly Sempervivum, but there are plenty of funky things out there that catch my eye!

 

For anything that needs some humidity I don't think the advice of a couple of times a week will do much good :( Couple of times a day maybe

What I do for house plants that want some humidity is to put an inch or so of gravel in the bottom of the outer container and then make sure that is kept topped up (i.e. the water level is lower than the base of the pot, so anything up to the top of the layer of gravel). That water will then evaporate at a steady rate, and provide extra humidity around the plant - and saves you the job of spraying too (which, if you have hard water, might leave ugly water marks on the leaves).

Having said all that are these Arum lilies? If so they will probably be happy sitting in Water (if they are pure white flowers and the leaves are not spotty ... coloured flowers / spotty leaves are the other kind of Zantedeschia the name of which escapes me ...)

 

Thanks for the reply! I'll give them some extra love then

As far as I am aware they are "Chopin Peace Lilies".

The flowers are pure white it seems apart from the end of the leaf part which is still green, but maybe they're still changing? I'm not sure.

Here's a picture, though the quality isn't brilliant and the green tips of the flower look yellow!

 

Ah,OK. Spathiphyllum then, rather than Arum / Zantedeschia. Same Aroid family though. Don't know much about them, but I don't think they will tolerate sitting in water, so keep the water level below the top of the gravel.