Differential diagnosis for a dying plant, people.
January 12, 2010 5:06 PM Subscribe
PlantFilter: My plant is dying. Or diseased. What kind of plant is it and how can I save it?
I don't know what kind of plant this is. I've had it for a couple of years, and I love it for sentimental reasons. Six month ago, I thought it might die, but it recovered very nicely. Now its leaves seems to be rotting away -- this is within the past month, though it's decline seems exponential.
I keep it out of direct sunlight, though in a room filled with natural light.
I water it with quite a bit of water (Three-quarters of a watering can? I know this is unhelpful) every two weeks. Six months ago I started mixing Miracle Gro into the water.
Can we:
Identify this plant.
Identify its malady.
Save its life.
Thank you.
I don't know what kind of plant this is. I've had it for a couple of years, and I love it for sentimental reasons. Six month ago, I thought it might die, but it recovered very nicely. Now its leaves seems to be rotting away -- this is within the past month, though it's decline seems exponential.
I keep it out of direct sunlight, though in a room filled with natural light.
I water it with quite a bit of water (Three-quarters of a watering can? I know this is unhelpful) every two weeks. Six months ago I started mixing Miracle Gro into the water.
Can we:
Identify this plant.
Identify its malady.
Save its life.
Thank you.
I'm not expert, but it looks to me like a "peace lily", really common house plant, I've had a couple of them. wikipedia
A few things I have learned:
-They are cool with low light.
-Overwatering will kill them, err on the side of underwatering.
-If you notice the leaves drooping though, the plant is telling you "I need water!"
-They *hate* cold
The internet (via this page mentions that "tip burn" (which it looks like you have) could be caused by "over feeding"... in other words, I think your Miracle Gro may be the problem.
posted by malphigian at 5:12 PM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
A few things I have learned:
-They are cool with low light.
-Overwatering will kill them, err on the side of underwatering.
-If you notice the leaves drooping though, the plant is telling you "I need water!"
-They *hate* cold
The internet (via this page mentions that "tip burn" (which it looks like you have) could be caused by "over feeding"... in other words, I think your Miracle Gro may be the problem.
posted by malphigian at 5:12 PM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
I should also add these plants are like impossible to kill forever, I've had half of the leaves brown on one and brought it back from the edge.
posted by malphigian at 5:13 PM on January 12, 2010
posted by malphigian at 5:13 PM on January 12, 2010
This site has some good diagnostic techniques for you, or just google "peace lily brown leaves" for loads more.
posted by bink at 5:15 PM on January 12, 2010
posted by bink at 5:15 PM on January 12, 2010
Best answer: Oh my. That is one sad looking peace lily. With respect to malphigian, peace lilys DO need to stay evenly moist. You can actually grow them in water, so keeping them thoroughly watered is correct. They need low light - so your placement out of direct sunlight is fine. However, fertilizing them to the extent you have been is wrong for many reasons.
Miracle Gro is a mighty fertilizer. Those three big numbers on the box? That is the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium respectively in the fertilizer. In non-organic fertilizers like Miracle Gro these numbers are very high, making Miracle Gro powerful. We tend to think of fertilizing plants as: fertilizer = good, so, more fertilizer = even better. This is so incredibly wrong. Too much fertilizer in the soil - minerals and salts - are toxic at high quantities.
Another thing to keep in mind is the time of year. This is the DEAD of winter for your plants. We (I see you are in the US) have the LEAST amount of sunlight this time of year. Our houseplants are resting until March, when the days lengthen and it becomes Spring again. Therefore, fertilizing at ALL in the winter isn't necessary. (I fertilize my plants at a quarter strength once a month for December and January.) Put your plant in the bathtub and run water through the soil to flush out excess fertilizer. Then cut off any dead leaves. If this is all of them, cut off the worst ones.
In the future, if fertilizing your plant makes you happy - like, oh! I am loving this little plant! here is some food! - fertilize at a quarter or half strength. Then you can fertilize more often. I think this is better, actually, because then the plant receives a steady supply of nutrients at manageable doses, rather than being slammed with a rush of fertilizer at rare times. There are also wonderful organic fertilizers you can buy that you don't need to be as concerned about burning your plants....organic fertilizers have a whole host of micro-nutrients in them, since they are primarily made from seaweed and fish. I do not work for them in any way - I use and love Neptunes fish and seaweed fertilizer.
Plants are resilient! I bet yours will be fine!
posted by missmary6 at 6:03 PM on January 12, 2010 [3 favorites]
Miracle Gro is a mighty fertilizer. Those three big numbers on the box? That is the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium respectively in the fertilizer. In non-organic fertilizers like Miracle Gro these numbers are very high, making Miracle Gro powerful. We tend to think of fertilizing plants as: fertilizer = good, so, more fertilizer = even better. This is so incredibly wrong. Too much fertilizer in the soil - minerals and salts - are toxic at high quantities.
Another thing to keep in mind is the time of year. This is the DEAD of winter for your plants. We (I see you are in the US) have the LEAST amount of sunlight this time of year. Our houseplants are resting until March, when the days lengthen and it becomes Spring again. Therefore, fertilizing at ALL in the winter isn't necessary. (I fertilize my plants at a quarter strength once a month for December and January.) Put your plant in the bathtub and run water through the soil to flush out excess fertilizer. Then cut off any dead leaves. If this is all of them, cut off the worst ones.
In the future, if fertilizing your plant makes you happy - like, oh! I am loving this little plant! here is some food! - fertilize at a quarter or half strength. Then you can fertilize more often. I think this is better, actually, because then the plant receives a steady supply of nutrients at manageable doses, rather than being slammed with a rush of fertilizer at rare times. There are also wonderful organic fertilizers you can buy that you don't need to be as concerned about burning your plants....organic fertilizers have a whole host of micro-nutrients in them, since they are primarily made from seaweed and fish. I do not work for them in any way - I use and love Neptunes fish and seaweed fertilizer.
Plants are resilient! I bet yours will be fine!
posted by missmary6 at 6:03 PM on January 12, 2010 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Yup, that's a peace lily.
Here's how we care for them at work. A little water every day or a little more every other day. Do not water if soil is moist to the touch. Do not overwater on a continual basis-you don't want rootrot.
I have heard from a mastergardener that MiracleGro is crap. You might want to go to a garden store and ask their recommendations re fertilizer-I think a timerelease type would be the way to go. But yeah, no matter what, stop with the Miraclegro.
Keep out of direct sunlight-indirect is fine.
If the leaves droop, that generally means they need water. Water them really well and within 12 hours or so they bounce back.
We also prune the things-taking off bad leaves and such.
Hope that helps!
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:24 PM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Here's how we care for them at work. A little water every day or a little more every other day. Do not water if soil is moist to the touch. Do not overwater on a continual basis-you don't want rootrot.
I have heard from a mastergardener that MiracleGro is crap. You might want to go to a garden store and ask their recommendations re fertilizer-I think a timerelease type would be the way to go. But yeah, no matter what, stop with the Miraclegro.
Keep out of direct sunlight-indirect is fine.
If the leaves droop, that generally means they need water. Water them really well and within 12 hours or so they bounce back.
We also prune the things-taking off bad leaves and such.
Hope that helps!
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:24 PM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Listen to missmary & St. Alia:
Do water your peace lily regularly and consistently.
Don't drench your peace lily (spathiphyllum) and then let them dry out completely. This promotes leaf necrosis.
Do cut away dead leaves as they can play host to fungi and pests.
Don't cut into the living tissue.
Do use fertilizer. Good stuff. At no greater than half strength for tropicals like the spath, ever.
Don't use Miracle-Gro for anything that does not bloom, live in a pot, and typically get kept around for less than a season.
Do give your spath a good purifying soak. Then let it be.
Don't give into the temptation to futz with it. Many, many tropicals are killed by well-intentioned owners. A little benevolent neglect (aside from the good watering habits) is often the best.
Do make sure it's out of drafts.
Don't give up on this one.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 6:37 PM on January 12, 2010
Do water your peace lily regularly and consistently.
Don't drench your peace lily (spathiphyllum) and then let them dry out completely. This promotes leaf necrosis.
Do cut away dead leaves as they can play host to fungi and pests.
Don't cut into the living tissue.
Do use fertilizer. Good stuff. At no greater than half strength for tropicals like the spath, ever.
Don't use Miracle-Gro for anything that does not bloom, live in a pot, and typically get kept around for less than a season.
Do give your spath a good purifying soak. Then let it be.
Don't give into the temptation to futz with it. Many, many tropicals are killed by well-intentioned owners. A little benevolent neglect (aside from the good watering habits) is often the best.
Do make sure it's out of drafts.
Don't give up on this one.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 6:37 PM on January 12, 2010
Your peace lily has fertilizer burn. Don't fertilize it any more. Plant it in a pot with drainage and flush it with plain water room temperature water and allow the water to run out the holes and away (in other words, do this in the sink). Water it only when the top inch of soil dries out.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:38 PM on January 12, 2010
posted by oneirodynia at 6:38 PM on January 12, 2010
Best answer: That is a peace lily. You are not watering it enough.
1. Trim off all the dead parts.
2. Give it a shower in room temperature water.
3. Wet the soil thoroughly with plain water and a little fertilizer, then more plain water, and let the excess drain out the bottom.
4. Give it a day to dry out a bit.
5. Put the whole pot inside a large clear trash bag and tie the bag shut over the leaves (like a mini greenhouse).
6. Put it in a warmish room with a window, but not near the window- like on the other side of the room.
7. Ignore it for a week or two. You can leave it like this when you skip town for a couple weeks.
When I did this to my peace lily (because I was going out of town for a couple weeks) it grew a bunch of new leaves and flowered for the first time in years.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:18 PM on January 12, 2010
1. Trim off all the dead parts.
2. Give it a shower in room temperature water.
3. Wet the soil thoroughly with plain water and a little fertilizer, then more plain water, and let the excess drain out the bottom.
4. Give it a day to dry out a bit.
5. Put the whole pot inside a large clear trash bag and tie the bag shut over the leaves (like a mini greenhouse).
6. Put it in a warmish room with a window, but not near the window- like on the other side of the room.
7. Ignore it for a week or two. You can leave it like this when you skip town for a couple weeks.
When I did this to my peace lily (because I was going out of town for a couple weeks) it grew a bunch of new leaves and flowered for the first time in years.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:18 PM on January 12, 2010
Oh, I missed that you're already Miracle Gro-ing it. Do what I said, but in step 3, flush with lots and lots of water to rinse the soil, and don't add any more fertilizer.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:20 PM on January 12, 2010
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:20 PM on January 12, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you all. The plant is doing much better now. I love you, Green!
posted by dbgrady at 11:53 AM on February 16, 2010
posted by dbgrady at 11:53 AM on February 16, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbgrady/4270500414/
and here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbgrady/4270500252/
Thanks!
posted by dbgrady at 5:07 PM on January 12, 2010