peace lily

my peace lily is turning brown and wilted i just added new dirt and some time release plant food from shultz what do i do? I had this palnt for 1year and half.

This message was edited Sep 7, 2009 10:54 AM

This may be the most asked question about tropicals on Dave's. Of course, you deserve as good an answer as the members can come up with. Too much direct sunlight can cause browning. Too much water, or not enough, can do it. Too much alkalinity (salts) in the water could be the culprit. I wish you hadn't fertilized when it was sick, because that can make it worse. Fertilizer burn is a definite possibility. If somebody is in the critical care unit, they don't treat them with steak dinners. Fertilizing an already sick plant amounts to the same thing. I don't know what you mean by "added new dirt." Did you remove part of the soil and replace it with new soil? My advice would be to take the plant out of the container, cut off all the top growth, and repot it in a nice porous organic mix with no actual soil (dirt). Add no fertilizer or root stimulator. Keep the potting mix damp but not wet. Feeling of the surface will tell you if it needs water or not. If it's cool to the touch, it's damp enough. Keep the plant in moderate light but zero direct sun. It very well may grow back for you. Your only other choice is to replace it, but if you treat the new one the same way you treated this one you'll have a repeat performance. I'm not being critical but only trying to be helpful.

thanks, but the plant was healthy before it was treated it got this way after.

This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 11:52 PM

If you've had your plant for 1 1/2 years and it's been healthy until now, and if it hasn't been in direct sun to have the leaves scorched by the sun, it could possibly be fertilizer burn. I would unpot it, wash every bit of soil possible off the roots, and repot in fresh soil.

Zone 8b, Heat Zone 9 Deep East, TX
It is best to place Peace Plant out of any drafts.
Also, remove dust from leaves.

If I can butt in here and ask a question about my peace plant? I don't do well with indoor plants but I have a skylight over my bathtub and have all the indoor plants there - they are over growing the tub. I feel like I am in a jungle when I take a bath...rather nice actually. Anyway, my peace plant (2 1/2 years old) is out growing it's pot and I'm afraid to transplant it. It is doing great but it is just bursting at the seams (as are all the plants in the tub area). I don't know how to transplant plants when they get like this and usually when I do it ends up sad. I don't even know what kind of plants they are except for the ivy. I need to start somewhere so I guess the peace plant is first. Any help? Also, I can see little worm like bugs in the dirt of another plant. Can I spray bug spray in the dirt and reuse it? Thanks!