Spathiphyllum

Help,help,
I have been growing a Mauna Loa Spathiphyllum for 38 years and last Sunday it collapsed.The stems and leaves are like rubber.I watered my plant on Friday which I do every two weeks however a nurseryman told me to add 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar to 1 gallon of water once in a while to dissolve the accumulated salts from the tap water that I use.I did this on Friday and everything looked great until 4PM on Sunday. On Monday I poured an additional 5 gallons of water in the pot to try to leech out any vinegar in the soil.I repeated this again today.I am now going to wait until the soil drys out before watering,(that is if the plant doesn't die first).This condition has never happened before.I know that this plant is hardy but I don't know if it will survive.I have also put stakes in the pot and tied the stems with aluminum wire to give them support.
I am beside myself and very depressed.Has anyone ever had this kind of problem with spathiphyllum's?

It sounds to me like you burned the roots with the acid in the vinegar. Sapts are very senistive to fertilizers anyway.
I would keep your fingers crossed that you diltued the acid with the water.
Good Luck.

Paul

Vinegar is an acid, pH about 4.

This message was edited Wednesday, Jan 1st 9:33 AM

I would be inclined to think vinegar would make it more acid, and you want to add something to increase alkalinity. Like lime?

Thank you Paulgrow,Pardancanda & Aimee for your replies. Today is New years Day and things are looking brighter for my plant.Some of the stems and leaves are starting to harden while others are turning yellow.This I expected.As I said, the plant is huge.It was over 3 feet tall & 6 feet in diameter.I will keep the stakes with wire bracing in the pot for a month and then remove them.I'm sure some of the stems will fall down a litle bit upon removal,however all the new stems should stand up tall.Having had this plant for 38 years I estimate it will take 5 years for the new growth to fill in the voids caused by this disaster.I'm just so happy that the plant didn't die.The reason that I used vinegar was recommended to me my a nurseryman to remove some of the alkalinity in the soil due to salt build up from the tap water.I know that vinegar is an acid but the mixture ratio given to me was to neutralize the alkalinity as mentioned.Obviously the mixture concentration of vinegar was too strong and I will never do this again.I'm also going to give the nurseryman a piece of my mind and will take my business elsewhere.This has been a good and hard lesson learned,but again, if you can't trust a nurseryman,whom can you trust?

Hi Plantsforever,

Can't give you any info on your plant, but wanted to say hi from a neighbor. We live in Huntington Beach, 15 miles north of you and my DD lives in Lake Forest. Do you shop at the Laguna Hills nursery? That is one of my favorite nurseries. Why don't you go over to the Welcome Mat and introduce yourself and tell us about your gardening.

Your neighbor,
Donna - SoCal

Plantsforever, I also use vinegar in water to help eliminate the lime buildup in my potted plants' soil (our water is heavily limed). But I am surprised at the large amount he recommended. I use 1 oz white vinegar per gallon of water, water thoroughly (perhaps a pint per plant), then flush the soil immediately with another quart of pure water. I don't grow spathiphyllum, but the hibiscus, ferns, -- acid lovers especially thrive on this once every couple years.