What's Wrong With My Peace Lily?

I received this Peace Lily June 20th, it was in a small pot so I repotted it in a commercial African Violet mix that I happened to have plenty of on hand, and took a clump to start a new plant. That one is doing fine. The original plant is losing leaves from around the base. Newer leaves mostly. They are getting brown areas then turning yellow. One green leaf has some unusual holes in it, tho I see no bugs and the holes have brown edges. I have not fertilized it. It may not be getting enough light. I have only watered it once since re-potting it and it was very dry thru the top 2" when I did, the leaves were starting to droop and curl under a little. I've never had one of these before and do not know what to expect from it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Lupine--

I will ask you an obvious question.

When you re-potted it--did you add any soil on the top of the pot/rootball?
When re-potting, to compensate for the larger and deeper pot,
extra soil needs to go on the bottom of the pot--never on top.

IF you did this (it is a very common error), take the plant out and pot it up correctly.

I can't see tooo well in your picture #3--but it does look a bit bunched up near
the top of the pot--like, I would want to see some stems showing.

Otherwise--the plant looks healthy.

Gita

I did fill the pot first, then made a hole for the root ball since the new pot was much wider and filled soil in around it. It does appear that I may have built up some soil on top of it while filling in around it. Here's a pic of the stems. What do you think?

lupine--

It does look like there may be a bit too much soil on top. Hard to tell..
try to remove any loose soil (yours) until you hit a hard surface--the original
surface.
It won't hurt if you remove the plant completely and start over.
BTW--I see you have chosen a clay pot. It's OK--but Peace Lilies wilt easily when
in need of watering. Clay pots evaporate water out through their walls.
Be looking for when the tips of the leaves of the PL start to droop a bit.
Water right away. If you allow your PL to wlt--it WILL come back, but it will take
a long time--and the price you will pay is losing some of the bottom leaves.

AND--I prsume you DO know that a PL is a LOW LIGHT plant???
NO direct sun on it...Do not take it outside either...Too bright--even in 100% shade.

*************************************

Here's a nifty little trick to always re-pot correctly at the right depth.
This works especially good for fragile plants like African Violets whose leaves
can break off and other frail-to-handle plants.

1--Remove the purchased plant from the original pot and set the plant aside.

2-Fill the bottom of the new/bigger pot with as much soil as needed about 1/4 full.
How much you fill the bottom with depends on how big the old pot was.
Normally--when transplanting, go up ONLY one size in the pot. Like--6" to 8" pot.
One size bigger pots will be 2" deeper--and 2" wider.
Firm down the soil you just put in the bottom..

3--Take the old pot and set it on top of the soil you were just filling the new pot with.
**Make sure the top of the old pot is level with the top of the new pot.
If not--add more soil to the bottom.

4--Start filling the fresh soil around the pot, firming the soil down around the sides as you go,
until the soil level is even with the top of the pot (can be s bit lower--don't over-fill.

What you are doing here is creating a "place-holder" for the root ball of the plant
you are transplanting. The old pot now== the size of the hole. Simple!!!

5--Set the removed root ball (after you have teased some of the roots free if the
plant was root-bound) into the hole and that is all there is. Fits like a glove! Right?
Firm it down somewhat--and if you need to dribble a bit of soil on top, that's OK.

This is a fool proof way to transplant any plant and not have to guess how much soil is OK on top.

Pass this trick on--it is very easy to do.
Happy gardening! Gita

Gita-

Thanks for the info. I'd read clay pots weren't best for them but it was all I had available, and I was more worried that my grandmother would overwater it to death than it drying out. I also know it's a low-light plant, but it's in my grandmother's living room, at the wall opposite the picture window, of which she keeps the blinds and curtains closed completely 24/7 since she can't see any better with the lights on than with them off, so I don't know how it could possibly be getting any/enough light.

I will take the plant out of the pot, dust off any loose soil from on top, and repot it making sure to not cover the original top. Thanks again!

You are welcome! Any time.......Gita

i think overall that it looks extremely healthy. i would feed it with a weak solution of liquid fertilizer.
not to override the advice given, but i think that since it is indoors that a clay pot is fine. mine are outdoors in bright shade and i keep them in plastic pots so they don't dry out so fast but an indoor plant, even one that loves water, can rot pretty fast in a plastic pot...

just my 2 cents....:-)

Hello,

I'm new to this site and new to caring for plants. I have a peace lily that is near my wifi router and the flower has completely turned as green as it's leaves...I have another peace lily away from the router and it's still white. Any thoughts as to what is going on?

Peace lily blooms turn green when they are done.
Cut the bloom stem all the way down..where it comes out from the leaf.

Not to worry! Gita

Peace Lilies are tough as nails. They do like water but even if they wilt they will perk up if caught in time. Even if the leaves die and turn black, they can still make a great comeback if given proper care. I have two (from funerals) peace lilies that looked dead as nails (neglect on my part - not watering, overwatering, cold temps) so I threw them on a compost heap a few years ago. The next spring as I was moving that pile to another location I found a little green blob about a foot deep into the pile. It was one of the peace lilies. Digging a little further I found the other one alive and doing well too. I have both in plastic pots and have been in the same pots for years - tough as nails!

Clay pots should be fine but you may find you are watering more rather than less - which is good if you have a heavy hand when it comes to watering.

Gita's observation on putting too much soil on the surface has to do with crown rot. A little extra soil shouldn't hurt but if you add too much you can kill the plant. It is good to keep the soil level with the union of the roots and the plant. Some plants you can bury the stems like tomatoes while others it is a death sentence.

The blooms will turn green as they age so that has nothing to do with your router's proximity to the plant. Perfectly healthy.

A few leaves that turn yellow is normal - just cut them out. Your plant looks very good. The potting process may have added a little stress to the plant but it should be very happy with some new soil in a short while.

Thank you for the responses...forgive me for asking another question...but when you say cut the bloom stem where it comes out of the leaf...I"m a little confused...are you saying to the cut the lily flower off of the plant and it will grow back white?

When you cut the bloom, it will not be replaced with a new one. You can cut blooms off at any time if you don't like them. I let mine age until they turn brown and then remove them. I also do not cut it back to where it comes out of the plant. Eventually the bloom stem will die back just like a leaf stem will. When they die back, it makes it fairly easy to give them a slight tug and they will come out nice and clean.

Great advice from all of you! I learned very much reading your suggestions. Thanks!