Help with Peace Lily

ldp1959

9 years ago

Recently, I transferred my Peace Lily from soil to hydro culture. It is really sruggling, leaves are turning brown/drooping, etc. It has been two weeks. Prior to this, in soil, it was not doing the best, which is one of the reasons i repotted it, plus I like the idea of no soil in the home. I purchased a pot that has the raised area on the bottom in the center to set the roots on. Then I cleaned the root ball, added some clay pellets which had been soaking for a day, set the roots in the pot, added more pellets around the stalks for stability, and watered it with a diluted fertilizer. I might add that beneath the pot is a tray for water. What have I done wrong? Prior to this, the plant had never bloomed, and was ok, but had browning leaves. I received it a year ago for my Father's funeral, and really do't want to lose it.

Thanks,

Lee

Comments (4)

dbarron
9 years ago
While very tough, I always neglected my peace lilies, and therefore they always looked like ****. I must admit a well grown one is a plastic statue tribute to beauty. The ones you see in shopping malls are gorgeous. I truly prefer plants that grow and change more visibly and noticeably though.

That being said, I have no experience with hydroponic growing of any kind...but from a google search, expect about a month of system shock before it acclimates.
tropicbreezent
9 years ago
I think that may be your main issue, time to adjust. I have some in a pot standing in water on the edge of a pond. There's only gravel in the pot rather than soil. It's been there a few years now without any issues.
ldp1959
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the responses. Some of the leaves are dried up, do I prune those? I try to spray it a few times a day to help keep them moist, but there are a couple of leaves that I don't think are gong to recover. This is my first peace lily, and i am a little paranoid i am going to kill it. During this time do I water it as normal? How about fertilizer?

Thank again...
dellis326 (Danny)
9 years ago
Could you post a photo of your set up? It would make it easier to see what you're talking about.

Spathiphyllum are one of the best common house plants for hydro-culture. They have evolved to grow in wet boggy conditions and can adapt to many environments as long as it doesn't get too dry.

When transitioning a plant to hydro-culture (Semi or Passive-hydro) there can be a period of adjustment not to mention the effect of shock from being uprooted and having the soil removed. The physical structure of roots grown without soil is different than soil grown plants. What needs to happen is for this new type of roots to grow out and the older ones will die off. Due to the open nature of the LECA you should not have any issues with root rot and they will deteriorate and be flushed to the reservoir without being noticed.

When you say the pot is in a tray for the water, are you keeping water in the tray? If your pot is 5-6 inches tall then there should be around 1 to 1-1/2 inches of water kept in it all the time.

Why did you use a pot with a raised center? I'm wondering if there isn't enough LECA in the water to properly wick the water up into the root zone.

Trim off any dead or brown leaves. Once they turn brown they won't go back to green. If just the tip is brown you can leave those for awhile.

If you keep it sitting in water or better yet a nutrient solution you should just need to water it every two or three weeks unless all the water evaporates. every couple of months, lift the pot out and pour the water out and replace it with fresh. When you add water, pour it through the LECA, don't just fill the tray.

I prefer to use fertilizers intended for hydroponics. Many brands of fertilizers do not have all of the micro-nutrients that plants would normally get from soil or they are not completely water soluble so the plants can get them. Hydroponic nutrients are, by design, intended to be soluble and available in the water. Once every 4 to 6 weeks I replenish the nutrients and in between I use plain water.