Spathiphyllum spathiphyllum

Aroid family. Homeland of spatiphyllum (spatiphyllum) South America, East Asia, Polynesia.

If this herbaceous plant is chosen a suitable place, then it can bloom almost all year. In addition, the spathyphyllum begins to bloom at a fairly early age - already 3-7 months after the separation of a small part of the bush. Spatiphyllums moisten the air well, cleanse it of various toxic volatile compounds emitted by building materials, household chemicals, chipboard furniture.

• Spathiphyllum profusely flowering Spathiphyllum floribundum - has an underground creeping stem, leaves up to 20 cm long and about 6 cm wide, bright green, oblong-lanceolate, pointed at the end. Peduncles about 25 cm long, inflorescence ear with a pure white, slightly concave cover. Blooms all year.
• Spathiphyllum pleasant Spathiphyllum blandum - similar to the previous species, but has larger leaves - from 10 cm wide and about 25 cm long, the flower cover is light green. Blooms all year.
• Wallis's spathiphyllum spathiphyllum wallisii is a much smaller plant, its leaves about 5 cm wide and 15-20 cm long, with depressed veins clearly visible. The coat of the cob is small - up to 4 cm long and at first has a white color, and then gradually becomes green. It blooms from spring to autumn. There are about 50 varieties of Wallis spathifyllum, for example, "Claudius Claudius," "Chopin Chopin" - compact (up to 40-45 cm) and large flower cover, spathifyllum "Macho Macho" - even smaller, only 30 cm, characterized by a narrow long as an arrow flower cover, the leaf is pure green.
• There are many other domesticated species, and breeders have bred a huge number of interspecies hybrids and varieties. Often the name of the species is not indicated by manufacturers (in industrial greenhouses), leaving only the name of the variety.

Spathyphyllum - female happiness

We talk a lot about signs, often with a certain amount of subconscious faith we accept versions about the magical properties of indoor plants. There is a belief that spathifyllum brings happiness to single women. Where this omen came from is not known for certain, but it is transmitted from mouth to mouth, which spathyphyllum has a particularly positive energy during flowering. And the more flowers, the larger they are, the more happiness the flower will bring to a woman's life. Presumably the legend was born in antiquity - it was customary to give a spathyphyllum as a gift to an unmarried girl so that she would get married sooner. It was also given to married girls so that a child would appear in the family, and women who already had children were given a spathifyllum flower to establish or maintain a relationship with their husband. Indeed, it is pleasant to look at the blooming spathifyllum - its flowers are unusually beautiful, hold on for a long time and are very popular in bride bouquets in many countries of the world.

If you want spathifyllum to change your life, then you have to love it and look after it. Spathyphyllum will bloom only in caring hands.

Spathyphyllum care

Temperature

Spatiphyllum develops well, builds up leaf mass only in heat, the optimal temperature for it is 22-26 ° C, but a dormant period is required for abundant flowering, at least for 2-3 weeks with a decrease in temperature to 16 ° C, with limited watering. The flower does not tolerate cold drafts. At home, spathifyllum adapts quite easily to almost any room temperature. In fact, this factor matters only in connection with watering, because the colder, the less often you need to water. If the pot with the plant is in a cool office, the lobby of the hotel, very slow growth occurs, but the plant does not get sick and does not suffer. And the slower the growth, the less need for watering and feeding.

Lighting

Spatiphyllum loves bright diffused light, in summer shading from direct sunlight, i.e. bright place, light partial shade. In winter, good lighting is a must. This ideally, in fact at home, the plant is very shade-tolerant, even a variegated variation of Wallis's spathyphyllum, can grow in a place where there is very little light - near the north window. In this case, the variegation is not completely lost, only partially. But with a lack of light, spathyphyllums grow very slowly, and slightly lean towards the light source. However, for poorly lit rooms, this is one of the best plants. If you place daylight lamps nearby (LED, fluorescent), spathiphyllum grows a gorgeous bush.

Watering

Spathyphyllum is watered abundantly from spring to autumn, but with drying the top layer of the earth about half the height of the pot. Watering is moderate or limited in winter. If the room is cool, then after the top layer of the earth dries, wait with watering for another 5-7 days. Spatiphyllum tolerates stagnation of water in the roots, prolonged drying of the soil, worse than strong drying. From drying, the leaves of the plant begin to slowly descend, become sluggish. But it is worth watering the plant - turgor is restored. When spatiphyllum overflows, buds turn black, petioles and leaves of the plant turn yellow - the earth should not be constantly damp!

Fertilizing

From March to September, every week, spathyphyllum is fed with a special fertilizer for indoor plants that does not contain lime, for example, Azalium, Flower, etc. If spathyphyllum blooms in winter, then it is fed with the same fertilizers once a month. Do not feed for 1.5 months after transplant. If your spathifyllum blooms in autumn or winter, there is enough light for it, the bushes are lush, then you need to continue feeding every two weeks, but reduce the fertilizer concentration by half. If there are no flowers, the plant slowed down in growth - we stop feeding in the fall.

Air humidity

Spatiphyllums love fairly humid air, 60% relative humidity is optimal for them, but they stoically tolerate 50%. In the heating season and very hot dry days in summer, regular spraying and washing of leaves is required, air humidity is not lower than 40%. Before spraying, you need to cover the flowers and buds.

If the air is very dry, and the tips of the leaves dry up in spathyphyllum, the plant begins to water more often, but after a few days dark spots appear on the leaves. This is due to excess moisture in the soil. Unfortunately, moisturizing the ground does not solve the problem of dry air, you can only make it worse, so try to find another way to increase the humidity of the air: put a humidifier next to it, rearrange the spathyphyllum pot on a wide tray with wet pebbles or expanded clay.

Spathyphyllum transplant

Spatiphyllum is transplanted into fresh soil annually in spring, the pot is selected a little more, if only the roots have grown strongly. This plant does not like too spacious pots. If the roots have not yet filled the whole pot, then transfer to the same container. Soil: 1 part of turf, 1 part of leaf, 1 part of humus, 1 part of vermiculite and 1 part of sand (coarse 2-3 mm). It would be good to add a little charcoal to the soil, drainage or very large holes in the pot to the bottom. In a clay pot, drainage is optional.

You can prepare such soil for transplantation: 5 parts of store soil, 1 part of vermiculite, 1 part of chopped pine bark and 1/2 part of humus (well rotted manure).

Important: when transplanting, do not bury in the ground, do not sprinkle the basal part of the leaves with earth!

Reproduction of spathyphyllum

Spatiphyllum is propagated by dividing the bush during transplantation, in the spring. Try to avoid unnecessary injury to the roots, i.e. carefully cut 1-2 sheets with part of the roots from one side from the mother. But don't tear the whole bush apart. The plant reacts to such procedures painfully, does not start growing for a long time. All juicy breaks and cuts on the roots must be sprinkled with birch coal powder or ordinary ground cinnamon. For planting, do not use too large pots, it is better to cross the plant again in summer if the pot becomes small. After dividing and planting, do not water the plant for one day.

Growing problems

• The brown edges of the leaves, the leaves are shrunken or twisted - from frequent overdrying of the soil, too dry (less than 30-40%) or cold air.
• Yellowing of the edges of the leaves - when watered with hard water containing a lot of chlorine and fluorine.
• The tips of the leaves are brown with a yellow stripe - with excessive watering, long drying of the soil, when planting in heavy clay soil.
• Dry, brown leaf tips - due to dry directional air, such as a stream of dry heat from a battery. Also, the cause may be a lack of nutrients in the soil or their excess. Remember when you transplanted the plant and in what land.
• The loss of color of variegated species (of some varieties) is too dark a place.

Spathyphyllum doesn't bloom, what to do

To stimulate further flowering in spathyphyllum, already faded peduncles are cut as low as possible to the base with a sharp knife.

But the main conditions for flowering are not a spacious pot (the roots should fill almost the entire space, but not stick out of the drainage hole), but a short period of rest with a decrease in temperature (about 12-16 ° C), sufficient illumination (a lot of indirect light). Although usually spathyphyllums, albeit weakly, bloom in almost any conditions.

You have probably noticed more than once that somewhere in a store, in a clinic or in an office, spatiphyllums planted in mayonnaise jars and roadside land grow and even bloom, although they have a frail bush and rare leaves. And home specimens - beloved, sometimes lush and green, do not want to bloom in any way. The point here may be in the nutritional content of the soil and top dressing. Firstly, not all soil mixtures that are sold in the store have the composition that is declared on the packaging. In some soils, fertilizer doses are exceeded, acidity does not correspond to nomes. An excess of nutrients, especially nitrogen, leads to the development of leaf mass, but does not contribute to the formation of flowers.

Spathyphyllum - watering features

How to water spathifyllum correctly? There are several myths: the first is that variegated spathyphyllums are more photophilous, they need a lot of light. This is not a 100% myth, in fact, the importance of light depends on the variety - there are varieties that are extremely stable and do not lose leaf diversity even in an insufficiently bright place.

The second myth concerns watering - supposedly aroid people love abundant watering.

Of course, you should not allow a stronger drooping of leaves than in the photo. If you look closely, the leaf blades are still elastic. But when overdrying comes to the point that the leaf blades become sluggish like rags, or the petioles shrivel - this stage is irreversible and destructive for the plant. To allow occasionally drying the soil as in the photo is quite painless for the plant, it does not even lose flowers. Although, as soon as the leaves began to fall, the count to complete wilting goes on for hours. At the same time, low humidity (less than 40%) leads to drying of the tips of the leaves. And constant waterlogging - to yellowing, then blackening of leaves.

The point here is this: aroid in natural conditions do not grow in meadows and fields, where there is dense sod land, they grow on a very porous leaf litter, which has many voids, due to the loose mass of decaying forest litter (leaves, twigs). The ground around the roots is not compacted, but has air pockets, which allows the roots to breathe. At home, the root system is limited to the walls of the pot, the earth is compacted from watering, and when watering is too frequent, all the voids between the lumps of earth are filled not with air, but with water. As a result, the plant suffers from hypoxia, and putrefactive microorganisms develop under anaerobic conditions. Therefore, at first, spathyphyllum shows chlorosis, yellowing of the tips of the leaves - like a deficiency of some nutrients, and then the roots begin to rot.

Despite this, the spatiphyllum is extremely tenacious, some other plants, such as gardenia, azalea, ficus benjamin, would have long ago bent over from excessive watering. Spatiphyllum fights stoically, growth stops first, leaves gradually die off, frail sprouts remain, which, even with sufficient light, are thin, as if elongated.

Why leaves turn yellow at spathyphyllum

If the leaves of the spathyphyllum turn yellow, there may be several reasons for this, let's analyze them in order.

1. Irrigation problems

Most often, yellowing begins precisely because of the water. The plant is equally poorly tolerated by both overdrying and overflow.

• With a lack of moisture, the leaves lose their elasticity, become sluggish and yellowish.
• When waterlogged, the roots begin to rot, nutrition is disrupted - the leaves also turn yellow, especially at the base.

What to do:
Before watering, make sure that the topsoil dries at least 2-3 cm. In summer, watered more often, in winter - less often. Water should be soft and persistent, room temperature.

2. Dry air

Spathyphyllum comes from the tropics, where air humidity is 70% or higher. In an apartment, especially in winter, humidity can drop to 20-30%.

Signs:
Yellow or brown leaf tips, especially in old ones.

What to do:
Regular spraying, installation of an air humidifier or a tray with wet expanded clay will significantly improve the situation. The main thing is not to get on the flowers, they can rot from this.

3. Lack of light

Spatiphyllum does not like direct sun, but it will not be able to grow in the shade for a long time.

Symptoms:
Leaves lose saturation, turn yellow, flowering stops.

What to do:
The best location is the east or northeast window. If there is not enough light, especially in winter, phytolampu can be used. The main thing is not to put under direct rays.

4. Sun burns

Sometimes the plant stands too close to the southern window, and the daytime sun leaves burns.

Signs:
Yellow or brown spots, often with dry edges.

What to do:
Move the pot a little further from the window or create an open shadow, for example, tulle or matte film.

5. Top dressing: few or many

If nutrients are not enough - especially nitrogen - the leaves begin to turn yellow. But excess fertilizers can also harm: the roots get burned, nutrition is disrupted, and the leaves also turn yellow.

What to do:
You need to feed only during the period of active growth - in spring and summer, every 2 weeks. Use fertilizers for deciduous. In winter, you should not feed. If you overdo it, wash the soil by passing a lot of water through the pot.

6. Leaf aging

When only the lowest leaves turn yellow in spathyphyllum, and new ones grow healthy, there is nothing to worry about. This is a natural process. The leaf lives on average 2-3 years, after which it gradually dies.

What to do:
Cut such leaves at the base - this will help the plant not to waste energy on maintaining old foliage.

7. Problems with roots

Mass yellowing of leaves, especially when combined with lethargy, is a reason to look into the pot.

Possible reasons:

• Stagnation of water and rot of roots.
• Cold windowsill in winter.
• A cramped pot where the roots are already running out of space.

What to do:
Carefully remove the plant from the pot. Healthy roots are light and dense, diseased - dark, soft and with the smell of rot. Remove the damaged ones, sprinkle the cuts with charcoal, transplant the flower into fresh soil.

8. Sudden temperature changes

Cold drafts, too cold water for watering or night temperature changes can cause stress.

Signs:
The plant droops, the leaves turn yellow at the base, sometimes buds fall.

What to do:
The ideal temperature for spathyphyllum is from + 18 to + 24 ° C. Avoid drafts and don't put the pot close to the glass in winter.

9. Pests and diseases

Spider mite, thrips, shield - frequent guests on houseplants. They suck juice from the leaves, disrupting nutrition. Leaves wilt, turn yellow, covered with spots or cobwebs.

What to do:
Periodically inspect the leaves on both sides. If pests appear, treat the plant with insecticides, for example, Fitoverm or Aktara. With fungal diseases (for example, root rot), fungicides, transplantation and reduced watering are used.

How to act if the leaves turn yellow

If you notice that the leaves have turned yellow, do not rush to panic. It is important to understand the reason. Here's what to do:

1. Examine the leaves: all yellowed or only the lower ones?
2. Check the soil - is it not dry or, conversely, too wet?
3. Rate where the pot stands - is there enough light?
4. Remember when and what you fed the plant.
5. Examine the leaves on both sides - are there any pests?

After that, you can make a decision: change watering, rearrange the plant, trim leaves or transplant.

Care tips to stop leaves turning yellow

• Water regularly, but moderately. Do not keep the plant damp.
• Provide diffused light. Avoid direct rays and full shade.
• Maintain air humidity - at least 50-60%.
• Feed from spring to autumn, but no more than twice a month.
• Transplant the spathyphyllum once every 1-2 years, as you grow.
• Watch the temperature: no drafts and sharp drops.
• Regularly inspect the leaves and wash them from dust.

Frequent questions

Is it possible to "revive" the yellowed leaf?
No, it isn't. If the leaf turns yellow, it will no longer turn green. It is better to cut it so that the plant does not waste energy.

Only the tips turn yellow - is this also a signal?
Yes I did. This is often due to dry air, an overabundance of fertilizers, or hard water.

Do I need to transplant immediately after purchase?
Preferably in 7-10 days. Often flowers are sold in a transport substrate that does not hold moisture and nutrition well.

Yellowing of leaves in spathyphyllum is a signal worth paying attention to. Most often, the reason lies in simple things: water, light or air. Fix the source of the problem - and the plant will recover pretty quickly. The main thing is not to ignore the changes and take care of your green pet regularly, and not from time to time.

Video: How to water a spathyphyllum

The video shows what the frequency of watering spathiphyllum depends on. How to properly water the spathyphyllum.