Peace Lily Tips are Brown
Plant: Peace lily (Spathyphyllum)
How long have you had the plant? 3 years
Concerns:
Leaf tips and patches of leaves browning off, has been happening for the last 12 months or so.
Light Situation:
How do you determine WHEN to water? I wait for the soil to become slightly dry
Describe HOW you water: I pour a small amount of water
What fertilizer (if any) do you use? I’ve never used fertilizer
Soil situation: I repotted the plant 6 months to 1 year ago
Darryl’s Analysis
Environment:
Although I can’t see exactly where the window is in the photo, I can tell there must be a large one to the right (perhaps a patio door). If you’ve had the plant for 3 years, then it must be fine in terms of light.
Effort:
RED FLAG – the soil you have used looks like mud. Houseplant soil is generally composed of a fibrous, water retaining component (like peat moss or coconut coir) and a drainage component (like perlite, bark chips, or coarse sand) – it should be somewhat loose and gritty. A soil so dense like this will severely limit airflow to the root zone and put them at high risk of root rot.
Expectations:
Other than the soil situation, the overall plant looks quite healthy so far. Once you’ve owned the peace lily for the long term (I’ve had mine for 8 years), you’ll get accustomed to the usual rate of leaf turnover, which may not occur until a few years into the relationship. I wouldn’t be too concerned about a few browned tips or patches – just cut off the leaf once it’s fully dead.
Here’s my plant before removing dead leaves and after – I have to do this every few months:
Older leaves will eventually get browned tips:
The youngest leaves will have nice, pristine tips. After a few months (or maybe a year or so), they’ll eventually become brown as a result of filtering minerals – just the wear and tear of hard work. As long as the plant is pushing up new leaves to replace the old ones, I’m happy with the plant.
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