What to do if spathiphyllum does not grow? Tips for care and prevention

Spathiphyllum is one of the indoor plants with great growth vigor. That is why even old specimens are recommended to be replanted annually. The culture does not pose any difficulties when caring for it at home, but it does impose certain requirements for cultivation, the violation of which leads to a halt in development. The reasons why spathiphyllum does not grow can be different, far from each other, including natural ones. Before deciding what to do, you need to understand everything and identify the source of the problem.

Period for active growth

Does this flower grow quickly? Like any living creature, this plant has a period of more active growth and times when its development slows down.

The winter months are a time when all processes in a flower freeze, so you should not expect active growth during this period.

Another thing is the onset of the warm season, when spathiphyllum begins its active growth and flowering. Although it is possible that your flower may release an arrow with a flower in the month of December. On average, spathiphyllum should produce 2-3 leaves per month.

Popular types - photos

There are approximately forty species of this wonderful plant, but only a few of them can be kept at home. These varieties are shown in the photo below. The most famous are:

Spathiphyllum Wallis. The standard among these plants, since it is the basis of most bred modern varieties. It reaches a height of 45 centimeters, and the length of the inflorescence is 4-10 centimeters. This variety is distinguished by its unpretentiousness.

Spathiphyllum profusely blooming. It ranks second in distribution among flower growers. Its long flowering period and abundance of flowers are widely appreciated. The inflorescences are small, and the oval-shaped leaves become darker over the years. The peduncle protrudes above the main leaves by 15-20 centimeters, the size of the flower varies between 4-8 centimeters.

Spathiphyllum Chopin. A small bush whose height reaches 30-40 cm is distinguished by its compactness. The leaves are neatly oblong in shape and have pronounced veins. And the flowers themselves emit a light and unobtrusive aroma, which is very rare.

Spathiphyllum Picasso. It has quite large dimensions: the length of the leaves is 25-30 cm. In addition, even without a spectacular peduncle, Spathiphyllum Picasso is a unique and original variety. Its leaves are distinguished by the fact that, in addition to being green, they contain white sectors.

Spathiphyllum Alana. Like the previous variety, it is large in size. It grows up to 50 cm in height. On the back of the perianth you can see a longitudinal vein. Leaves with bright green pigment, pointed. Even at an early age they are located perpendicular to the surface of the earth.

Spathiphyllum Mauna Loa. It is also large in size. It is distinguished by the fact that its cut flowers can remain fresh for up to a month, which is excellent for decoration.

Spathiphyllum Domino. Attracts a lot of attention and is the source of absolute delight, all because of the leaves. Their coloring is somewhat abstract: the background itself is dark green, and there are a large number of white strokes scattered across the surface. The shape of the leaves and inflorescences is not large, their tip is oblong and pointed.

Spathiphyllum Sensation. The absolute leader in size among indoor varieties. As a result of good care, over time it reaches a height of about 1.5 meters, and the inflorescences also have impressive dimensions and bloom for a long time.

Spathiphyllum Red. This is a rather interesting variety, classified as anthurium or other similar flowers. Quite often it happens that sellers water the soil with specially colored water to achieve a more interesting color for the perianth.

If care for spathiphyllum at home is correct and is carried out by a gardener with love and attention, then its inflorescences grow large and tall. You can happily share this “female happiness” with your loved ones during a transplant.

Why can a flower feel bad?

If the leaves of your flower remain small and nothing changes in its development, then we can say that the conditions are not suitable for it. What needs to be changed, and what does spathiphyllum like?

1. 
   Lighting . At this point you need to find a middle ground. The flower does not like direct sunlight, but a completely shaded place will not suit it either. Choose a place for it on the northwest side.

2. Watering . Spathiphyllum is a tropical plant and has difficulty adapting to our dry climate. This flower must not only be watered on time, but also sprayed every day.
3. Drainage . Along with its love for water, the flower does not tolerate stagnant moisture, so it needs good drainage.
4. Feeding . In order for the flower not only to shoot an arrow with a flower, but also to fully grow and develop, it should be fed with the necessary minerals. Fertilizers with phosphorus and nitrogen will provide excellent nutrition for the plant.
5. Pot . The right pot is very important. The fact is that the “Women's Happiness” flower first fills the pot with roots and only then gives energy to the growth of leaves, therefore, if you initially chose a too large pot, then until it is filled with roots, there will be no leaf growth.
6. Diseases and pests . This is the reason why the plant may not only not grow, but even disappear altogether, so pay close attention to this moment and inspect your flower. We talked in detail about why spathiphyllum disappears and how to save it here.

Basic land requirements

In order to choose the right soil that is needed for spathiphyllum, you need to find out as much as possible about the conditions under which this plant grows in nature. “Women’s Happiness” is a plant of the humid tropics, growing mainly along river banks, next to reservoirs, and in wetlands. The soil in such places is rich in fallen and rotted remains of leaves and branches, as well as peat. Typically, such soil is light, loose and moist. This means that such soil is suitable for an indoor flower.

Also a necessary requirement for “female happiness” is breathability and neutral or weak acidity (ph ~ 5.5) of the soil. To increase breathability, coarse sand is usually added to the soil, and good drainage is used when planting, for which expanded clay, pebbles, and brick chips are used. To reduce acidity, slaked lime, dolomite flour or ash are suitable. And, conversely, to increase the acidity of alkaline soil, peat, leaf humus or ammonia-containing fertilizers are used.

So, for those who love this indoor flower and want the “pet” to bloom actively, it is recommended to use light, loose, humus-rich, moist soil for planting, and also ensure good drainage in the pot.

What to do?

Another reason why a flower may not grow is the presence of pests and diseases in the plant. For these purposes, there are certain measures, after which the situation should change.

Folk remedies

If the spathiphyllum is infected by a mealybug, then there is a way out . Folk remedies will help get rid of this problem. You need to prepare a tincture from citrus peels. To carry out this event you need:

1. prepare 100 g of dry crusts, pour 1 liter of water into them;
2. keep the infusion in a dark, dry place for three days;
3. Gently treat the affected areas of the flower with the infused liquid.

If a flower is infected by spider mites or aphids, people use onion peels:

1. the infusion is made from 100 g of onion peel and 5 liters of water;
2. Preheat the water to 40 degrees and pour in the husks;
3. infused for 5 days;
4. carefully filtered;
5. mixed with a small amount of laundry soap;
6. The resulting mixture is used to treat the affected areas of the spathiphyllum.

Chemical methods

In order to change the situation, if spathiphyllum does not grow, you need to clean the flower from the soil in which it grows.

Any replanting of this plant is best done in the spring.:

1. carefully remove the flower from the pot;
2. rinse the roots with running water;
3. pour expanded clay (about 2-3 cm) onto the bottom of a clean pot;
4. prepare new soil for the flower;

5. 
   add organic fertilizers to the soil (liquid fertilizers are suitable, but without nitrogen), the fertilizer should contain potassium and phosphorus, this will provide the flower with the necessary substances;

6. place the flower root in the prepared soil and sprinkle;
7. water with water and add fertilizer.

Perform the next watering after the top layer of soil has dried. After these activities, your flower should begin to actively grow. When transplanting, you need to follow a certain technique. It is also worth taking into account that each time the pot should be a little larger.

Selecting purchased soil

It makes no sense to list manufacturers or names of ready-made substrates for planting spathiphyllum - it can grow in almost everything if you add 1-2 components. This can be demonstrated by the example of three very different soils:

• “Azalea” is too heavy and acidic soil for spathiphyllum; it is diluted with coconut fiber and brick chips (fine expanded clay, perlite) 3:1:0.5;
• “Cactus” - the soil is too loose and contains few coarse fibers, as for female happiness, and is definitely not nutritious enough. Humus and acidic peat or sphagnum are added to it to balance the acidity 3:0.5:1;
• “Orchid” - the substrate contains practically no nutrients, too loose even for spathiphyllum, mixed with “Azalea” and humus 1: 1: 0.5.

But these compositions, although acceptable, are far from ideal; they are given as an example. Women's happiness will not be able to reach the peak of decorativeness in them.

In order for spathiphyllum to grow well, soil can be purchased at the store and improved at home:

1. Universal soil for decorative foliage or flowering plants has a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. It is used in its pure form, but it is better to add a 20% mixture of manure and acidic peat (1:1).
2. “Anthurium” or “Aroid” are soils with a good structure, but spathiphyllum lacks nutrients in them. The shortage is not critical, but it is still worth adding 20% ​​of a mixture of humus and leaf soil (1:1) to the finished soil.
3. “Violet” can be used in its pure form, or by mixing 20% ​​dry rotted manure and pine bark (1:1).

Prevention

Now your task is to ensure that all favorable conditions are created for the spathiphyllum. Monitor watering and do not forget to feed the plant. The plant must be replanted once a year, preferably in the spring.

The “Women's Happiness” flower is most susceptible to spider mites. Be especially careful if there are many other plants on your windowsill. It is enough to buy an ampoule with poison for spider mites at a flower shop and spray your greens.

This product is absolutely harmless to the plant, but has a detrimental effect on the pest.

In the process of growing spathiphyllum, flower growers often encounter problems such as:

• wilting of the plant, in particular its leaves;
• darkening of the leaves and the appearance of brown spots on them;
• yellowing of various parts of the plant and in particular its leaves;
• drooping leaves;
• drying out of the plant.

Types of Spathiphyllum domestica

About 50 species of spathiphyllum grow in nature. Here are the 5 most popular indoor varieties:

Recently, you can see red, yellow or pink spathiphyllums in stores and nurseries

They attract the attention of many lovers of exotic plants. In fact, spathiphyllum cauliflower is a modern development of breeders

Such hybrid varieties do not exist in nature. The red and pink color of spathiphyllum petals is the result of chemical coloring of an ordinary indoor flower using special means. The paint is introduced artificially into the peduncle of the plant. All natural spathiphyllum species have white petals.

Red spathiphyllum

Breeders have developed many varieties of dwarf and impressive spathiphyllum. Their leaves can be of different shapes and colors. Here are the most striking of them:

• Picasso;
• Domino;
• Sensation;
• Cupido;
• Chopin;
• Alana;
• Strauss.

Today, amateur gardeners can enjoy dozens of varieties of this beautiful crop.

Additional measures

Sometimes, in order for spathiphyllum to bloom, more stringent measures are required. For example, it is placed for a couple of weeks in a room with a low temperature, but not lower than +120. And then they put it in a well-lit place and feed it with mineral fertilizers. This shock therapy helps the plant bloom frequently and profusely.

Wilted leaves must be removed promptly. If the white cover of a flower withers and turns black, this means that it is simply fading. It's time to remove the peduncle. Such simple care will allow the plant to show off its green leaves and bloom on time. Sometimes the leaves of the plant need to be gently moved and lightly tugged.

Caring for plants is calming and brings a lot of positive emotions. And in gratitude for the comfortable conditions, they will bloom and delight with their green splendor.