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.
How fast does spathiphyllum grow?
If during the growing season each rosette produces 2 leaves per month, and next year at least 1-2 new ones appear next to the plant transplanted in the spring, then everything is in order. It’s difficult to find another criterion for how quickly a woman’s happiness should grow.
There are many varieties of spathiphyllum, but no one has yet classified them. Lovers of indoor flowers conditionally divided them into three groups:
- tall - a mature bush reaches 1, and sometimes 1.5 m;
- medium – 40-70 cm;
- dwarf - the smallest, up to 30 cm high.
There is no clear boundary here; the remaining varieties are included in one group or another. Naturally, Angel Baby spathiphyllum, reaching a maximum of 25 cm, will never grow as quickly in height or width as the meter-long Sensation.
Dwarves do not develop slowly. Their growth corresponds to the size of the bush; if you take care and calculate the percentage, it differs little from giant varieties.
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?
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.- 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.
- Drainage . Along with its love for water, the flower does not tolerate stagnant moisture, so it needs good drainage.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Why has growth slowed or stopped?
The ideal living conditions for any plant are those natural to the area of its homeland. But the natural conditions of spathiphyllum are marshy, shaded areas. Therefore, they cannot be reproduced in full, but it is advisable to approximate them. For this:
- The light for it should come from the north-west sufficiently so that it is not shaded by other plants.
- Daily watering and misting will create sufficient moisture.
- Drainage is needed to prevent stagnation of water.
- Feeding with phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers is necessary.
- The container for spathiphyllum should allow the roots to fit. When choosing it, you should take into account that the leaves will not appear until the roots fill all the voids. The diameter of the pot should not be much larger than the diameter of the rhizome.
- You need slightly acidic soil, consisting of humus, sand, and bone meal in equal parts.
- Thickening should not be allowed.
The growth of the transplanted flower will slow down during the period of adaptation and root growth. If all the conditions for ensuring the life of the plant are met, but it does not grow, then the reason for this may be pests:
- Aphid . It is necessary to remove eggs from the underside of the leaf with a soap solution, treat with nicotine sulfate, and insecticides.
- Red spider mite . They get rid of it by wiping the leaves with a soap solution and the chemical preparation “Actellik”.
- Thrips. Mealybug . It can be removed with tobacco infusion, a solution of alcohol, water and dishwashing detergent. And also with the drugs “Ascoris”, “Actellik”.
The simultaneous use of both folk remedies and chemicals is effective.
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:
- prepare 100 g of dry crusts, pour 1 liter of water into them;
- keep the infusion in a dark, dry place for three days;
- 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:
- the infusion is made from 100 g of onion peel and 5 liters of water;
- Preheat the water to 40 degrees and pour in the husks;
- infused for 5 days;
- carefully filtered;
- mixed with a small amount of laundry soap;
- 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.:
- carefully remove the flower from the pot;
- rinse the roots with running water;
- pour expanded clay (about 2-3 cm) onto the bottom of a clean pot;
- prepare new soil for the flower;
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;- place the flower root in the prepared soil and sprinkle;
- 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.
Spathiphyllum has stopped blooming - we are looking for mistakes in care
Lack of flowering, dry leaf tips, yellow foliage - all this indicates that mistakes were made when caring for the flower.
What to do if women's happiness does not bloom? Please note the following points:
- Spathiphyllum should be watered regularly and abundantly. However, the plant does not tolerate stagnation of water in the soil, since its roots may begin to rot due to excess moisture. Water the flower after the top layer of soil has dried so that the entire lump of soil is saturated with water. The water from the pan needs to be drained.
- If the earthen ball in the pot dries out regularly, the spathiphyllum will not bloom. To form buds, the plant needs a sufficient amount of moisture. Withered leaves will tell you about dry soil. Place the flower pot in a bowl of water for half an hour and do not dry out the soil again.
- To water women's happiness, use only settled water at room temperature. Cold water and impurities in it are the reasons for the lack of colors.
- During the growing season, that is, from spring to autumn, spathiphyllum should be fed. To do this, you can use special complex fertilizers containing all the elements necessary for the flowering of female happiness. A lack of nutrients in the soil may be the reason why spathiphyllum has stopped blooming.
- Why doesn't spathiphyllum bloom? A woman's happiness can produce only leaves if mainly nitrogen fertilizers and organic matter, which contains a lot of nitrogen, are used to feed it. For flowering, the plant needs phosphorus and potassium, and nitrogen affects the growth of foliage. Therefore, in order for your spathiphyllum to bloom, do not forget to feed it with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. But remember that you should use fertilizers strictly according to the instructions, since a large amount of fertilizers in the soil can poison the flower.
- Any plant “grows out” over time and needs to be renewed. Therefore, old overgrown spathiphyllum bushes must be divided into several bushes and planted in different pots.
You may be interested to know: Caring for cyclamen in a pot after purchasing it in a store and replanting it
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.
A trick to help make spathiphyllum bloom
If you do everything right, but in the spring and summer women’s happiness does not bloom, you can create special conditions for it. To do this, you need to put the flower pot in a cool place and reduce watering the plant. After a few weeks, the plant is placed back on the window, well watered and fed.
After such a “rest”, buds should appear on the spathiphyllum after some time.
Now you know the main reasons for the lack of flowering of female happiness and what to do to make spathiphyllum bloom. Proper care and growing conditions suitable for the indoor plant will guarantee abundant and long-lasting flowering of spathiphyllum.
Species features
The homeland of exotics is America. In nature, it is a herbaceous perennial; it belongs to the Aroniaceae family. Selective varieties are grown at home, which have been bred since the middle of the last century. There are already several dozen of them. They have bright green, dense, glossy foliage. The leaves grow from a basal rosette, and the stems are very shortened or absent at all. The leaf blades are oval, with pointed tips, from 30 to 100 cm long. The root system is of a creeping type, shortened.
Exotic blooms from six to ten weeks. An inflorescence in the form of a cob is formed on the peduncle, covered with a bract of a bright white hue. At the end of flowering, the blanket turns green. In nature, the flower is odorless; selected varieties have a weak aroma.
The decorative bush is not only beautiful, it cleanses the air well from toxic substances: alcohol vapor, formaldehyde, benzene, acetone, etc. People believe that its presence prevents mold from developing.
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