Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Repotting and Maintenance on the Peace Lilies

A few years ago, I purchased a couple peace lilies.  I don't know why.  I just did.  They have been sitting on my desk ever since.  I usually water them thoroughly once per week. Every other week, I add a few drops of Miracle Gro Plant Food to the water and that has served to keep them healthy and vibrant.  But I noticed last week that they were looking a little weary.  So I decided it was time to do a little maintenance.  Here is how that went.



When I removed the plants from my desk, I placed them on top of the refrigerator in their original pots until I could find new pots that I liked.  How cute to see the basset hound cookie jar in the background.  That cookie jar was a birthday gift from my good friend, and one time supervisor/manager/boss, Mary Jester.  I loved working for Mary and I miss her.




You see in this picture that we have some yellowing and dead leaves scattered throughout each lily which need to be removed.




And again, you see this giant yellow leaf which needs to be clipped.




In my travels, I found these really beautiful blue pots.  The sticker says "Frost Resistant" and that is a good thing.  I will not be using them outdoors.  At least not right not.  But it is good to know that if I ever decide to, I won't end up with a broken or cracked pot.  I wonder how they do that?  Make it Frost Resistant? Hmmm.




So out to the garden and the potting table we went.




Snip, snip, snip.




And here is the dead and dying foliage.  It ended up being less than I expected.




Two pots, ready for new plants.




A shard of clay from a previous pot which was not frost resistant, over the drainage hole.




Then I made my way to the garden shed to find some potting soil.  As part of the garden shed clean out and rearranging, I ended up with three bags of "stuff" that I needed to find a new home.




I found these nice blue buckets at Lowe's.  An idea came to mind.




Why not use these blue buckets to hold these bagged items.  And that is what I did.  Play Sand in one. Paver sand in another.  And organic hummus and manure in the third.  It is much easier to transport these things in blue buckets with handles than it is to schlep them around the yard in plastic bags which tear and just do not look nice sitting around inside the shed.




So I took my organic hummus bucket to the potting table and got the freshly trimmed peace lilies potted.  I left an area of about 1" at the top of each pot to allow for watering.  I expect these to take off now and grow like crazy after being placed in new, more spacious pots and in fresh soil.  They were root bound also, so separating the roots will help them put out new growth.

I will leave them on top of the refrigerator for the winter months.  It stays warm up there since heat rises.  I will just have to make sure and check the soil often and keep them watered.


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