Common Name: Peace Lily, White Anthurium
Botanical Name: Spathiphyllum spp. (spath-i-FILL-um)
Decorative Life: Weeks, months to years, depending on use and care.
Post Harvest Care:
- Irrigate
frequently as this plant uses a lot of water. Also, if the growing media
is allowed to dry and salt levels increase, plant damage is likely to
follow, as this species is salt sensitive.
- If allowed to wilt, the leaves may recover but the flowers may not.
Harvest Instructions:
Maintain
growing mix moist and do not allow salts to build up. Also, increasing growing
media pH decreased the severity of Cylindrocladium disease. Spraying plants
with gibberellin at 250 ppm can stimulate flowering some 9-11 weeks later
depending on cultivar.
Family Roots:
- Member
of the Araceae (arum family).
- Native
of Colombia.
- Common
relatives include philodendron, anthurium, pothos and caladium.
Personality:
- Classed
as a monocotyledon.
- Leaves
are oval or elliptical, narrowed to a point, on stalks coming directly
from the soil line.
- Flower
head consists of leaf-like spathe surrounding column-like spadix made up
of small flowers. Often confused with its cousin, Anthurium.
Availability: Year-round.
Flower Color: White to
greenish.
Storage Specifics: Chill
sensitive, store at or above 60F. Exposing plants to 50F for one day or 55F for
two days can cause chill related problems. Symptoms include leaf wilting and/or
water soaked looking spots on the leaf margins.
Tidbits:
- Spathiphyllum: Greek for leaf-spathe, referring to the character of the spathe. A spathe is a leaf or bract subtending (below) a flower cluster. It is often colored and considered part of the flower as in this species.
- Several
arum family members (including taro) are grown in tropical regions for
their edible tubers, representing starch staples for large populations.
Many other species are grown for their beautiful foliage.
- Essentially
pest-free. If grown in Florida, plants should have been produced under
70-80% shade. Grown under lower light levels, plants are better adapted
for the commonly encountered lower light levels when placed indoors.
- Will
generally grow well in light levels bright enough to read a newspaper in
comfort.
Recent Findings:
Poole and
Conover (1993) stored 'Petite' at 36-46F from 1-4 days and subsequently noted
water-soaked spots on leaf margins within a few days. As summarized by Brown
(1988) of the work by Wolverton et al. (numerous years), this is one of many
foliage and flowering plant species that can remove air pollutants such as
formaldehyde and/or benzene often found in cigarette smoke from interior
environments.
Source: http://www.calyxflowers.com/