I need advice from a houseplant expert.

[Wisher1000]

I have a large spathiphylum from my mother's funeral in 2009. It is not your typical spath, it is one of the large, single stemmed ones and there are three plants in one large pot. I have repotted it once and it was not happy, but recovered and is doing well, again, now. My issue is that the stalks, which are made up of the area of the plant where the spent leaves have been removed, have grown long and the top, growing parts are now too heavy and the plants no longer stay upright without support. Can I cover this part of the stem with dirt and will it then send out roots in that area to anchor the top part in an upright position? If I let it lay over in the pot will it take root along the stem? Help! This plant is very special to me.

ETA - I just realized That I posted about the same plant in December of 2011! I do love this plant.

 

[Wisher1000]

DigitS?

 

[flowerbug]

I have a large spathiphylum from my mother's funeral in 2009. It is not your typical spath, it is one of the large, single stemmed ones and there are three plants in one large pot. I have repotted it once and it was not happy, but recovered and is doing well, again, now. My issue is that the stalks, which are made up of the area of the plant where the spent leaves have been removed, have grown long and the top, growing parts are now too heavy and the plants no longer stay upright without support. Can I cover this part of the stem with dirt and will it then send out roots in that area to anchor the top part in an upright position? If I let it lay over in the pot will it take root along the stem? Help! This plant is very special to me.

ETA - I just realized That I posted about the same plant in December of 2011! I do love this plant.

you should be able to get this plant to root out from the stem if buried.

 

[digitS']

I know little about house plants.

Good @flowerbug !

Now, @Chickie'sMomaInNH @lesa @thistlebloom ... (2011 responders)!

Steve

 

[Wisher1000]

you should be able to get this plant to root out from the stem if buried.

Should I cover it all at once, or an inch at a time?

 

[flowerbug]

Should I cover it all at once, or an inch at a time?

i'm not sure what "all at once" means. there's a lot of difference between what i would consider useful and likely to succeed and an effort that wouldn't but for someone just starting out and doing this for the first time i'd suggest air-layering (look it up on-line) as then you can pick where you want the roots to be.

note this does take time and persistence and some attention to detail, but it does work and as a result you can get several more plants to work with.

in the future (once you get more confidence and experience) with plants that get a trunk that are viney is that you can often cut the entire plant into multiple chunks and some of those will root and grow. yes, some percentage may not survive, but enough often do that you'll have more plants than you really need. which is kinda how i got most of my houseplants as a kid, from all the neighbor ladies who also liked keeping houseplants.

let us know how it goes and pictures are always appreciated.