Spathiphyllum is an evergreen perennial growing in humid and marshy forests of a warm climate. In indoor conditions, this flower is not very demanding in care, but if small oversights are allowed, the grower will have to deal with problems such as yellow foliage and various pests. How to fix and prevent the occurrence of such problems will be described below.
Improper care or conditions
Often, an absolutely healthy spathiphyllum suddenly begins to turn yellow, or simply wither. Such a reaction of the flower may indicate a variety of hidden problems. Leave what happened without attention is impossible, since you can lose the plant. Therefore, the first thing you should do is to review the conditions of its maintenance, since not observing them is one of the most common causes of yellow foliage.
Dry air
If in the room where spathiphyllum grows insufficient air humidity, then the tips of the leaves begin to turn yellow. Color changes only in a small part of the sheet (1-2 mm). The rest of the leaf blade remains a natural green color. A yellow streak may appear in the border zone. If you do not take measures in time, then yellowness gradually turns into blackness and spreads over the entire sheet. He eventually dies.
To improve the situation will help increase humidity. To do this, you need to spray the plant twice a day with warm soft water, place a container of water near the pot, or pour moist expanded clay into the pan.
Did you know? The genus of plants spathiphyllum got its name from the merger of the two Greek words σπάθη (bedspread) and φύλλον (leaf), since its bract petal looks like a bedspread.
Direct sunlight
Spathiphyllum loves light very much, but if the sun's rays fall on its leaves, they will leave burns. They look like spots or stripes with a yellow tint and with a thinned surface.
In bright light, the color of the sheet plate will gradually change: from saturated green to yellowish-green, which can completely turn into colorless.
Such a plant urgently needs to be rearranged to another place or on the old one to create a shadow, or move away from the window. If possible, it should be placed on the north, northeast, northwest or east windows.
Nutrient deficiency
When a plant lacks nutrients, its foliage begins to change color unevenly. Most often, this color resembles a mosaic: green spots are scattered on a yellow background, or vice versa. The veins may also lose color or only they will retain their natural shade. Most often, this indicates a lack of elements such as boron, calcium, iron.
To correct the situation you need:
- change the soil in the pot to light, loose and slightly acidic;
- spray the flower with iron chelate (if the vein has changed color) or feed it with a mineral complex (in other cases);
- 2-3 weeks after transplantation to introduce complex fertilizers;
- water the flower with warm soft water and spray twice a day.
Important! Most often, spathiphyllum lacks nutrients during flowering, as this period is quite long and energy-intensive. Therefore, a flowering plant should be regularly fed.
Wrong watering
With improper watering, the plant may experience both excess moisture and its lack. In the first version, the leaves begin to dry and blacken in large pieces. It can be just brown or black spots or a discoloration of the tip of the foliage. Such changes appear due to the fact that the root system constantly locks. Reduce watering so that the soil dries well, then water only when the topsoil dries to 1 / 3-1 / 4 of the depth. If the spots continue to spread, then most likely the root system has already begun to rot.
Then spathiphyllum urgently needs to be removed from the pot, rinse the roots in water to free from the ground and carefully examine them. Affected roots will have a yellow or brownish color, and softened to the touch. Healthy are white, elastic. The affected part of the root system needs to be cut out, and the sections should be lubricated with activated carbon powder. Then leave the flower to dry, two or three hours. After landing in a new earth mixed with activated carbon. After two to three days, pour the plant with warm, settled water.
If spathiphyllum experiences a lack of moisture, but its leaves begin to fade, and if you do not water it in time, then yellow. Drought is less dangerous for a flower than waterlogging, but it is often not recommended to arrange it for a long time. Noticing that the plant has wilted, it needs to be watered. If, after a few hours, the leaves did not become hard, then the soil is probably very dry or there is a lot of peat in it, then you need to place the flower pot in a container with water so that its root system draws moisture from below. It will be enough to hold so spathiphyllum for 15-20 minutes.
Hypothermia
The plant reacts to drafts or low temperatures by changing the color of the foliage (the appearance of a yellow tint along the edge). There may be another variant of the reaction to cold - blackening of leaf plates. 
This happens due to the cooling of the horse system through moisture. Most likely you watered a flower in the evening, and at night the temperature dropped very much, and the roots froze. It is necessary to rearrange the flower in a warmer place, protect it from drafts and do not water it at night. So that he recovers faster, you can spray him with an anti-stress agent, such as Epina.
Untimely transplant
A plant transplant is needed in order for the overgrown root system to receive enough nutrients. If the roots completely fill the pot and begin to fall out of it, then the flower has nowhere to get nutrients from, as the soil is already exhausted and it slowly begins to die.
Old leaves turn yellow, young ones grow small, flowering is absent. Therefore, it is urgent to act so that the plant does not die at all.
- To get started, select a pot one and a half times larger than the old.
- Fill it with fresh nutrient soil, not forgetting the drainage layer.
- Carefully remove the flower from the pot, free its roots from the ground, being careful not to cut off the small roots.
- Place the flower in a new flowerpot, spread the roots and add earth. The growth point does not need to be deepened.
- Feed spathiphyllum within a month after transplantation.
The appearance of insect pests
The appearance of the flower can change not only because of poor care, but also because of the attack of pests.
Did you know? Spathiphyllum is popularly called «female happiness». According to legend, the Greek goddess of love, Astrada, breathed into this flower a piece of happiness that overwhelmed her on her wedding day, so that every other girl could feel it, believing in the power of the flower.
Thrips
This is a small insect pest with a narrow elongated body and two porches, penetrating the leaf with the help of a tiny proboscis and sucking all the juices out of it. They arise due to lack of moisture, stagnant air, excess nitrogen in the soil.
Signs of the pest are:
- small brown dots on leaf blades;
- young leaves and flowers are deformed and reduced in size;
- old leaves become covered with spots or silver coating and die off;
- openwork areas on leaf plates.
Folk recipes:- Pour 50 grams of chopped dandelions with a liter of water and leave for 24 hours. Spray the plant with a solution.
- 0.2 kg of chamomile flowers pour a liter of boiling water and let it brew for 10 hours. Strain and spray the flower several times a day for a week.
- 0.1 kg of crushed tobacco should be poured with a liter of boiling water and insisted for several days. Strain and treat the whole plant.
- "Actellicus." 1 ampoule of the drug is diluted with a liter of water and is used to treat the flower. After the procedure, spathiphyllum should be covered with a package for 24 hours.
- "Aktara." 4 g per 5 liters for spraying. Repeat after 7 days.
- Fitoverm. 2 ml per 200 ml of spray water. After the procedure, the flower must be covered for 24 hours with polyethylene.
Mealybug
Small (up to 10 mm in length) multi-legged insects with a round, oval or elongated body covered with a white wax film. The head from the body they are practically inseparable. Lay white translucent round-shaped eggs. Appear due to:
- low temperature;
- high soil moisture;
- contaminated soil;
- untimely removal of dead parts of the flower.
With severe damage, insecticides should be used:- "Aktara";
- "Biotlin";
- "Calypso";
- "Confidant";
- Confidor
- Mospilan;
- "Tanrek";
- Fitoverm.
Spider mite
Tiny insects, up to 1 mm long, red, yellow, orange. Due to their size, it is difficult to notice, in addition, they settle on the back of the sheet plate.
A striking sign of their appearance is a thin small web. The ticks attack the flower when the air in the room is dry and hot.
To prevent the spread of the pest, flowers should be inspected regularly and if a tick is found, wash it off with water and treat it with a soapy solution. If the case is started, then you need to resort to the help of insecticides ("Aktara").
Shield
Small oval insects are akin to worms. At a young age, it is very difficult to notice them, since they are small and move quickly. Adults are visible as brownish plaques. They usually settle on plants that are overfed with nitrogen, are in a cold or hot room, are watered incorrectly, and lack lighting. Their favorite place is the area between the petiole and the stem, as well as the bottom of the leaf plate. You can notice them by dark spots, actively spreading over the flower, and twisted leaves.
In the fight against the pest, the affected areas of spathiphyllum are removed, and the remaining ones are treated with a soap-tobacco solution with the addition of alcohol. It can be treated with nicotine sulfate (1 g per 1 liter).
As you can see, neglecting the rules for the care of spathiphyllum can bring a lot of additional trouble. And if the situation is launched, then you can completely lose the flower. Therefore, it is easier to follow all the rules than to correct the consequences, besides they are not so complicated.Important! If you are controlling pests with insecticides, you need to take precautions so that the product does not get into the eyes and skin. It is also advisable to carry out the procedure in a non-residential, well-ventilated area.
