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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Monday - July 04, 2005

From: Longview, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Caring for non-native Peace Lily
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

I have given my closet plant too much miracle gro and the leaves are drooping really bad. What do I need to do?

ANSWER:

By Closet Plant I suppose you mean one of the Spathiphyllum spp.. Another common name is Peace Lily. Our area of expertise at the Wildflower Center is native North American plants. The Spathiphyllum species are native to tropical Central America and Asia. We generally don't deal with non-native plants, but we can offer you some advice for your plant that has been over-fertilized. First, you need to leach out the excess fertilizer. You can do this by running water through the pot for 8-10 minutes and letting the water carrying the excess fertilizer drain out. You can also accomplish this by setting the pot in a bucket of water for several minutes. Change the water and resoak. Do this several times. Be sure that you don't put the plant in direct sunlight. You can read more about caring for your Closet Plant.
 

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