Water will perch in the top part of the soil IF the lower particles are larger than 2.1x the size of the particles in the heavy soil at the top of the container. It doesn't necessarily mean you've created a major h/a, though - maybe just a situation somewhat less than optimum. If it's the same soil you scraped from the roots, we already know it's heavy & water retentive, so the question that begs an answer is: Will the planting as a whole return to a favorable air:moisture ratio within a reasonable time after irrigation?

In your favor is the fact that you've reduced the o/a volume of water retentive soil, and with it, the o/a volume of water the soil will hold; so the plant's use of water, along with evaporation, will help bring air back into the soil (as water leaves) faster than before. Is it enough?

We should try to avoid dissimilar soils in any container whenever possible because the condition can produce a number of associated ills, not the least of which is that one portion of the soil is either too wet or too dry at nearly all times.

Al

Al, thank you so much for responding.

I should have explained why I did this half-arse job. The Peace Lily was doing what other Garden Webers' Peace Lilies are doing: Some leaves were drooping badly, others were fine. This all started after I watered with a small amount of fertilizer and let it sit in saucer water for 15 minutes, both for the first time. There were enough blue specks of fertilizer in the vendor's pot so I don't know what possessed me to add more. I watered with room temp snow melt, which is good, but leaving it sit for 15 min was dumb, since it just sucked back up and stayed. I got conflicting info and should have just left it alone.

Why I re-soiled only half the pot: I wanted to wait until warm weather to change all the soil and wash out all the old soil around the good roots, which will be your soil recipe, not the one I decided was best. Being a 68 year old only-child, I always think I know best about just about everything. Remind me to come back as a sibling in my next life.

In answer to a previous question from you on another GW topic, yes, I am a Patricia Ann.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your answer.

A retired educator, by any chance?

Al

Nope, just a secretary or editorial (copy) assistant at UM for 22 years. Still trying to decide what I want to do when I grow up. As a part-time but retired employee at UM, I'm thinking of letting someone in the grounds department know that they need to hire me to take care of all the huge live indoor plants on campus that seem to be terribly neglected. With all the knowledge I'm soaking up from people like you, I could become a plant doctor at UM. I think I'll look into this.

Lolol! Funny, too. ;o)

Al