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Saving A Peace Lily

Ask the Expert: How do I save my peace lily?

Spathiphyllum

My peace lily’s leaves are soft and limp. Someone told m I overwatered it. I let it dry out, it did not improve. Can this plant be saved or is it too late? Debbie

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:
The plant can be saved.
Check the roots. Make sure they have not rotted and that the container has drain holes that will allows excess water to drain away from the roots.

The soil looks a little dry right now. Moisten the soil and keep it evenly moist but not soggy. You want the soil to hold water, but you should not be able to squeeze water from it. Also create a humid environment around the plant by misting the air around it with lukewarm water every day or every other day. Remove any of the yellow or brown leaves.

Make sure the plant is receiving light. However, the light source should not be beaming directly on to the plant.

Once you get the plant settle with the right conditions it should make a full recovery.

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Why Does My Peace Lily Have Yellow Leaves

Ask the Expert: Peace lily lower leaves turn yellow and then die?
I repotted my peace lily about 18 mos. ago. The lower leaves turn yellow and then die. At first I thought it was just the shock, but it continues to lose leaves. It was a huge plant and now is looking rather pathetic. HELP!!! I love this plant. It is in a south window, but gets limited direct sunlight. I have it in a self-watering pot. Any ideas would be appreciated. Linda

Flower Shop Network‘s Plant Expert Rely: This peace lily problem is directly related to a water issue. Normally, I would assume too much water. With self-watering pots it is hard to tell. It could be getting too much or not enough.

Spathiphyllum clevelandii - Peace Lily

Peace Lily

Another issue could be that the plant was planted too deep when re-potted. The top of the root in the old pot should have been the top of the root ball in the new pot.

In other words, you should not have added any soil on top of the plant. If you think you place the plant deeper than it was, you might need to raise it up. This would be a good time to see if the roots are rotting.

Once you have taken care of the repotting issues, start caring for your plant by creating a humid environment. Mist the air around the plant with tepid water every day or at least every other day. Then make sure the soil is evenly moist (a self watering pot may not be the best for keeping the soil evenly moist.)

Usually a once a week watering will keep the soil moist but not soggy. If your plant is in really low light levels, you may be able to water your plant every other week instead.

Once you have evened out the water issue the plant should make of full come back.

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Help! My Peace Lily Has Caterpillars

Ask The Expert: I have two peace lillies. I had the two of them sitting in my kitchen sink to spray the leaves today. I noticed lots of insects that look like baby caterpilars…brown or black in color. What can I do about them, and could that be why the plant doesn’t seem to be growing? Lisa


Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:
You can do one of two things: pick off the caterpillars or spray them with an insecticide. I use the Fertilome Red Spider and Mite spray. It Kills Red Spiders Mites, Two Spotted Spider Mites, Whiteflies, Mealybugs, Aphids, Thrips and Scale Crawlers on house plants and is safe to use on peace lilies and a multitude of other houseplants. It comes in a ready to use (rtu) form, so all you have to do is spray it on the plant. You can pick this product up at any local garden center. If they don’t have the Fertilome brand ask the nursery professional what they use.

As for the stunted growth of your Peace lily (Spathiphyllum clevelandii), you may need to fertilize the plants. You can use a water soluble fertilizer once a month. It is best to use a balanced fertilizer – one in which the N, P, and K all have the same ratio like 10-10-10 or 20-20-20. If you can’t find a balanced fertilizer try one in which the number are as close as possible like 9-8-5.

Make sure you are keeping your peace lily evenly moist and that it has good drainage. Keeping your moisture level correct is a big part of keeping a peace lily healthy.

Here are a few Peace Lily Requirements

Peace Lily Care: Light Requirements

[Read more…]

What To Do When Tips OF Peace Lilies Turn Brown

Ask the Expert: Tips of the Peace Lily plant

What do you do when the tips and the sides of the leaves of the Peace Lily plant start turning brown. I have a huge plant in the office and so far it is doing extremely well but the tips of the leaves are turning brown right at the very point.

Thank you for any help you can send my way. Shell

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:
You can trim the brown tips and sides off the leaves. What is more important is to figure out why the leaves are turning brown in the first place. What and sunlight are the major causes of browning in Spathiphyllum (peace lily) leaves. Make sure the plant is staying evenly moist and that sunlight is not beating directly down on the leaves. I would alos check for any signs of insects. Once you correct the problem the leaves should stop turning brown.

Peace Lily Leaves Are Drying And Turning Brown, Why?

Ask the Expert: why RE THE LEAVES ON MY PEACE LILLY TURNING BROWN

TURNING BROWN ALL OVER AND DRYING Christeen Baker

Flower Shop Network’s Plant Expert Reply:

Peace lily (Spathiphyllum) leaves can turn brown: if the water used is highly chlorinated – if intense sunlight bears directly down on the leaves – if the plant has not been kept evely moist.  Only To detyou will be able to determine which of these factors is the culprit.  To remedy the situation:

If chlorinated water is the problem, expose your open container of water to the air for 24 hours before using. Or, water your plant with distilled or bottle water.

If sunlight is the issue, move plant away from the intense sunlight.

If irregualer watering is the cause, check the plant every couple of days and water when soil begins to dry out.

With in a couple of week the plant should begin to produce new growth.

Rotting Roots Can Cause Yellowing Of Peace Lily Leaves

Ask the Expert: What’s wrong with my Peace Lily?
I have a rather large peace lily that I have been keeping on my front porch (no direct sunlight whatsoever) and the bottom leaves are beginning to turn yellow and die off.  What am I doing wrong?  Pat

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:

A peace lily (Spathiphyllum clevelandii) that has been exposed to a soggy condition for an extended period will develop root rot. The first indication that a peace lily has root rot is the yellowing of lower leaves. Theses leaves will eventually fall off.

To see if the roots are rotting, you may need to remove it from the pot.  Peace lilies should be planted in a container that has the ability to drain excess moisture. You may need to repot the peace lily. Once the peace lily is placed in the proper conditions it should recover.

Black, Yellow And Burnt Leaves On A Peace Lily

Ask the Expert: Black, Yellow and burnt leaves
I have a peace lily that sits in front of my window. I keep the blinds of my window open so that the plant can get some light because I have brown curtains and brown sheer panels at my window.  I water my plant when it feels dry and also I give it a mist. Most of my leaves are yellow at the top with a burnt tip.  Some are black on the sides.  Even the newer leaves (smaller ones) look as though they are turning. I also noticed today some of the leaves are getting holes.  I don\’t know if the holes are from the drooping or what.  I love this plant. It\’s from my mother\’s furneral. So please help me to save this plant.  P.s. I use tap water that runs through a filter on my sink. Angie

Plant Expert Reply:

I suspect that the peace lily (Spathiphyllum clevendii) is too close to the window and the intesified light is buring the leaves. Move the plant a little farther from the window.  When you water the plant make sure to saturate the soil completely.  Also, check to see if you have any insects on the plant that might be creating the holes.  Should you have an insect problem, spray the peace lily with a houseplant insecticide.

Once you move the plant away from the direct light from the window, the plant should make a full recovery. Good Luck and keep me posted.

This plant questions was sponsored by the local florists in San Antonio.

How To Dead-head A Peace Lily

Ask The Expert: I have received a Spathiphyllum plant and it is blooming.  Some of the blooms have turned brown and wilted.  Do I clip the dead blooms off? If so,where on the stem should they be clipped? Glynda

Plant Expert Reply:

Yes, you need to clip the old peace lily (Spathiphyllum) blooms off. Follow the bloom stalk down to the base of the plant and clip it off. This will make the plant more attractive and it will send a signal to the plant that it needs to bloom again.

How To Care For A Peace Lily Received At A Funeral

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum clevelandii

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum clevelandii

Ask The Expert: I was give a peace lily for my husbands funeral last April.  This is very large plant. I have trouble keeping any house plant.  The leaves are dying and turning brown. I’ve tried leaving the light on in the kitchen because I thought it needed light.  I would just hate to loose this plant for many reasons.  Can you help me bring my poor peace lily back to a healthy life?
Thank you,
Nita

Plant Expert Reply:

I can understand why you want to keep this plant healthy and I will try my best to help you do so. If you haven’t removed the peace lily from the decorative foil the florist puts it in do so now. The foil won’t allow the peace lily to drain properly.

Knowing what the specific care needs for a particular plant is the first step in houseplant survival. Let’s see what kind of care peace lilies (Spathiphyluum clevelandii) need.

They need bright filtered light, but are tolerant to low light levels. They do not like bright sunlight shining down on their leaves — it will cause the leaves to burn.  So place your peace in a room that gets a fair amount of light, but do not place it directly in front of a window.

Peace lilies want an evenly moist environment. This means the soil should not dry out completely or reamin soggy.  Once a week watering is a good rule of thumb. When you water make sure the soak the water completely and that any excess water drains quickly and easily. You can perform an easy test to determine the water needs of your plant.

Test the soil before watering by sticking finger in soil up to first knuckle — this will help you determine if the plant needs water. If the soil feels moist don’t water. You can also pull a little bit of the soil out and perform the roll test.

Roll the soil into a ball:

  • If you can squeeze wtaer easily out of the ball and you haven’t water in a while check the drainage. The plant may be too wet.
  • If you can’t roll the soil into a ball, it is too wet.
  • If you can roll soil into ball and it stays together but you can’t squeeze water out of it — then it is just fine.

Always water your peace lily with luke warm water and mist the air around the plant occasionally. Peace lilies are susceptible to chlorine damage; let chlorine evaporate from tap water before using or use distilled water. Over-watering may cause leaves to turn yellow and under-watering may cause plants to wilt and the leaf edges to turn yellow or brown.

Light and water are the most important plant care requirements. You can learn more about peace lily care on our peace lily page.

I also recommend trim off the damaged leaves.  Hopefully these tips will help you take care of your peace lily. Please keep me posted on your progress.

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Will Peace Lily Flowers Die Off?

Ask the Expert: peace plant
my peace plant is beautiful, I am trying to keep it that way as it is from my husbands funeral, ? THE WHITE FLOWERS HAVE TURNED GREEN , they are still looking good after 2 months are they suppose to die off and when, will they grow back again? Mary

Plant Expert Reply:

As with all flowers, the peace lily blooms will eventually die. When they do follow the flower stalk to the base of the plant and cut it off.   It will rebloom again any where from a few months to a year – depending on the environment and the cultivar. To ensure you give the plant what it needs, I suggest you read our peace lily care instructions.  The key to keeping it healthy is a evenly moist soil and bright filtered light. Good luck and keep me posted.