Find Your Local Florist:Everything you want to know about flowers!
Ask the Expert: peace lily
Does my peace lily need to have any sunlight? Right now I do not have it near a window at all. Anne
Plant Expert Reply:
Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum) prefers bright filtered natural light. However, the peace lily is tolerant of low light levels making it an excellent houseplant. It can be used outdoors in warm humid areas with filtered light or partial shade. Exposure to direct light may cause yellowing leaves with a burnt appearance.
Ask The Expert: Can the Peace Lilly be planted out doors?
Plant Expert Reply:
Yes and No. Peace lilies can be planted outdoors in moist but well-drained soil under deep shade conditions. They are not hardy in any of our zones. Therefore in the United States and Canada, they can be used only as an annual planting during the late spring and summer months.
Ask the Expert: Have I damaged my Peace Lily after transplanting?
I purchased 2-3 small Peace lilies about 7 years ago for my boss. She is not a plant person, so it became my responsibility to keep it alive. It has been transplanted once from the pot it was originally in to a slightly larger pot and it has thrived increasing to 5 plants.
Lately it has been droopy and in need of water every other day. It has remained in the office in a relatively climate controlled environment until yesterday. I am in Florida and unfortunately my vehicles air conditioning went out. By the time I drove the 2 miles to home, the plant was all wilted and dying looking. I placed it in the shade as my houses a/c was not on and the inside temperature was almost as uncomfortable as my trucks.
I kept in in the shade and the ambient temp dropped due to an approaching storm. It was in the low 80’s to upper 70’s. I gently removed the plant from the pot and soaked it in water to try to loosen the dirt around the roots. My intention was to put it in 2 pots. I was afraid to cut or try to finger separating wasn’t working on the roots.
Carefully I put soil in the new pot and added a little water. I kept this up in layers and added the ‘mother’ plant in to the center. I added potting soil around it and added water to moisten it. I left is under my oak tree overnight in the shade and it appeared to be slightly recovering until the drive to work this morning. One of the plants in the mother plant has dark wilted green leaves and is majorly droopy. The rest of the plant is a little ‘depressed looking’ with slightly wilted leaves.
I have one of those watering globes and added it in once the plant was placed back in it’s home in the office.
Will my plant recover or have I done permanent damage to it? It really doesn’t appear to be loving life right now. Thoughts/help is greatly appreciated. Cheryl
Plant Expert Reply:
The short answer is to give the plant time, and it will be fine.
The long answer is:
When a peace lily or any other plant is in stress don’t add any more stress to it. After [Read more…]
Ask the Expert: Peace Lily pot
I recently bought a mature Peace Lily and repotted it into a “self-watering” pot, which is filled from the bottom & you can see how much water is in there. I’m wondering if this type of pot is okay for Peace Lilies, or is it better to water them from the top? Also, should the reservoir be kept full, or allowed to dry up? Is it possible to over-water with this type of pot? What about those “Aqua Bulb” things shown on TV lately (you fill the bulb with water, stick it in the soil, and supposedly they release the right amount of water to the plant based on how much oxygen the soil releases)– do they work, and do you recommend them? Dawn
Plant Expert Reply:
I’m an old-fashioned kind of plant watering gal. For me the best peace lily method is the tried and true watering from the top. See peace lilies want a evenly moist soil that does not dry out but doesn’t leave them soggy either.
I haven’t had any experience with self watering pots. So they could be the next best thing to sliced white bread. However for most plants if the roots stay soggy, the plant could develop root rot. Depending on the design of the self-watering container this could or could not be a problem. If I was going to use a self-watering pot, I would make sure that the soil was moist from the top to the bottom to begin with and then monitor the soil moist for a couple weeks to see how effect these containers are.
I am familiar with the “Aqua Bulb” principle. We sell a decorative blown glass watering bulb at our garden center. I find these mostly useful as a vacation watering method. They slowly drip water as the soil becomes dry, so I don’t worry about over watering. On the other hand with these you could be under watering the plant. Again if you use them make sure the soil is moist from top to bottom before you use these as your watering devise. You will still need to monitor your peace lily occasionally to make sure the soil is properly hydrated.
The key to any of these methods is monitor your soil moisture and adjusting accordingly.
Good luck and keep me posted.
Ask The Expert: Can I reproduce my peace lily with the seeds from the flower? Margaret
Plant Expert Reply:
Although peace lilies can technically be reproduced from seed, other methods give greater results. Large scale growers used tissue cultures for peace lily reproduction as tissue culture offer more uniformity and availability. Homeowners create new peace lily plants through division.
If your peace lily (Spathiphyllum) has any size to it, you can divide the plant into two or more pieces to start new plants. The key is having enough roots to support the foliage. So, always divide your plant from the roots up.
Ask the Expert: what kind of insecticide should I use ?
what kind of insecticide should I use for scale and aphids on my peace lily and how do I apply it? Is there anyway to keep this from happening again? Carol
Plant Expert Reply:
For Aphids and mealybugs I usually recommend a Resmethrin based insecticide. Fertilome makes one called Whitefly & mealybug killer that works well on most houseplants. This product comes in a ready to use (RTU) form and you can spray it directly on the plant. For peace lilies I would begin with a very light misting. Peace lilies are sensitive to many chemicals and any application should be done lightly to minimize any phototoxcity. Keeping the moist level of your peace lily constant and nutrient happy will help reduce insect infestation. Diligence is the key. Keep an eye out for any indication that the insects have come back and treat appropriately.
Ask the Expert: Is my peace lily diseased or dying? My peace lily has little dark bubbles all the way up and down the flower stem and the leaves have a sticky substance on them. Jeanne
Plant Expert Reply:
Have you noticed any tiny insects on the back side of the leaves? Aphids usually attach themselves to the back side of plant leaves and suck the life out of them. During this process the aphids secret “honeydew” a waste product that presents itself as a sticky substance on the top side of the leaves. The dark bubbles could be an infestation of an insect called scale. If you can pick the bubble off and turn them upside down, you should be able to see that it is an insect. Both of these pest can be eradicated with an insecticide. Once the insects have been eliminated your Spathiphyllum (peace lily) will make a full recovery.
Ask the Expert: How do you care for the peace lily flower?
I keep my peace lily near a sliding glass door which has an overhang on the outside which provides indirect lighting. The soil is kept damp to the touch. The flowers on the peace lily never open fully,develop a brown spot on it and eventually dies.
The leaves are green and healthy.
What am I doing wrong? Jacquie
Plant Expert Reply:
It sounds as if your are caring for your peace lily plant properly. Peace lilies need a humid environment. Lack of humidity could cause the blooms to turn brown and not open. So, I would start misting your plant every other day. If this doesn’t correct the problem, we will need to explore the possiblity of some fungal or disease issue. A photo of the problems can help us pin point the problem. Good luck and keep me posted.
Ask the Expert: Does my Peace lily have a chance? I read through the blogs about drooping PL and all the reasons, watering, sunlight and temp changes etc. Great advice!! I just want to make sure I’m on the right track. Mine, I think, either became too dry or went into shock from the sudden heat, so I gave it a little water and transplanted it into a bigger pot with moist
soil. That was three days ago and it’s still green and the stems are still pretty strong, it just looks really sad. I took your suggestion and cut off the dead leaves at the base of the plant and a few others that looked injured. You had also mentioned to cut off leaves that were also bent. All of mine are bent in some area and I was wondering it cutting almost all of them off might keep the roots strong
and help it to produce stronger the second time. I thought I’d give it two weeks or so to adjust before making that drastic of a decision but wondered if you had tried that and had any success with it.
Thanks so Much!
Jennifer
Plant Expert Reply:
Waiting two weeks before you do something drastic is a good idea. I have seen a peace lily that looked dead and beyond help come back to life. Are your bent leaves broken or more like dropping? If they are only dropping, leave them they will straighten up. Although I have seen peaces lilies recover when all the foliage has been removed, I don’t like to cut off all of the leaves until I start to see some new growth. It sounds like you have a good handle on the situation. Just be patient. Good luck and keep me posted.
Ask the Expert: Peace Lily flowers are turning green
We have
several peace lilies planted outside next our patio out of the sun and for
several months they were blooming abundent white flowers but now the majority of
the white flours are turning green. What can I do to correct this problem. Tyrus
Plant Expert Reply:
This is the natural process of peace lily blooms. They will start out white then turn green and eventually turn brown. You need to remove spent the blooms. Follow the stem to the base of the plant and cut the stem off. This will encourage the plant to produce new blooms.
Copyright © 2025 · News Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in
