Find Your 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.
Update!! Sad Peace Lily Will Recover With A Little Care
SO it’s been just over three weeks and my peace lily is doing a lot better. After transplanting it into a better pot I waited two weeks and it showed little improvement. I trimmed the dead leaves off at the base and I tied the stalks up in hopes that it would help it, which it did but the leaves remained droopy and “water logged”. Three days ago I decided that would try something different. I took the plant out of the pot and separated the roots and shook loose the soil checking for root rot. The roots and the root balls were still very strong to I decided I would split the plant into two separate plants. I followed the stalks down to the two separate clumps and I cut the plant in half with a bread knife. I transplanted the two separate halves into pots (the same sized one I had the original one in) with miracle grow soil, watered them throughly and loosely tied the stalks together. I also put chop sticks in the soil to support the stalks. The next morning the leaves perked up and were more firm. I untied them and they held there own, almost looking as good as they did when I got the plant. Success at last. Patience is definitely the key to these plants!
I left my plant in my car by accident after my fathers funeral..i brought it in and some of the leaves are lifeless and the white flower appears to be dead. Is there a chance it can be saved or did I kill it
Jajuana,
Only time will tell. Remove all the damaged leaves and wait for new growth to appear. In the meantime, care for it as you would if the plant was healthy.
My gf just transplanted here peace lily it was looking rough now it looks worse leaves are dieing and its looking worse what is the best way to care for the peace lily it was past done from a family friend thst is no longer with us.
Jerry,
I’m sorry to hear about the plant. Here is a great article that will tell you the exact light, water, and fertilizer requirements for a peace lily plant. I hope this article helps and that your plant starts to improve!
Hello,
Please help me! I got my peace lily as a birthday present. I love plants but this is my first indoor plants.I place my peace lily on my work desk which is a shady.1st month it was okay because I watered them twice a week. But few weeks ago I forgot to water and my plants is dehydrated on the weekends so I watered it when I get to work, it became a little but last week I think I over watered my plants. Now the leaves are drooping and many yellow leaves appeared.
Thanks you for reading my message patiently.
Warm Regards,
Naw Zar.
Naw Zar,
Over-watering and under-watering will cause a peace lily(spathiphyllum) to wilt (droop). When it comes to watering once a week should be enough provided that you give it adequate water. You can water one of two ways: Give it water until it starts to over-flow into the saucer or you can water and then do a moisture test. You want your soil to be moist but not soggy at all times. This means that if you stick your finger into the soil about a knuckle deep and remove some of it that you can roll the soil into a ball. When you squeeze this soil ball it should not produce a lot of water just a slight amount.
Another thing that will cause a peace lily to droop is temperature changes. If your plant is directly under an air vent the drastic change in temperature when the air comes on will cause the plant to droop.
Check both of those conditions. Once you correct the situation it should take a week or so for the plant to recover. Be patient and give it time. Hope this helps!
A friend asked me to try and save her Peace Lilly from her grandfathers funeral. It’s still green so it’s not completely dead. It is drupping really bad. How much sun do they need? What can I do to save it?
Mindy,
Peace lilies prefer 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. I suggest you read this article about peace lily plant care to learn the proper water, fertilizer and pruning requirements. I believe if you follow the proper plant care instructions the plant will be saved. Hope this helps!
Dear Rachel Brantley,
Hello.Thanks you for the kind advice. My little one already over, I guessed. But I’ll go get one today, But this time I got advice from you and my past experiences. I just can’t forget the emerald color leaves. I won’t killed them with kindness anymore.
Warm Regards,
Naw Zar.
We have had a large, beautiful blooming peace lily in our office for the past 9 years. It was a gift in remembrance of a coworker who passed away, so we really want to maintain it. A couple of years ago, I repotted it in a larger pot. Every year or so, I add Miracle Grow potting soil to maintain. Routinely, I cut back any old dying leaves and blooms and another coworker waters it when needed. However, recently, someone else began to water it also. It obviously was getting too much water and we’ve corrected that situation. BUT…….many of the leaf stalks around the outside bent when it was getting too much water and, four weeks after we corrected the over watering situation, they still can not stand back up. They appear healthy, just bent and hanging on the ground. The leaf stalks in the center of the plant are standing as they should and are healthy. Should I cut the bent ones back? If I do that, will it continue to grow and thicken back up? Thanks for your assistance!
If the stalks are actually broken, and not just bent and drooping, I would go ahead and cut them. If they are still droopy, just be patient with your lily. Usually, they will straighten back up.
Thank you for your reply! They are actually bent with a crease at the bend. I worry about root rot but the leaves and stalks still appear healthy.
Hi, I had a beautiful peace lily. It had five blooms on it. It started to droop. So I thought it needed water.Found out some one else was also watering it.So to get it out of the wet soil I repotted it. Tied it up but still could not get it too look like it did.So it was still too wet. So took it back out of the soil, put in new soil but it still droops.I do not want to lose this plant. Any suggestions????
Hi Louise,
Between the over-watering and being repotted twice, your peace lily has had quite a bit of trauma and is experiencing shock. The best thing for you to do at this point is to leave it be and let it recover. It can take a few weeks before your plant will show signs of improvement. If the soil is still very moist, you will want to let it dry up some before starting a regular watering schedule. Check your soil before watering by sticking your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle and pulling out a little soil. Roll the soil into a ball. If you can squeeze it and water comes out, your plant has too much water. If no water comes out when you squeeze it, then the soil is just right. If you can’t roll the soil into a ball, your plant needs to be watered.
My Peace Lily is literally dead. The leaves and stems are black. Is it possible to dig up the bulbs and replant them? Or do they not have bulbs?
Hi Shelley,
Peace lilies do not have bulbs. If your plant appears to be completely dead, most likely it will not come back. However, you can dig up your plant, and if the roots appear to be healthy, you can try to repot it. You will want to cut away all of the dead foliage. Let me know how it goes!
I need some help. I have a Piece Lily that I got at my uncle’s funeral and it keeps getting to look worse and worse. I first repotted it into a bigger pot and now it is even looking even worse. It was a big plant but now I have lost most of the bigger leaves and stems but there is new little ones growing at the bottom of the plant. But now the leaves and stims that r dying when I remove them it seems like they come out of the dirt real easy like it is rotten at the root or under the dirt. So I need some help because I dont want to loose the Lily because it has a special place in my heart because of my uncle. So what should i do to save my Lily? I have repotted it, I have fertilized it and I water in only when the bottom drip pan is dry. So could someone plz help me?
Hi Robin,
Your peace lily has likely experienced shock from being transplanted. If it is showing signs of new growth, that is great! Peace lilies like an evenly moist soil and should not be left in standing water because this can cause root rot. Instead of waiting for the water to be gone from the pan, you should check the soil for moisture. You can do this by sticking your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle and pulling a little out. Try rolling it into a ball. If you can’t roll it into a ball, your plant needs water. If you can roll it into a ball, but water comes out when you squeeze it, then it’s too wet, and if you can just roll it into a ball but little to no water comes out when you squeeze, then it is just right. Peace lilies are pretty resilient, so as long there is new growth, if you can start a regular care routine, then your plant should make a full recovery. Our peace lily care page will give you a lot of great info on what you need to know to take care of your plant. You can find it here!
I put miracle grow in water and watered my peace lily. Then it started to droop but stayed green. About 2 weeks later it felt dry so I watered it. Now it looks pathetic, still droopy, and yellow. Can I save this from dying? Thank you Jean
Jean,
It sounds like your peace lily is suffering from a lack of watering. Peace lilies usually need to be watered at least once a week, keeping the soil evenly moist. You can test the soil prior to watering by sticking your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle and pulling out a little soil. If you can roll the soil into a ball and little to no water comes out when you squeeze it, the soil is perfectly moist. If you can make a ball and water comes out when you squeeze, then your plant is too wet, and if you cannot roll the soil into a ball at all, the plant is too dry. Once you correct the water issue, give your peace lily a couple of weeks to recover and it should start to perk back up.
Hi! Another person with a peace lily problem here. Ive had this plant for 13 years now and it only has 5 leaves and stands about 6 inches. It was taller and fuller many years ago. Right now it only manages to have 5 leaves and will not grow beyond that. If there are 6 leaves, inevitably one leaf will droop, turn brown and die. I have it in a pot that’s 7″ diameter and maybe 7″ deep. I take care not to overwater it. It just won’t get bigger. I’ve moved it to different locations, it sat in a west window and did nothing. Sigh… Help… Please. Thank you!!
Donna,
Your peace lily probably needs to be moved to a bigger pot, or even separated into two plants.
Hi Jamie and thank you for replying. I never thought of that. I thought the pot it’s in was probably too big. And the thought to separate it, well, again, never crossed my mind. I’ll give it a try and let you know how it goes. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thank you!
I got a peace lily when my sister in law passed. I believe i had over watered it. So i took it out of the pot cleaned all dirt from it and clipped the roots that were mushy to where it was green healthy roots. I just want to know if it has a chance of surviving. The plant itself looks okay. A couple of yellow leaves, and a little droopy but looks like it still has alot of healthy leaves. I just hope i didn’t make things worse.
Ashley,
It may go into a bit of shock from the re-potting and trim, but give it a few weeks to a month to recover. Peace lilies are pretty tough. Keep it on a consistent watering schedule with bright indirect light, and you should see it perk up!
I received a peace lily from my grandmother’s funeral there happened to be an investation in my apartment complex. After the treatment process my like started dying I didn’t know what else to do this was almost two years ago I didn’t want to throw it away because some ppl said it could still be saved. All the leaves and everything are brown from being dried up, I just want to know can I still save it?
Whitley,
Unfortunately, if your plant has seen 2 years with no signs of new growth, there is most likely no chance for it to make a recovery.
I used 3 squirts of liquid miracle grow plant food for indoor plants and my lily started dropping on one side. The other side is tall. Most of the tips of the leaves look a bit brown and broken off. This just happened within a couple weeks. What happened? What can I do? It’s an important plant to me. I’ve had it for 9 months and it’s been fine and healthy.
Kelsey,
You may have given it a little too much fertilizer. Continue to care for it as usual and keep an eye on it.
Hello,
So, my 13 y/o peace lily was recently yanked out of its pot by the house cat. When I rushed to it’s side I noticed no roots attached to the stalk and only a few white nubs (possibly new roots?)
I repotted it well regardless and it’s still in wilt mode, looking dramatic like it hasn’t been watered in forever. After three days I decided to coat the stalk w/ rooting hormone (unknowingly if that is a good idea or not or if it will work). How long do roots usually take to regrow or is this going to be possible?
Rachelle,
It can take a couple of weeks for roots to grow.
I was out of town for the fourth of July. Unfortunately my air went out and when i came back my peace lily had died. the leaves were all on the floor and the stems were all completely dried and brown. I would give up hope completely but the base of the plant next to the soil is still green. So i trimmed everything dead off of it and gave it some water. Any chance it’ll come back? And what should i do to help it? Will it take weeks and weeks to grow back if it does recover? Thanks!
Jess,
If there is still some green, there is hope for your peace lily! You did the correct thing by cutting away all of the dead foliage. Care for your plant the same way you usually would. It will take time for it to grow back completely. You should see signs of new growth within two weeks.
Hi my peace lilly root was drowning n a pot with no holes at the bottom for 4 days i finally repotted it now its really wilted i tied the stalks up really thick stalks will it recover o my im stressed please help wish i could tale a pic the stalks were lyeing wide open
Ok so, I have a small peace lily combined with some ivy and pothos vines. They have all been in a shallow pot (with no drain holes) for 3+ years! Last week I finally reported it into a terra cotta pot three inches larger. However, I used compost-like garden soil to fill in. Well, the plant looked pretty droopy. So today, I repotted again with miracle grow pitting soil and watered. This plant has looked great for three years. I want it to live! I hope I haven’t shock it to death. Also, how do you know when it needs to be divided? I think it is definitely too much in shock to divide now but maybe I should have done that? Thanks! I guess I just wait it out?
I’ve read all the comments & haven’t read anything about what I’m experiencing with my peace lily. The stems keep growing taller, so tall they can’t help but droop. Leaves are small but nice & green. I have had her for four years. She has gone thru 3 blooming cycles. But why does she keep growing taller in stem without leaves getting bigger? Thanks.
There is a peace lily in the office at work. The heat dropped to 59 degrees. Help, can it be saved? It completely drooped, we tried watering it, but still drooping.
Hello. I had to go away for two weeks for my grandmother’s funeral and my peace lily did not get watered the right amount. I got it from my Grandfather’s funeral and I would like to keep it alive. Every leaf is either bent or drooping over the side. Some leaves are still green though. I watered it and it has been 24 hours with no change. What should I do?
Hi Celeste,
Have you tried cutting the stems at the base? Once you do this they will produce new leaves. You can read more here: https://www.flowershopnetwork.com/blog/peace-lily-bad-haircut-survive/
Hi Margie,
You might try moving it to a warmer location. Because it was in shock from the drop in temp, it will need time to recover in a warmer area.
Hi Laura,
What you don’t want to do is overwater it. Because it has gone a couple of weeks without water, you might need to monitor it for a bit.
Hello! I really messed up my mom’s peace lily that I obtained after she died and want to know if I am on the right track and when I should start seeing results.
I’ve never owned a plant before and my mom wasn’t much of a green thumb, either. The apple did not fall far from the tree, there. The plant was beautiful and vibrant with tons of leaves and 2 flowers. I decided to repot it into a bigger pot (that I now understand was too big & did not have enough drainage holes).
To make a long story short, it took me a long time to realize what I was doing was not helping, and making it worse. My plan’s rootball was constantly wet and therefore developed root rot (this took me a long time to figure out). My plant got so bad that it no longer has any leaves.
After many youtube videos and google searches later, I went and bought some fungicide and pesticide. I took apart the entire rootball and removed the dead roots. It still had plenty of healthy roots, so I am hopeful. I dipped the roots in the fungicide and repotted it (CORRECTLY) in its original-sized pot. I then watered it correctly, and sprayed some pesticide on the base.
Before I did this, it had 3 baby stalks that have a sort of brown edges around it. It’s been maybe a week and I haven’t seen much growth. I’m wondering when I will start to notice a difference? I’m really determined to succeed in bringing this plant back to life.
Any advice/questions will be appreciated!!
Hi Christina. You should see some growth within 3 weeks. It may wilt a little bit during this time, but should recover by the second week!