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What To Do With Damaged Leaves On A Peace Lily

Spathiphyllum with Leaf Damage

Spathiphyllum with Leaf Damage

Ask the Expert: Pruning your peace lily
recently my peace lily suffered an unexpected “cold night”. It has lots of dead edges on the larger leaves. Would it be best to cut the dead/dying leaves out of the plant to encourage new growth? Or suffer through the ugliness and hope that it flourished on its own? Toni

Reply:

Peace Lily With Damaged Leaves

Peace Lily With Damaged Leaves

I recommend pruning out the damaged leaves this way the plant will place all of its energy into producing new foliage.  To remove the leaves follow the leaf stem to the base of the plant and cut it off.  Since the plant is in stress from the cold temperature, make sure you keep the plant evenly moist.  You can give it a very light solution of fertilizer or vitamin B1 to help it overcome the loss of foliage.  Good luck and keep me posted.

Comments

  1. Hello,
    I have watered my peace lily more then it should and has started to damage.
    Could anyone advice how to treat.

    Thank you in advance.

  2. Lena,

    You can poke small shafts in the soil all the way to the bottom of the pot to help the soil dry out quickly. If it’s really bad, pull your plant out of the pot and put damping cloth around the soil ball to absorb the extra water. Your plant should be just fine. Hope this helps!

  3. I left my PL outside Way to long as it was getting cold outside I just kept forgetting about it so I brought it inside an all the leaves are dark brown an wilted an vent from being cold an dried out, like all the leaves I do see it looks like new leaves have tried to grow but the weather had been getting really cold at night I don’t know what I should do I would love to try an save it if possible, looks really bad

  4. Anita,

    After a plant has been exposed to cold temperatures there isn’t much you can do. I would suggest cutting the wilted leaves back and trim the black leaves back to the base of the plant. Give it some time and keep me updated!

  5. Lynnette says:

    Hi, I have a Peace Lily that had a broken stem, I cut it off. Was that a bad thing? Thanx :(

  6. Jamie Woods says:

    Hi Lynnette,
    If the stem was already broken, you did the correct thing by cutting it.

  7. So I have had my peace lily for about a year and a half, it made a move with me from Chicago to Phoenix and I waited to transplant….I transplanted to a larger pot and not sure if I added too much fertilizer or not…..it has been a few weeks even since I watered it and soil at top is still kind of damp. The poor plant has barely any leaves left alive. Can I revive it or is it time to give up?

  8. Jamie Woods says:

    The plant is likely in shock from the transplant. I would not add any fertilizer. If the soil is still damp, you may need to check the drainage holes on your pot. If the soil is not draining properly, this can lead to root rot. I wouldn’t give up just yet. Peace lilies are pretty resilient. However, I would like to dry some before watering again. It’s possible you overwatered when you transplanted.

  9. Hernettia says:

    How can I repair some broken leafs just to get me through a ocassion. The plant looks good rhough their broken but just kinda leaning, pleasw help asap

  10. Jamie Woods says:

    You can’t actually repair the leaves. You’ll either need to cut them off at the base to encourage new growth, or leave them alone until after your event.

  11. Elizabeth Hays says:

    My husband brought my plant home from his shop, where they were indoors for the winter. However, on his way home I’m afraid the leave suffered severe wind damage in the back of the truck otw home.
    Will it come back and what should I do.
    I hate to loose the plants, as they are from my sister’s funeral and I would be devastated. HELP! I don’t see where to attach a picture.

  12. Janet Marshall says:

    I am repotting my peace lilly and I have a lot of stems where I cut off dead leaves. Should I take out all the old stems before putting the plant into the new pot? Please help!

  13. Jamie Woods says:

    Janet,
    If the stems are still in good health, there is no reason to remove them unless you feel that doing so would improve the overall look of your peace lily.

  14. I have a piece of a Peace Lily from my sisters funeral in 1999. I guess it’s from a Peace Lily that was split and given to my other 2 sisters and I – anyway you get the just. I had re potted it into a larger pot a few years ago, it did great! I recently split it to give my one sister, who’s plant had died a new plant, and also went ahead and split off 2 smaller plants for my daughters! So I now have, the mother plant?! I guess you’d call it- and 3 smaller split offs – the leaves on 2 of the split offs got droopy/ almost soggy looking, so I cut them off in hopes of giving the plant more energy for new growth. So basically it’s just like 4 stems at soil level… ugh what have I done?! Three of the 4 stems are green, so I’m hoping this means new growth?! Any help would be very much appreciated!

  15. Aynsley Broom says:

    Hi Andrea,
    It does sound like you have successfully split the plant and it might be going through a readjustment period because it could be in shock. You can read more about peace lilies in shock here: https://www.flowershopnetwork.com/blog/peace-lily-in-shock-what-to-do/

  16. maria farragher says:

    Hi,
    I accidentally dropped something on to my peace lily which caused damage to two leaves.
    Should I cut right back or leave them?

  17. Hi Maria! I would go ahead and prune out the damaged leaves. This will ensure that the plant is placing all its energy towards producing new foliage.