Peace Lily Drooping: Causes + How To Revive A Wilting Spathiphyllum
Drooping peace lily leaves can become quite a nuisance as they can cause a few issues.
When they start to wilt, it can appear that the plant itself is dying, but this doesn’t always have to be the case. You can still revive the plant and allow the leaves to stand erect once more.
A drooping peace lily can be a sign of something as simply as underwatering or overwatering.
It is really important to get to the bottom of why this is happening to your peace lily, as this will give you a better chance of being able to solve the problem.
Some of the most common reasons to explain why this is occurring are root rot disease, overexposure to sun, or even repotting shock.
All of these things can cause your Spathuphyllim to wilt.
If you don’t want your plant to be ruined, then you have come to the right place.
In this article, we are going to tell you everything that you need to know about what can cause peace lily drooping, as well as what you can do to revive your plant if this does start to happen.
This could involve improving drainage, avoiding excess watering, or even repoting your plant.
Will A Drooping Peace Lily Die?
Just because your peace lily is starting to droop, it doesn’t always mean that the plant is dying.
Sometimes, droopy leaves can be a sign of drought, and this is something that can easily be fixed by ensuring that the soil is moist at all times.
Something that you might not have known about peace lilies is that they like a bit of shade. This means that when they are placed in direct sunlight, they can easily die as they do not have enough moisture.
One of the best ways to tell if your peace lily is dying is to check the bottom leaves.
If they are starting to droop and are also turning yellow, then the plant is duing due to a lack of water and too much sunlight.
If this is the case, you will need to move your plant to a darker area, so it won’t be exposed to too much light. This will reduce the amount of water loss and stress on the plant.
Why Is My Peace Lily Drooping?
There are lots of things that could explain why your peace lily has started to droop. It is really important to get to the bottom of what is causing this if you want to give your plant the best chances of survival.
We are going to explain some of the most common reasons why peace lilies can droop below, so you can figure out what is wrong with your plant.
Once you have found out what is causing the drooping, you can take the right steps to ensure that you can revive your plant.
Too Much Water
One of the most common reasons why peace lilies start to droop is that they are getting too much water.
If you over water your plant, you can cause the water to get blocked in the soil. This would make it difficult for your lily to breathe and draw in all of the nutrients that it needs.
The leaves of the plant would start to droop, especially if the container does not drain the water properly.
This will happen due to the fact that the plant is not able to properly photosynthesize as it is being suffocated.
Some common signs of overwatering in peace lilies will include:
- Drooping leaves
- Lower leaves turning yellow
- Black-tipped roots
- Brown edges and tips of leaves
- Dark brown spots on the stalks
- Slight yellowing of the lower foliage
Drought
At the complete opposite end of the scale, not giving your peace lily enough water can also cause it to dry out, and it will then start to wilt.
In this instance, drooping leaves are a sign that you need to water your plan more. If your peace lily goes without water for too long, then the leaves will start to hang due to a loss of moisture.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell if this is the case sometimes as the signs of an underwatered lily are very similar to the signs of an overwatered lily to start with.
Some of the leaves may turn yellow as they begin to wilt, and eventually, you might find that you need to prune some of the affected leaves if you want to help your peace lily to revive itself.
Peace lily plants can be quite forgiving if you haven’t given them enough water.
The leaves will start to droop as the plant dries out, but if you start watering it sufficiently, it will start to revive if you give it a chance.
Too Much Sunlight
Something else that can cause your peace lily to droop is too much sunlight.
A peace lily will droop if it has been exposed to too much sunlight, and if you want your plant to thrive, then you will need to provide it to either partial sunlight or low light conditions.
If your plant does get too much direct sunlight, then the foliage will start to droop and even present signs of burning.
The reason for the drooping leaves in this instance is that the rate of transpiration is higher than it should be. So, the plant will lose water too fast, which makes the leaves begin to droop and wilt.
Root Rot
Root rot is something else that can cause a drooping peace lily, and if your plant has been left in excess water for too long, then the roots will become too wet.
Unfortunately, this can then lead to root rot disease. Some of the main signs of root rot disease include yellowing or wilting leaves, mushy and weak rotting roots, and roots turning black.
If the wilting keeps persisting, then it is often a good idea to change the soil, as it is infested with a fungus.
Repotting Shock
The final reason that we are going to mention that could explain why your peace lily is drooping is that it is suffering from repotting shock.
This is something that can occur if you repot your peace lily, and some of the main signs of this include drooping and wilting.
It is usually best to avoid watering the plant during this time until the soil is completely dry.
Alternatively, you can feed the plant with fertilizer. Some common symptoms of repotting shock in peace lilies are wilting leaves, curling leaves, and yellow leaves.
How to Revive Your Drooping Peace Lily
Now that you know what the main causes of peace lily drooping are, you can identify the problem.
Once you find out what is wrong with your plant, you will need to provide it with some extra care and attention in order to revive it successfully.
We will share some helpful methods of reviving your peace lily plant below.
Draining The Soil
If you have managed to figure out that you have been giving your plant too much water, then the best thing to do next would be to drain the potting soil.
This is really easy to do, and you just need to simply create some holes in the base of the plant pot.
You will probably notice that some water comes out when you do this, and this means that you have been giving your plant too much water.
Your peace lily should be able to revive relatively quickly once the excess water has been drained away.
These plants do love water, but they will only do well if the extra water is able to drain away through the holes at the bottom of the plant.
On the other hand, if you do leave them in a pot with too much water, then they will start to wilt quite quickly due to a lack of air in the roots.
If you are unsure if your peace lily has too much water inside the pot, you can test your theory by pushing a finger into the potting soil until the soil reaches your second knuckle.
If it comes up too wet, then there is too much water in the soil, and you will need to follow the above steps to revive your plant.
When they are blooming, peace lilies also need more water than they normally would. Failing to give your plant more water during this time will quickly lead to it wilting.
If you want to revive your peace lily, you will need to water the plant at least once a week.
This will help to keep the soil as moist as it needs to be and reduce the amount of water that is lost through the leaves of the plant.
Remove From Direct Sunlight
As well as all of the things that we have already mentioned, if you leave your peace lily in direct sunlight, it will keep drooping, even if you give it enough food and water.
In order to revive your plan in this instance, you will need to move the plant away from direct sunlight and put it in a shadier area.
So, if your peace lily is currently on display in your window, then you should move it away to somewhere with less direct sunlight. This will prevent the plant from wilting and dying off.
If you are unsure about where the best place to put your plant is, you should choose a location that is bright, but that also does not receive direct sunlight.
This will allow you to grow a healthy peace lily that sports deep green leaves.
Treating Root Rot
As you now know, root rot is a type of fungal infection. It can be treated relatively easily if you catch it early on.
If this is what is causing your peace lily to droop, then you will need to completely treat the soil, roots, and water.
The steps to treating root rot and reviving your peace lily are as follows:
- Completely change the soil that your peace lily is currently in to get rid of the fungus
- Sterilize the container that your plant is in. Hydrogen peroxide is great for this cleaning purpose
- Trim the rotting roots on the peace lily in order to prevent it from infecting the healthier roots
- Clean the roots to rid them of any fungal spores
- Re-pot your peace lily in a healthy potting mix
Once you have done all of the above steps, you will probably notice that the plant is a little bit stressed.
This is a completely normal part of the process, and you will need to give your peace lily a few days to revive and start to grow healthy again.
Transplant Advice
If the issue that you are experiencing has only occurred since you have repotted your peace lily, then you will need to start repotting your lillies with a treatment of vitamin B1. This will help with root development when you transplant your plant.
An alternative that you could use is starter fertilizer for houseplants, as this can also help with root development. However, you will need to be careful not to use too much of this fertilizer.
If you do, it could cause burning and intoxication of your peace lily, especially if you are feeding them with nitrogen fertilizer.
Why Does My Peace Lily Still Droop After Being Watered?
If you have been making sure to give your peace lily enough water to stop it from drooping, but the issue is still occuring, then it might be because you are giving your peace lily too much water, rather than not enough.
Overwatering your plant will make it difficult for it to breathe, as there are no air pockets in the soil.
To solve this problem, you will need to remove the plant from its pot and drain away the excess water from the soil.
It is also a good idea to check the roots for root rot at the same time. This could be presented as browning and softening of the roots.
