Peace lilies are a beautiful addition to your home and they make excellent houseplants by adding a zest of beauty, luxury, and life to any indoor living space. But, if you notice its delicate white petals or even leaf tips turning into a sickly brown or black, then there may be a disease or some trouble with its care and maintenance.
So, why are your peace lily flowers turning brown? Peace lily’s flowers may turn brown due to stress, or if you have failed to provide it with adequate care, but most importantly, peace lily leaves and flowers turn brown with age and as more times passes, you may begin to notice brown flowers and even blackish patches all over the petals and leaves.
Caring for peace lilies is not much different from caring for other house plants such as airplants, or when growing monsterra leaves. You can learn more about it through our extensive gardening guides, as well as tips and tricks to use mulches and the right kind of potting mix or potting soil for your plants. Keep on reading to find out more!
Reasons Why Your Peace Lily is Turning Brown
Dead peace lily flowers will turn a sickly brown and black. However, you may also notice patches or brown or black even during peace lily blooming. The discoloration of peace lily plants could be for a variety of reasons, some of which we have explored below.
1. Lack of Proper Care and Maintenance
One of the most common reasons why your peace lily is turning brown is due to lack of care, support, and adequate maintenance required by plants of such delicate nature. While many indoor plants such as the airplant and even succulents can withstand long periods of neglect, the peace lily is certainly not one of them.
Peace lily flowers come with lots of growing requirements that should be carefully followed for them to pick up full bloom. Let’s look at each in detail.
Avoid Direct Sunlight
Peace lily leaves and flowers do not respond well to heat and light from direct sun. That being said, it still requires plenty of indirect light to thrive and grow strong. Dappled light works best for these types of plants and keeps them from turning brown. Place them next to a window facing east, preferably as this will reduce the risk of direct sunlight.
Maintain Steady Temperature
Whether you are growing these lovely flowers at home or in your workplace, you must remember to maintain steady temperatures at 70*F or higher for these to bloom and keep from turning brown. Since these delicate flowers are native to tropical areas in America and Southeast Asia, they will not do will in temperatures lower than 60*F as it will get too chilly for their roots to survive.
Correct Humidity Levels
Since these are tropical plant blooms that thrive in warmer climates, the right humidity level is also essential to their growth. You can use humidifiers or even mist your peace lily flowers and leave regularly to maintain humidity.
Avoid Over-Fertilization
It goes without saying that over-fertilization is deadly for any plant, not just peace lilies. While organic fertilizers and composts can certainly help in its blooming, especially when done at the right schedule, it can be deadly if done too often. Only fertilize your peace lily’s soil on a 5-6 week basis.
Avoid Tap Water
Tap water is packed with a range of harmful chemicals including fluoride which can trigger brown flowers and other forms of damage. This can especially cause its leaves to turn brown. To avoid this, only use filtered water, set at room temperature, to water your peace lilies.
Maintain Steady Watering Schedule
Dry soil can also cause peace lily flowers turning brown. To avoid this, maintain a steady watering schedule but be sure to not overdo it. If you notice the soil drying out, you should water it but if it still shows signs of moisture, then avoid over-watering as this could also lead to a rot.
2. Stress
You may be wondering how a mere plant becomes stressed? There are several factors that may cause your peace lily to become stressed, inevitably impacting its growth and survival.
Repotting it too often is one such stress causing act that can leave the plant exhausted, sapped of all energy, and uncomfortable in its new setting. To see if your peace lily plant is under any kind of duress, keep an eye on its leaf edges and if you notice a change of shape, color, or if they become wilted or deformed, then this is a clear sign that your plant is stressed and will likely die soon.
Over-watering is usually the number one reason for this and it is a mistake most beginners repeat. Try to avoid watering your peace lily flowers too much and keep an eye out on the soil quality, indirect light source, and other nutrients.
3. Age of the Plant
Sometimes peace lilies turn brown simply due to age. You may have done everything right, followed all the care and maintenance steps by the book, but it just didn’t stop the dead flowers or the brown patches all over. This is because the peace lily doesn’t stay one color throughout its lifespan.
In its initial stages, it is closed and a sharp green color. Once the blooming season comes, it starts to produce flowers and when they open, they are a beautiful white color. Eventually, the spadix becomes green again.
This is when pollination is taking place and the spadix may turn white again or remain a vibrant green before eventually turning brown. This is simply part of its life cycle and cannot always be helped. Once the spadix is completely brown, it is close to dying and will wither, wilt, and fall.
How Long Do Peace Lily Flowers Last?
Peace lily flowers can last for 10-13 days at most with its spadix lasting for a month and eventually dying completely. This doesn’t mean that the entire plant is dead. In fact, the lifespan of a peace lily plant is between 4-5 years, so long as the right care is given.
Once the spadix dies, use tweezers of pruning shears to remove it from the peace lily flower. Pulling it off with your hands can cause unnecessary stress on the plant. Simply cut at the base of the peace lily and if you notice dead leaves or roots that are turning brown or yellow, cut these off too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it better to cut the brown flowers off your peace lily?
Yes, it is better to cut off any brown flowers from your peace lilies. This is because they benefit from occasional deadheading but only if it is done with precaution and proper care. The peace lily flowers last at least a month before turning brown and shriveling up. Once this happens, you can simply snip off the dead flower from the base of the plant.
How do I know if my peace lily is dying?
You can tell if your peace lily is dying if the leaves are turning yellow or brown and regardless of the extensive care you provide it, it still shrivels up. This could be due to too much fertilizer or even over or underwatering these blooms.
Is my peace lily overwatered or underwatered?
If you notice the peace lily leaves drooping of sagging, then this is a sign that your plant is overwatered. Dry, brown leaves on the other hand indicate underwatering.
