Find Your Ask the Expert: Will my peace lily come back to life?
Peace lily
Ok so i went on vacation about a month ago and i was gone for 2 weeks. Well my air conditioning went out in my house and my peace lily was dead when i got home. All of the leaves were dried up and black. So i cut them all off and watered the plant and left the plant alone for a month now. It looked like new growth was trying to come through and then they turn black on the tips! So now after reading about root rot i decited to take the plant out of its plastic pot that has holes on the bottom and clean the pot out. At the moment i dont have a different pot to put it in so this one will have to do for now. The roots are blackish brown color i dont know if i did the right thing but i just kinda picked at the roots to see if i could see some better looking roots and there was a few but i had just got done watering the plant and it was soaking wet. I think it was over watered now that i have read the proper way to water. So i filled the bottom of the pot with new soil and put the plant in the pot and filled around the sides. I pulled all the dead dried looking stalkes so that all that was left was green. This is what it looks like now. Do u think it will come back? Can root rot be treated in any way? Amanda
Plant Expert Reply:
I see some potential for recovery. The fact that you have a few areas of green left means the plant is still viable. However, it does sound as if you have a root rot problem. Black, mushy roots or a pungent odor from the roots all indications of root rot. Foliage that is declining is also a sign of root rot.
Your plant can recover but you will need to take care of a few things first. Remove as many of the damaged roots as possible. Do this by removing the plant from the pot and cut away the damaged roots. If your plastic pot doesn’t have drain holes, make a few in the bottom of the pot before you place the plant back in it. At this point we only want moist but not soggy soil. In a few weeks the plant should start to show signs of new growth.
Good luck and keep me posted.
Hello, I have a peace lily and there seems to be new green bulbs growing on the stem on the very the bottom. I hope that they are just going to be petals come spring but I want to be safe and make sure my plant is healthy.
Yes, those are new bulbs! If you leave them on to grow, they will get a single small green leaf. You can plant these and they will eventually bloom into a mature lily in 2-3 seasons.
My peace lily has died but I do have the roots the look really good how do I start growing my plant from the roots.
Hi Tammy! You should be able to start growing the plant by planting the roots in soil. Make sure to keep the soil moist but not soggy. Peace lilies do well in most environments, but they do best when in humid temperatures with indirect sunlight.