Ask The Expert: can pease lillies be put out side in summer months? Jill

Plant Expert Reply: Yes peace lilies can be placed outside during the summer.  I recommend placing pease lilies (Spathiphyllum) in an area protected from hot blazing sun.  Bright areas are good for peace lilies but sunlight beating down constantly on them will cause the leaves to scorch.  Keep them moist outside but watch for overwatering.

Ask the Expert: Peace lily flower turning black
I’m not sure what the technical name is for this part of the peace lily – it could be called a stamen (?).

It’s NOT the white leaf part of the flower, but comes out from the stem at the point where the flower part comes out of the stem.

The very tips of these white parts are turning black.

Why?  Is the plant being over-watered?  Or is something else wrong?

Thanks for your help.

Kate

Plant Expert Reply:

The protrusion from the peace lily (Spathiphyllum) “bloom” is called a spadix which is a spike with minute flowers enclosed by the spathe  (the white  leaf).

The answer to the black coloring depends on the age of the bloom.  If the bloom is a couple of weeks old, the black color is a signal that the bloom is spent and in decline especially if the leaves are green and healthy.  This is a normal process that occurs with every bloom.  Simply remove the spent bloom by following the stem to the base of the plant and cut it off.

However if these are newly formed blooms, the plant is under stress.  If the leaves are showing the same symptoms, you are probably over-watering them.  Make sure your pot is allowing excess water to drain away from the roots.  Once you correct the water issue the plant should recover.

As long as your peace lily looks healthy, I would continue to care for it as you have been.

Good luck and keep me posted.

Ask the Expert: Can my Peace Lily be saved?
I had a large peace lily that was so heavy it kept falling over. I had to lean it against a wall until I got a larger pot to put it in. In the meantime, all of the stems drooped so low that the stems became permanently bent. I figured there was no way for them to unbend, so I cut each stem at the point right before the bending occurred. Now the plant has a few lily flowers, 1 leaf, & about 20 short, cut stems. Will the stems keep growing or did I kill it? Or should I cut the stems closer to the roots? Is there a way to save my lily or is it too late? Stacie

Reply:
I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is your peace lily (Spathiphyllum) will survive. The bad news is you are being brought up on plant assault charges. Just kidding!

The peace lily will put on new leave shoots fairly quickly. In the meantime, you need to cut the stems off at the based of the plant. Why? The stems will not produce new leaves. However, the plant will produce new leaves to replace the ones it has lost. Give it a very light solution of fertilizer or vitamin b1 to add in the new leaf production.

Anytime you peace lily stem become bent and damaged, you will need to cut them off at the based of the plant. Peace lilies will produce new leaves from the based of the plant and usually quite often. So in a few weeks, you’ll never know the peace lily had a bad haircut. Good luck and keep me posted.

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

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.

Ask the Expert: My peace lily leaves have turned brown?
I transferred my peace lily to a larger pot and since then the leave have turned a dull brown and r really thin.  What can I do to save this plant? Courtney

Reply:

A peace lily with brown leaves is usually the result of too much fertilizer, too much light or not enough water.  However, the transplanting process can also cause problems. When you transplanted your peace lily did you keep the top of the original root ball at the same level?  If you add a lot of new soil to the top of the root ball, the peace lily will decline instead of thrive.  New soil should only be added to elevate the plant in its new container and to fill in the gap at the sides.  So remove any extra soil place on the top of the root ball.

Also, when you finish transplanting you should saturate the soil and then proceed with normal watering practices.  If you only lightly watered the peace lily see if it needs more water.  This doesn’t mean just the very top layer of soil.  All of the soil needs to be moist.

Since fertilizer can cause issues, I wait until my plant has overcome transplant shock before I fertilize it.  If you fertilized immediately following the transplant, you might have more fertilizer than the peace lily can handle.  If this is the case and the plant is towards the dry side water it with fertilizer free water.

Last but not least, make sure that your light source is the same as it was before.  You don’t want intense light beating down on your peace lily.

We have a great peace lily information page.  It might give you other clues as to what is going on with your peace lily. Good luck and please keep me posted.