10 Reasons Peace Lily is Drooping and How to Revive It

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Peace Lily may droop if the growing conditions are not correct like overwatering, underwatering, wrong temperature, exposure to direct sunlight, low air humidity, diseases and pests among others.

Peace Lily thrives in bright indirect light (dappled light), warm and moderately humid conditions and moderately moist, fertile, well-drained, all purpose soil during the growing season. Read more on how to grow & care for Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii).

If these conditions are not provided, your plant may begin to droop. Below are 10 reasons why a Peace Lily will droop and how to fix them.

10 Reasons Why Peace Lily is Drooping with Fixes

1. Poor quality Soil

Poor quality soil for Peace Lily does not drain easily and therefore it easily becomes compacted or soggy which can lead to drooping leaves.

How to fix it

Peace Lily grows best in fertile, well-drained soils to prevent it from getting soggy while providing the required nutrients. Check out these 9 Best Potting Mixes for Peace Lily Grown Indoors.

2. Too low humidity

Peace Lily thrives in average room humidity. Very low air humidity will cause the plant to develop brown leaf tips and drooping leaves and can result in plant death.

How to fix it

To increase humidity for the Peace Lily, you can grow the plant in a bathroom or other humid areas in the home, set the pot on a wet pebble tray or use a cool mist humidifier. Learn more on how to raise humidity for houseplants.

3. Pest infestations

Peace Lily is fairly resistant to pests. However, weak plants can be attacked by spider mites, mealy bugs, aphids and fungus gnats. The sap-sucking insects will cause the plant to become dehydrated, wilt and droop.

How to fix it

Ensure that the Peace Lily is healthy at all times by providing it with the right growing conditions. You can reduce pest infestation by raising the humidity as they are prevalent in low humidity conditions.

Keep the plant well pruned by removing spent flowers, dead and yellow foliage to minimize pest infestations. Cut the leaves with a clean sharp knife or scissors as close to the base as possible.

Seperate the affected plant away from the rest of the plants to minimize spread to the and treat it with an insecticidal soap or neem oil as per the manufacturer's recommendations.

4. Root-rot disease

Root-rot is characterized by yellowing, wilting and drooping of the leaves in Peace Lily and is rapidly followed by browning and plant collapse. It is enhanced by soggy soil.

How to fix it

Carefully, slip the Peace Lily out of its pot and inspect the roots. Brown-black mushy roots indicate root-rot, trim them off and treat the healthy roots with a copper-based fungicidal solution.

Disinfect the pot with the fungicidal solution or use a fresh pot to repot the plant in fresh free-draining soil. Keep it dry for some time before resuming watering.

To prevent root-rot in the future, ensure that the pot has a drainage hole and the soil is free-draining to prevent it from getting soggy. Avoid overwatering in the cold season as growth is minimal at this time, therefore, the plant does not require much water.

5. Underwatering

Underwatering a Peace Lily will result in yellow and drooping leaves and eventual death of the plant. Underwatering implies that there is too little moisture in the soil.

If there is too little moisture in the soil, the plant has no water to take up to the leaves. Thus, the leaves droop and eventually die if the situation is not corrected.

How to fix it

Peace Lily requires that the soil be kept moderately moist at all times during the growing season. Thoroughly water the plant and mist the leaves immediately and it should perk up in a short time.

Thereafter, water the plant thoroughly during the growing season until water comes out through the drainage holes. Water the plant when the top 2-3 inches of soil begin to dry out to maintain the soil moderately moist. Cut down on watering in the cold season but do not allow the soil to dry out completely for prolonged periods of time.

6. Overwatering

Overwatering a Peace Lily causes the soil to become soggy which leads to the death of the roots due to lack of oxygen. When the roots die they cannot take up water and therefore the leaves begin to yellow and droop.

How to fix it

Peace Lily requires that the soil be kept moderately moist at all times during the growing season while allowing the top 2-3 inches of soil to dry out between waterings.

Decrease watering in the cold season but do not allow the soil to dry out completely. Ensure also that the pot has a drainage hole to prevent the soil from getting soggy. Learn more on how to water houseplants correctly.

7. Exposure to hot direct sunlight

Exposure of a Peace Lily to hot direct sunlight causes brown leaf marks, wilting, drooping leaves and eventual death of the plant.

How to fix it

Place the Peace Lily in a more shaded spot or instal a light curtain to protect it from hot direct sunlight to prevent its eventual death.

8. Extreme temperatures

Extreme temperatures (too cold or too hot) will negatively affect growth. Cold drafts coupled will cause sudden drops in temperature which will lead to drooping leaves in Peace Lily and eventual death of the plant.

Too hot temperatures will cause the plant to become dehydrated which results in drooping leaves and death of the plant if it is not corrected.

How to fix it

Keep the Peace Lily away from cold drafts like windy windows and doors, air conditioning units and other drafty areas to avoid exposing the plant to extremely low temperatures. Do not place the plant near hot surfaces, heating units, hot stoves and other hot places to avoid too high temperatures. Maintain an average warmth of 16-28⁰C. Check out this guide on understanding temperature for houseplants.

9. Extremely pot-bound plant

Though a Peace Lily flowers best when slightly pot-bound, when it becomes extremely pot-bound it begins to wilt, droop and die.

The reason for the drooping is because the roots have filled the pot and there is very little soil to hold water when the plant is watered.

If the soil cannot hold enough water, it implies that there is little water for the plant to take up to the leaves for photosynthesis, as such, the plant cannot make enough food for growth.

How to fix it

Check the bottom of the pot for a lot of roots growing through the drainage hole and repot the plant into a pot one size larger than the current one or divide it into several sections to propagate new plants.

Thereafter, repot the plant at the beginning of the growing season when it becomes pot-bound. Ensure that the pot has a drainage hole and the soil is free-draining.

10. Accumulation of salts & chemicals in the soil

Accumulation of salts or chemicals in the soil will cause the roots to die and as such the plant cannot take up water to the leaves which eventually begin to wilt and droop. These excess salts and chemicals may originate from watering with hard water or from the fertilizers used to feed the plant.

How to fix it

Water the Peace Lily with chlorine-free water only, like rain water as they are sensitive to chlorine and other chemicals dissolved in water.

Flush out accumulated chemicals (salts) from the soil regularly by running a stream of water through the soil. Allow the stream of water to run for some time and repeat the process several times.

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