There’s nothing more disheartening than getting your peace lily to bloom and then noticing that the bloom has started to turn brown. Unfortunately, this is just a natural part of your peace lilies growth cycle. However, there are times when a flower turning brown is a sign of another problem.
So if your peace lilies flowers are turning brown, then keep reading! You’ll find out all the possible causes behind it, and most importantly, what you can do about it!
Peace lilies are naturally found in tropical rainforests, where the leaves of the trees block out a lot of the sunlight. Because of this, your peace lily is going to thrive best in an environment where they aren’t in contact with direct sunlight.
In fact, when peace lilies are left in direct sunlight, it will actually damage them. Resulting in them becoming damaged in many ways, one of them being the flower itself turning brown.
Placing it neat an East facing window will often allow it to get enough sunlight in the morning before it becomes too bright, but that’s definitely not the only method.
Using blinds and different locations in the house are also a great choice, and if you have other plants, you can even use them as a shelter for your peace lily.
Lack Of Care & Stress
A lack of care on your part can stress your peace lily causing its flowers to turn brown faster than they normally should. So when you’re looking after your peace lilies, remember to make sure the following conditions are met for them:
Temperatures Should Be Warm And Consistent – First of all, make sure that you’re keeping your peace lily in an area where the temperature is between between 68 and 85°F during the day and nighttime temperatures about 10°F cooler. You should also make sure that the temperature doesn’t fluctuate massively as well.
Make Sure It’s Humid – You should also make sure you’re keeping your peace lilies in an environment which is nice and humid as well. If your house isn’t naturally humid then you can add a humidifier. Or if you have other tropical plants, you can move them closer together, where they’ll recreate their own mini climate that will keep humidity in.
Don’t Overwater Or Underwater – Underwatering or overwatering your peace lily will also stress them out, so avoid it if you can. If you’re not sure when to water your peace lily then poke your finger into the soil. If you notice that around a knuckle deep it’s still moist, then you don’t need to water. However, if it’s dry then it’s time to water your peace lily again.
Avoid Using Tap Water – You should also avoid using tap water when watering your peace lily where possible. And the times when you have to use tap water, make sure you let it sit for 24 hours beforehand. This is because tap water contains lots of chemicals that are harmful to your peace lily such as fluoride and chlorine.
Thrips
If thrips decide to start feeding on your peace lilies flowers, then you may start to notice brown areas on the spathe, as well as the seeing the thrips themselves. If you’re not sure what a thrip looks like, they’re small and slender black bugs.
Solution
The best way to get rid of thrips is with an insecticidal soap spray. To use an insecticidal spray, all you have to do is spray the plant until the spray begins to run off. Once the plant has been completely covered (even the underside), then you’re done.
You may need to repeat this step a few times until all the thrips are gone, so for best results, make sure you’re checking the label of the container.
Bacterial Brown Spot
While bacterial brown spot normally occurs on the leaves, it’s entirely possible that the flower itself can suffer from brown spot as well. The easiest way you can tell if it’s brown spot is to look for yellow halos around each spot. If you notice these halos, then it’s definitely bacterial brown spot your peace lily has.
Solution
Before anything, it’s important to know that bacterial brown spot is highly contagious, so you should make sure you’re moving your peace lilies away from any other plant to reduce the chances of spreading the brown spot.
To treat bacterial brown spot itself, you’ll need to kill the bacteria. Pouring a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution (1 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide into a cup of water) is the best method. However, you can also remove any leaves or flowers that have been ravaged too much by the disease.
And lastly, make sure you’re thoroughly disinfecting any tools that come into contact with your peace lily so you don’t spread the bacteria.
Collar Rot (Southern Blight)
Collar rot is normally caused by overwatering; however, it can happen any time the soil has been moist for too long. If your peace lily is suffering from collar rot, not only will the flowers and leaves turn dark brown, gray, or purple, you’ll also notice the stems look swollen and may even be beginning to rot.
If you check the roots of your Peace lily, you’ll also notice that they’re probably beginning to rot as well.
Solutions
To treat collar rot, you should spray your peace lily with a fungicide, as well as making sure you’re adding fungicide to the soil. You may also need to repot your peace lily and add them to fresh soil to reduce the chance of collar rot continuing to spread.
And once again, any tool that has touched your peace lily will need to be thoroughly disinfected.
Root Rot
While the roots of your peace lily are going to be the most affected by root rot, it’s also going to affect your whole plant. One such effect you may notice is any flowers that have bloomed turning brown.
You’ll also notice that your peace lily is beginning to wilt, and if you remove it from the soil, a lot of the roots will be brown and mushy.
Solution
To treat root rot, you’re going to need to repot your peace lily. As well as repotting, you’ll also need to cut off any infected roots and plunge the roots into a hydrogen peroxide solution to make sure you’re killing the infection completely.
You’ll then need to add the peace lily to a new pot with fresh soil. In cases where the root rot was severe, you may also need to cut off some of the leaves to give your peace lily a better chance of growing back in the future
Curious whether Peace Lilies come back every year? Click here to find out!.
Ringspot Virus
If you notice that the flowers on your peace lily have a dark brown streak on them, in combination with noticing aphids on it, then it’s definitely ringspot your plant is suffering from.
Ringspot occurs when aphids are sucking the sap from your plant, as they can also inject the virus straight into its vascular system. While ringspot virus generally isn’t fatal to your plant, it can still wither flowers that have been growing on it.
Solution
Unfortunately, while the ringspot virus isn’t going to be fatal, it is extremely contagious, and there’s no real treatment for it. If you have lots of other plants, then it may just be best to destroy your peace lily.
If you do plan on keeping it, though, make sure you’re removing any aphids that are on the plant. Neem oil is a great way to do this, as the aphids will hate it, but you can also use a soap solution to get rid of them as well.
Old Age
Lastly, your peace lilies flowers may just be turning brown due to old age. Peace lilies generally only bloom in the spring, and the flower will generally only last for a couple of months before it begins to wither. So if you notice that the flower has been around for a while, the browning could just be a natural part of your peace lilies life cycle.
Can You Prolong The Life Of Your Peace Lilies Flower?
There is no real way to prolong the life of your peace lilies flower except by giving it the best care possible. If you do this, you may get a couple of extra weeks out of the flower; however, once they’re going to die, they’re going to die.
Here are some things you can try:
Warmer Temperatures
Keeping your peace lily in slightly warmer conditions can help the flowers stick around for longer. Keeping them in temperatures between 65 – 85°F is the ideal temperature range for this. And not only is it going to help keep the flowers around longer, but it can also spur growth faster as well!
Keep The Soil Moist
As you know by now, peace lilies require soil that isn’t too moist or too dry. So before watering, poke your finger into the soil. If it’s moist a knuckle deep, then they don’t need to be watered just yet. However, if you notice that the soil is dry, then you’ll need to give them a good watering.
Keep Them Away From Direct Sunlight
You should also do your best to make sure that your peace lily is never in front of direct sunlight. While you may think more sunlight = more growth, this isn’t the case with peace lilies, as it can often burn their flowers and leaves. Instead, keep your peace lily in indirect sunlight.
If your Peace Lily is turning green, however, then it could be a sign of something else.
Click here to find out what it means and what you can do about it!
Should You Remove Brown Flowers From Your Peace Lily?
If your peace lilies flowers have turned brown, then it’s definitely the best practice to remove them altogether. Essentially, the whole time the flower is still on the stem, your plant will waste nutrients trying to feed it, so you should just cut it off instead.
To remove a peace lily flower, you should locate where the bottom of the flower’s stalk is and then cut it off at the base. Make sure you’re using scissors when you do this, and avoid just trying to tear it off with your bare hands, as this can cause more damage to your plant.
And before you cut the flower off, make sure you disinfect the scissors first.
If you want you’re thinking of ways how to get your lily to flower, this article can help!
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions.
How Long Do Peace Lily Flowers Last?
Generally speaking, a peace lilies flower will only be around for about a month; however, it is possible for it to last up to two months.
And remember, just because the flower dies, it doesn’t mean the whole peace lily will. This is just a natural part of their cycle, and if you take good care of them, more flowers will grow again!
Should You Use Gibberellic Acid To Induce Blooming?
A lot of people have heard that you can use gibberellic acid to induce blooming however this isn’t recommended. Only seasoned horticulturists should use gibberellic acid, as it can be quite temperamental, and you may just end up damaging your peace lily beyond repair.
Recap
As you can see, a peace lily turning brown will most likely be because they’re simply getting old. But you should always check for other symptoms when this happens to make sure there’s nothing wrong with your plant!
If you liked this article, make sure you check out the rest of the website! Otherwise, have a great day!
