As simple as it is to take care of a peace lily, it’s also easy to overwater one. You don’t have to feel bad, because you’re not the only one trying to figure out how to fix an overwatered peace lily.
All you really need to do is manage your peace lily’s exposure to water. You’ll have to learn to limit watering sessions and tweak your drainage system. You can also plan to pot the plant correctly along with adjusting your home’s temperature and humidity.
So, today, we’ll be talking more about the root causes of an overwatered peace lily and how to resolve each one. Let’s begin!
Overwatered Peace Lily: Causes and Fixes
Here are the main reasons why a peace lily gets overwatered. We also include some tips you can use to avoid doing it again:
1. Water Your Peace Lily Accordingly
The standard is to only water your peace lily once a week. That gives your plant enough time to dry out between waterings.
However, if you can’t keep track, you can always do the leaf check and moisture test. Both will help you decide whether you need to water your plant or not.
The leaf check is basically inspecting the leaves’ appearance. If your peace lily’s leaves are starting to droop, that’s a sure sign that your plant needs water.
On the other hand, the moisture test is for your plant’s soil. It’s used to measure its dampness to determine if the soil is dry enough for watering.
Because a dry top doesn’t always mean that the rest of the soil is completely dry, you’re going to have to check the middle and bottom parts to be sure.
You can perform this using two methods. First, dig two of your fingers about two inches into the soil and check for moisture. Next, use a standard moisture meter to measure the bottom half of the soil.
Only water your peace lily when the meter reads that the soil is on the dry side.
Don’t Use Tap Water
Peace lilies are actually sensitive to chlorine so it’s best not to use tap water. It may contain chlorine as most public water systems are treated with the said chemical.
Instead, we recommend you use distilled water. This type of water has been stripped of minerals and chemicals and will promote healthy growth for your plant.
You can also try letting the water sit in a container overnight. This allows the chemicals to evaporate from the water.
2. Improve Your Draining System
A poor drainage system is another factor that can contribute to an overwatered peace lily.
Nothing can drown your plant faster than excess water that’s unable to escape your plant’s soil. Too much water will clog the air pockets in the soil where your peace lily gets its oxygen from.
To avoid this, you can buy a standard pot with at least two drainage holes. Check them once in a while to make sure they aren’t blocked.
We recommend you stick a pencil or a chopstick up the holes to help clear the clumps of soil that may be blocking the holes.
3. Repot Your Peace Lily
Another reason why your peace lily may be overwatered is that it’s planted in an unnecessarily larger pot.
A pot with more space means it’s filled with a lot more soil than what your peace lily actually needs. As a result, the extra soil will hold excess water and will be slow to drain.
This causes your plant’s roots to sit in constantly soggy soil and eventually results in them rotting. This root infection prevents your peace lily from absorbing the oxygen, nutrients, and water it needs to grow.
As a solution, you’re going to have to repot your plant to a smaller one that perfectly fits it. Peace lilies actually thrive when they’re a bit root-bound.
When you do repot your plant, please make sure to use a new soil mix and a new sterilized pot. This way, you’ll be able to prevent the root rot infection from recurring.
Use a Terracotta Pot
If you tend to overwater your peace lily, a terracotta pot can be your best friend.
Due to its porous nature, a terracotta clay pot absorbs excess moisture. This keeps your roots from sitting in soggy soil.
The pot can also aid your plant’s roots to breathe and can act as an indicator if moisture is present in the soil. The darker the color, the more damp the soil is.
4. Adjust Your Home’s Temperature and Humidity Levels
Lastly, your room’s temperature and humidity levels can also play a role in an overwatered peace lily.
This has something to do with your plant’s transpiration rate. Transpiration is when your peace lily releases water vapor into the air through its leaves’ surface.
The lower the plant’s transpiration rate is, the slower it absorbs the water it gets from the soil.
That’s why it’s important to maintain a warm temperature and low humidity levels. This encourages the transpiration rate of your peace lily to increase.
How to Spot an Overwatered Peace Lily?
If you’re not sure whether your peace lily is overwatered, there are sure signs that can help you figure out your plant’s condition.
Here are some of the symptoms of an overwatered peace lily:
- Moist soil even after a week without water
- Leaves turning yellow
- White or brown water cysts (leaf edema)
- Brown leaves
- Curled leaves
- Stunted growth
- Weak, black, and mushy roots
- Foul smell
Advantages of a Healthy Peace Lily
If you didn’t already know, the peace lily actually offers a number of benefits from health, work, and to aesthetics.
The following are the advantages of a peace lily that can motivate you to nurse it back to health:
1. Natural Air Purifier
According to a NASA experiment in 1989, the peace lily, among many others, can successfully absorb 60% of the air pollutants present in our homes.
These pollutants include volatile organic compounds (VOC) such as formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, carbon monoxide, and acetone vapors.
These harmful chemicals may cause mild to severe health risks like the following:
- Worsened asthma symptoms
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Eyes, nose, and throat irritation
- Nausea and vomiting
- Central nervous system damage
- Kidney and liver damage
- Cancer
With a healthy peace lily in your home, you’ll be able to significantly reduce your risks of suffering from a number of health issues.
2. Mold Fighter
Mold thrives in parts of your home where there is moisture. These areas can be in your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room.
Inhaling mold spores poses various health problems. It can cause skin rashes, a runny nose, red eyes, and excessive sneezing.
Mold can also trigger asthma attacks in people who suffer from the condition. Additionally, it can cause shortness of breath in individuals who are allergic to mold.
If you’ve got a peace lily in your home, it’s going to absorb the moisture in your house. This will reduce the dampness in its surroundings and will further prevent the growth of mold spores.
3. A Healthy Sleeping Buddy
As it eliminates the VOCs in your room, your peace lily provides clean air for you that can help you sleep. That’s because purified air actually increases your sleep quality and oxygenation levels.
Moreover, plants like the peace lily are also known to reduce your physical and mental stress. It creates a calm atmosphere in your room while you sleep.
4. Productivity Booster
A study has proven that keeping plants like the peace lily around increases an individual’s productivity by 15%.
It also stated that plants in the work environment improve the participants’ concentration and satisfaction levels.
So, whether you work at an office or at home, a peace lily can surely help you improve your performance at work.
5. Noise Reducer
Contrary to common knowledge, peace lilies, along with many houseplants, are actually effective noise reducers. They’re able to absorb up to 50% of sound energy present in your house.
The peace lily, in particular, is highly efficient in minimizing loud noise. It uses its stems and wide, fleshy leaves to absorb sound.
Apart from that, peace lilies also have the ability to deflect and refract sound waves in a room.
They deflect noise through the vibration of their flexible leaves. This results in a muted sound.
Alternatively, they refract sound waves by causing them to go in different directions as noise passes through them.
Conclusion
You might feel disappointed for having an overwatered peace lily. However, you don’t need to feel bad for long because you can always fix the situation right away.
You can check whether you water your plant too much or if your drainage system isn’t that efficient. You may also figure out if you’re using the right type of pot or if your home’s temp and humidity levels are just right.
Whatever the root cause may be, simply make sure to look out for early signs of an overwatered peace lily. That’s so you can apply the appropriate solution right away.
That way, you’ll be able to enjoy the many benefits a peace lily offers to your life.
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