The peace lily is a flowering plant that is distinguished by its beautiful large white blooms and dark green foliage. This flower is aesthetically appealing and grows well with little fuss; thus, most plant enthusiasts have it in their homes. Nevertheless, just like in every other species, there are some problems. One of the most common is the scorched peace lily. However, if your peace lily has brown and crispy leaves, you are likely having those scorched stylistic leaves of the peace lily. This article makes an attempt to focus on the different reasons as to what causes the peace lily leaves to scorch, its treatment, and its prevention methods.
The term, a scorched peace lily, is applied whenever the peace lily plants’ elegant leaf structures face any risk of stress damage, letting them fold brown or occasionally yellow at the tips. Scorching is one of the conditions that might make a peace lily look unhealthy and, in most scenarios, if no action is taken to correct the situation, the scorching will spread. This appearance of the plant is usually a sign of something gone wrong in the plant’s surroundings. Too much or not enough light, too much or insufficient water, or even the humidity being low.
You may encounter scorched leaves in the peace lily for different reasons. It is essential to know these factors so as to help your plant come back to life.
Direct lighting sources are among the leading reasons for the wicked damage that the peace lily suffers. Even though peace lilies do quite well in vivid but filtered light, exposure to direct sunlight can cause leaf sunscald or sunburn. This chlorosis can usually be seen as brown or yellow spots at the margins of the leaves.
Solution:
Provide only indoor light between the peace lily and the window. The best way to do this is to place it toward the north or east-facing windows because there will be light, just not the kind that pummels.
Another factor that leads to a scorched peace lily is related to its watery needs. Peace lilies like to have their potting media moist, but excess watering will lead to root rot, and drought wilts the leaves into a little briquette. A few brown tips on leaves often indicate some watering deficiencies.
Solution:
Always make sure your plant is properly watered. Allow the uppermost surface of the soil to dry out by an inch before more water is added. Proper watering is essential; overwatering can choke the roots, and underwatering will put the plant under too much pressure, thus leaving visible scars on the leaves.
Peace lilies or spath plants originate in waterside environments where there are high humidity levels; hence, they do not thrive in dry regions. But during winter, low humidity in particular places, like dry heat, can help to evaporate bald patches on leaves and even cause scorches.
Solution:
Humidify the area surrounding your peace lily. This can be done with the use of foliar sprays, by placing misting fans in the same vicinity of the plant, or by placing the plant on a pebble tray filled with water so that the plant doesn’t actually have direct contact with water, but the moisture in the air is sufficient for the growth of the plant.
Feeding too much fertilizer to your peace lily leads to fertilizer burn, and the tips of the leaves are the first to show these scorch symptoms, where rings of brown appear on vegetative leaves. Peace lilies are very light feeders and therefore do not require too much fertilizer to thrive.
Solution:
Cut down on fertilizer of any kind. Apply fertilization to your peace lily once every six to eight weeks during the growth period, and then only a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer. If fertilizer burn is suspected, leach the potting mix with normal water to eliminate the salts that may have built up, which may have caused the burning.
Chemicals present in the water supply have also been found to cause peace lilies stress, like chemicals stuck inside the water, such as chlorine and other distributions of water fluorine. Chemical toxicity can lead to burned leaf tips.
Solution:
Whenever you add water for your peace lily, ensure that it is filtered or distilled in order to avoid water quality reactions. If municipal water is the only water available, please leave a tub full of water outside for at least a whole day to allow chlorine and other chemical pollutants to dissipate into the air from the water.
If you are having a scorched peace lily, don’t panic! There’s something that can be done. The brown tips on the leaves will remain, but it will be possible to avert more damage and promote further healthy growth.
Take a pair of scissors and cut the leaves up to the point where they have been scorched. This helps the plant conserve energy on the dead leaves and concentrate on producing new leaves.
Taking it from one place to another place at some distance from any sources of bright and direct sunlight but enough to prevent water shortage, on heaters and air-conditioning vents. Make sure that it is not very near to heaters or air-conditioning vents that would desiccate the air.
Pour water into the pot only when the upper layer of the soil has dried out. Take extra precautions in case there are drainage holes in the pot to prevent mold, as excess water can seep through the extra perforations in the dish where the pot is placed, since the plant should not remain in stagnant excess water.
Misting the plant on a daily basis, or using a humidifier in the case of a dry climate, is the solution. It is also important to note that peace lilies flourish in humidity of between 40% and 60%; hence, adjust the humidity level within that specified range.
If tap water has been used so far, it is important to use filtered or distilled water instead. In the long run, this will help avoid chemical deposits from accumulating in the soil.
After your peace lily has healed, you will also want to take some measures to make sure that it does not get scorched again. Below are some recommendations for ensuring proper care for your peace lily and hence preventing it from wilting:
If peace lilies require adequate light for flowering to take place, as discussed earlier, they do not like direct, often oppressive sunlight. Try to position them in an area where they can receive the light necessary for growth without being directly in the sun.
Regularly examine the soil in order to neither overwater nor underwater the plant. Although peace lilies can withstand periods of drying, try to always keep the soil just slightly moist and allow the potting soil to dry just a little bit between waterings.
Do not forget to keep the air around your peace lily a bit humid since, during the cold months, when there is the use of heating, the air tends to get dry. One good way of increasing the humidity is by grouping plants together.
Your peace lily should be fed lightly, consistent with the growth periods. If one gets into the practice of fertilizing no less than cautiously, less than flooding the plants with too many fertilizers is the practice for safety measures.
To reduce the sensitivity of your plants to chemicals, please continue using filtered or distilled water for your peace lily. This small change can make a big difference in the long-term health of your plant.
One of the greatest concerns with a peace lily is the burning of the leaves as a form of leaf damage. Fortunately, this is quite a solvable problem with some care. Given the nature of scorching, too much sun, overwatering, underwatering, low humidity, or chemical sensitivity, aggressive measures should be taken in the form of rectifying such situations. In return, as your peace lily receives the right treatment, any competent plant will reciprocate with healthy green leaves and lovely flowers.
Avoiding scorching is simply staying in the right climate and not forgetting to take care all the time. Implement the instructions that have been highlighted above and your peace lily will be healthy and full of life in your indoor garden.
The Peace Lily, with its elegant white blooms and lush green leaves, purifies the air and symbolizes nature’s calming beauty.
Subscribe our newsletter & get all latest news.