Tips of a Peace Lily are Turning Brown – WHY?

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Tips of a Peace Lily are turning brown. Peace Lily is a must-have plant for those with a knack for beauty. It has graceful white-scented flowers and glossy green leaves. I find this contrast fascinating.

However, sometimes the tips of its green leaves can start to turn brown. If you don’t treat this problem, your Peace Lily will lose its charm.

To understand why it is happening and how you can cure your Peace Lily, keep reading!

Why Are the Tips of My Peace Lily Turning Brown?

If your Peace Lily is browning, it probably has a water problem. You may be overwatering it or giving it less water than it needs. The water that you use may not have suitable minerals for your plant. I’ve noticed that salty or chlorinated water can discolor Peace Lily’s leaf tips. Another reason can be using too much fertilizer.

What Do Healthy Peace Lilies Look Like?

Healthy Peace Lilies have slender leaves. Many of them have dark hues of green. They have oval shapes but are pointy at the ends.

Peace Lily leaves are often glossy. They look lovely in sunlight, with a mild glow around the midribs. These leaves have plenty of veins. For this reason, many people consider them wrinkled.

You may use a pot or plant your Lilies in the garden. These leaves are generally bold. So, it can be surprising to find their tips turning brown.

How Do Peace Lily Leaves Turn Brown?

Brown leaves mean that your Peace Lily is sick. You can also confirm it by watching out for other signs. You can tell when their leaves are about to darken by looking at the margins.

Your Peace Lily’s leaf sides will start to curl. After a few days, you’ll see that the edges are lighter.

Before Peace Lily leaves or leaf tips turn brown, they will likely turn yellow. So, you may want to treat your houseplant early.

The brown itself looks like coffee and umber. It starts at the pointy edge (or apex) of the leaves. Your leaves will seem squishy and limp.

Sadly, the brown color quickly spreads to other sections of the leaves. When I see Peace Lilies turning brown, it reminds me of decay.

Three Detailed Reasons Behind Browning of Your Peace Lily

All houseplants ask you for proper care. But your Peace Lily is picky about its atmosphere. You cannot treat your browning Peace Lily unless you know what is causing the harm.

So, after years of dealing with Peace Lilies, I’ve compiled the three most common reasons.

Too Much or Too Little Water

Peace Lilies enjoy moist soil. But they dislike it if you overwater them. My Lilies stay content by drinking water once every week. I also spritz or mist their leaves now and then.

Your leaves may be turning brownish because you water them more than once a week. If it is winter, your Peace Lilies need even less moisture. It’s also possible that your pots don’t have drainage holes.

Or perhaps you’re not familiar with their seasonal needs. It can be insipid, tracking what each plant wants in each season. But it’s a small price if you’re fond of your Lilies!

Any of these scenarios means water can rack up in your plant’s soil. Other than the leaf tips going brown, your Peace Lily will begin to sag. It is trying to signal that something is wrong.

Similarly, watering too little also makes Peace Lilies unhappy. It keeps them from absorbing valuable nutrients present in the soil. Their photosynthesis (food-making process) also halts.

When my Peace Lilies turn brown because they are dehydrated, they seem brittle to touch. It is almost like handling a crumpled paper.

On the other hand, overwatering makes them more mushy and spongy. Learning their signs will help you restore your plant’s health.

Unsuitable Water

Sadly, watering your Lilies every week is not enough. The water that you use should also suit them. It is essential because Peace Lilies are not fond of minerals like chlorine. You can commonly find it in the tap or hard water.

Think of it as getting food poisoning from eating rotten food; it also happens to our plants. Using such water can give your Peace Lily chlorine toxicity.

It starts when roots absorb chlorine ions. This chlorine moves into the xylem vessels of Peace Lilies.

The ions travel through minute channels present in your Lily leaves. These are called plasmodesmata. Xylem tubes also have pericycle cells. Through these, the chlorine ions will spread throughout your plant.

Your leaves turn brown because chlorine affects their chloroplasts. It damages ribosomal (made of RNA) enzymes. As a result, your Peace Lily cannot make or digest its food. It also discolors their tips.

Excess of Fertilizer

Fertilizers can seem like a great solution to every problem your plant is facing. A well-balanced one offers all the nifty nutrients. So it must be helping your Peace Lily, right?

Not really. Sometimes, fertilizers can do more harm than good. It is especially true when your fertilizer has a high salt content. Your plant’s roots end up absorbing salt in such instances. As sodium chloride, salt has chlorine ions. It is where the road to chlorine toxicity begins.

How to Treat a Browning Peace Lily?

Here are some ways you can cure your Peace Lily.

Regulate the Water

Your Lily can only be happy if you water it consistently. So, watering it on Monday one week and Saturday the next week will unsettle it. Having a proper watering schedule is crucial.

I’d recommend getting a plant calendar. I also use one to record how much sunlight, water, and fertilizer my plants receive.

It would help if you created one for Peace Lily. Make sure it has large font, and you hang it in a common area. So, if you keep your Lilies in the lounge, you can place the calendar right next to them.

It is also essential to choose water wisely. It would help if you stopped using chlorine and salty water at once.

Unfortunately, some metropolitan areas only provide hard water. So, having to buy distilled water can add to your budget. But don’t worry if it’s not a viable option for you.

You can still care for your Lily by boiling the water first. Remember to only water your plant once the water has cooled down to room temperature.

Deal With the Fertilizers

You’ll be able to see white deposits on pot soil if you over-fertilize your Peace Lily. Try scooping them if possible.

Once, I found that these are dissolvable salts. So, flushing them can also help. However, you have to do it carefully.

Otherwise, you may overwater your Peace Lily, and its leaves can worsen.

But if you like using liquid fertilizers, the soil would have absorbed them. So, scooping or flushing won’t help. You may have to repot your Peace Lily to save it.

Make sure you use well-draining soil so it doesn’t retain extra moisture. I add some perlite too, and I’ve heard that sand and bark can also help.

You should avoid using clay soil for Peace Lily because it traps too much moisture.

Prune Your Plant

Brown leaves are unhealthy for your entire plant. So, if your Peace Lily has brown tips, I’d recommended trimming those parts as your damage control strategy.

Otherwise, the whole leaf can decay, sag, and fall off.

What Happens if You Don’t Treat Your Peace Lilies?

If you delay treating your Peace Lily, it won’t stay “peaceful” for long. The exact procedure depends on why the leaves are turning brown, but it never ends well.

The problems won’t magically vanish, and in most cases, they end up killing the plants.

The leaves may have turned brown because you overwatered them. If so, your Peace Lily’s roots will submerge in water. However, don’t expect to see water pooling around the plant. The soil absorbs the water well, so you may not even notice.

In this case, the excess water will cut off their oxygen supply. Your plant’s roots won’t be able to take nutrients and minerals from the soil. It is indeed an alarming situation.

A healthy Peace Lily regularly needs primary and secondary nutrients. These include Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Calcium, Magnesium, and Sulfur. They help your plant make enzymes, vitamins, and proteins.

Without these, you will see that your Lily has stopped growing. Ultimately, it will die. To save your decaying plants, you want to treat them as quickly as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I tell if my Peace Lily is overwatered or underwatered?

You can tell the difference by touching the brown leaves. If they feel squishy, they hold too much water. If the leaves are dry, they likely need more water.

Why is my plant not recovering even after water control?

Fixing the watering schedule helps restore plants, but it is not always the case. Your Peace Lily may be too damaged to recover. If so, the best thing you can do is to dispose of the plant.