Every grower does their best to grow a houseplant. They want to give them proper care and love. But sometimes this care becomes excessive care. That leads to plant problems. The overwatered peace lily is the result of extra care or negligence.
Today I will explain how to save an overwatered peace lily, what are the overwatered symptoms, and how to water a peace lily correctly.
Below is a detailed discussion of each important point.
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Overwatered peace lily signs
To identify whether your peace lily is suffering from excess water or not. You need to closely look for the early symptoms. Then you can take the necessary steps to solve the issue. Below is the list of common overwatering signs of a peace lily.
- The extra water causes root fungus which produces a foul smell. You can smell it from the base of the plant.
- The tip of the leaves will turn brown
- The roots turn black color
- Stunted growth and dropping leaves
- Yellow leaves are the first signs
- Overwatered peace lily loses their leaf color.
If you see any or all of the above signs then this means your plant is suffering from extra water. Follow the fixing steps and save your plant from the negative effects of extra water.
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Which factors increase the chances of overwatering?
It is not necessary that only pouring extra water causes overwater. There are 3 most common factors that contribute to overwatering peace lily plant. Below is the list.
Extra Big pot
If you use a plant pot that is extra-large according to plant size. Then this will increase the chances of overwatering. Because it will hold a large amount of potting soil. This huge amount of soil needs a high amount of water to stay moist.
The extra moisture stored in the soil triggers the root fungus. This disease turns the green leaves to yellow. Fungus-infected plants die in 15 days.
Pot material
The material of the plant pot highly decides the health of your plant. Terracotta plant pots are always recommended. Because they have tiny pores in them this increases the airflow. It also helps the plant to get rid of extra water.
Because the extra water gets evaporated when the hot and dry air touches the moisture of the soil. Plastic and Ceramic plant containers are made from non-porous materials. They do not allow air to pass.
The extra water gets locked in the plant pot and this causes yellow leaves and other problems.
Humidity and environment
Plants need more water in low humidity. Because they store water in their leaves and the low moisture evaporates this water. This process is called transpiration.
Transpiration is higher in the summer season due to hot weather. But it gets slower in winter. And if you give the same amount of water in winter. This increases the overwatering possibilities.
Therefore, water the plants according to the humid level and room temperature.
What happened to overwater peace lily?
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The simple answer is your peace lily will die in a few days. The extra water makes the soil heavy and reduces the airflow. This causes root fungus in the plant roots. It is a deadly disease where the fungi eat the entire root ball.
You can fix the problem with appropriate actions.
Secondly, nutrient absorption gets blocked. Your plant becomes nutrient deficient, weak, and unhealthy. It becomes an easy target for common plant diseases and pests.
The lack of oxygen increases the chances of a pathogen attack. They are deadly for plants and also harmful to pets and humans.
How to fix overwatered peace lily?
Change the pot
The first thing you need to do is change the plant pot. Take a new fresh terra cotta made pot with a bottom hole. Then use the best potting soil and plant it in the new pot.
You need a new pot because the latest pots have a good drainage system. They are designed to save your plants from accidental overwatering.
After changing the pot do not give water for 2 days. After that, you can pour some water according to the plant’s conditions. Remember that you cannot revive the yellow and damaged leaves. You have to cut them and remove them from the plant.
Change the soil
The second thing you can do is change the soil of the peace lily plant. If the pot you have is already a terra cotta pot. The pot also has a bottom hole then the problem is with the soil. Well-draining soil is necessary to grow and care for peace lily plants.
This type of soil allows the extra water to drain fast. Also, the old infected soil gets the fungus bacteria in it. Not changing it or re-using it will increase the problem.
Water when they need
Most beginner growers think that plants only need water. And by giving more water they will have happy large size plant. But this is not true at all. Nutrients are responsible for plant growth and health.
They decide the size and health of your plant.
This is clear that only water the plants when they are thirsty.
Now the question is,
How you will know they are thirsty? For this, you need to check the soil conditions. There is a device called a soil moisture meter that is made to measure soil moisture.
If you are new to gardening then you definitely buy a soil moisture meter. After some time when you gain some experience of gardening. Then you can check the soil moisture just by inserting your finger in the potting soil.
Give bright light
To fix the overwatered peace lily plants put them in the birth light. The highly intense indirect light heats the soil and the extra water gets evaporated. This will not impact the health of leaves. Because indirect light is always beneficial for lily plants.
Bright light evaporates the water stored in the plant leaves. This pushes the plant to absorb more water from the potting soil. This makes the potting soil dry in a few days.
Correct the humidity
Humidity also impacts the peace lily plant growth and health. Put the overwatered plant in low humidity for some days. The low air moisture triggers the plant to use the water that is stored in its leaves.
When leaves become out of the water, they absorb the water from the soil. This makes the soil dry and hence saves your overwatered peace lily.
You can control the humidity of the grow room with automatic humidifiers or with traditional methods.
Higher temperature areas have low humidity. Dry areas also have low humidity. Locate the place in your house and place the pot there.
Correct the temperature
18 to 25 degrees C is the ideal temperature. If the temperature drops below 10 degrees C the peace lily starts dying.
Use a temperature monitor to measure the room temperature.
How to water peace lily?
Before watering peace lily plants, you need to check the soil condition. If you have a clay pot then you just need to give a few knocks to the plant pot. If the pot sounds hollow then the plant needs immediate water.
The other method is already described above which is the soil moisture digital meter. You can buy it from amazon and use it for years. This meter works by using electrodes. Do not forget to buy one additional electrode.
Water the lily plants only when the top 2 inches of the soil get dry. This will save your plants from overwatering. Do not mist water on its leaves. This will rot the plant leaves.
