Signs of root rot in peace lily can take time to unveil. But when you start noticing things like wilting foliage, yellowing of the lower leaves, dark brown spots on the leaves, black and mushy roots, your plant can be a candidate for root rot.
You can also start noticing a slower growth rate as a result of poor water and nutritional uptake from the soil. Here is how to identify root rot, the cause of it, and the solution for this problem.
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What Are Signs of Root Rot in Peace Lilies?
Signs of root rot in peace lilies of the Araceae family would be wilting of the leaves, stunted growth of the plant, and smelly potting mix. In addition to this, you would also see yellowing leaves, developing black spots, dropping of flowers, and mushy stem, even mushy roots.
Identifying root rot in peace lilies is easy when you are a keen gardener. Despite taking care of the plant the best you can, you start noticing unusual signs that should not happen in a plant that is well taken care of. They include dark brown spots on the lily’s petioles, yellowing of leaves, and foul odor coming from the potting mix.
– Wilting
If you notice some gradual or sudden wilting or drooping of your plant’s leaves, it is one of the signs of root rot. When this happens, the first reaction is always feeding the affected plant with some water. However, these signs do not tend to improve when root rot is the concern.
When your plants do not improve after watering, consider checking the conditions of their roots. And if rotten, discard the contents, disinfect the pot and replace with new ones.
– Stunted Growth
An early sign of root rot is when your plant starts having stunted growth. Despite watering the plant as frequently as you can, it reaches a point where you notice the growth slowing down. It can happen since you feed your peace lilies with too much water and your pot has poor drainage.
Poor drainage leads to poor soil aeration, which suffocates your plants. As a result, the roots start rotting, and because they are weak and dying, they fail to take up enough water and minerals from the potting soil.
– Smelly Potting-mix with a Moldy Appearance
When the rot has affected the plant’s entire root system, you can start experiencing a foul smell coming from your potting mix. If you observe the potting soil, it has a moldy appearance.
The roots at this point can appear black, soft, and slimy when you touch them. It is because they have started to decay. This is very normal, since the roots have been infected by fungi that have been developing in the moist soil, which is the best medium, and often, fungi would cause a rotting smell coming from the roots.
– Yellowing of Leaves
It is one of the earliest stages of identifying root rot. Plants need chlorophyll for photosynthesis to take place. When you overwater your peace lilies, their roots start rotting. As a result, they do not take enough water to allow the photosynthesis process to take place.
Due to insufficient water supply, chlorophyll starts fading, and photosynthesis stops to efficiently taking place. That is why the leaves start turning yellow.
Sometimes, leaves turning yellow can be confused with aging. How? In both instances, the leaves at the lower part of the plant are often the first ones to start turning. To be sure of what is happening to your plant, consider its age and check its roots.
Because the yellowing of leaves is an early sign of root rot, it is possible to save your peace lily from dying.
– Black Spots
These start showing when the root rot problem is more advanced. The peace lily’s leaves start having some ugly black spots, and when left unattended, they progress to affect the entire leaf and the stems.
You could see them very easily by how the patches would start to appear from smaller ones, to bigger ones in several places. The reason behind this is that the plant was not able to generate proper photosynthesis, and due to the weak roots, these spots were caused.
– Premature Dropping of Leaves and Flowers
When leaves and flowers age, they naturally fall from the peace lily plant to allow others to grow. They do so after exhausting the nutrients they have for feeding the plant. They begin by turning yellow to brown and then crisping out until they can no longer hold themselves on their attachment areas.
However, when your lily plant suffers from root rot, the falling becomes frequent and random. You start noticing premature flowers and leaves falling, which should alarm you that your plant is ailing.
– Mushy Stems
If the fungus responsible for your plant’s problem is Cylindrocladium root rot, your stem bases will look mushy. They can also have other signs, such as black lesions, or start turning brown or black.
Not only this, but also, you would see that the plant, to begin with, is not standing still like a healthy one would, which means that it will be on the verge to drop, but it is looking weaker and less steady and vertical.
– Mushy Roots with Brown or Black Colors
In order to be sure that your plant has been impacted negatively with root rot, then it is key that you check the roots to be very sure.
Which means, you must remove it from the pot slowly and try and examine the roots. In general healthy roots should have white color or cream color, in addition to this, they must also be stronger in their stance.
On the other hand, when there is root rot, these roots appear brown or black. They also have a mushy texture, have lesions, and look soft to the touch. Not only this, but you will also see that the roots have turned mushy in their texture and look very weak and developed color. This is a huge sign that the roots have been exhausted due to root rot.
– Pest Attack
Cylindrocladium and Pythium cause root rot in peace lily. Cylindrocladium root rot occurs in cases of an overwatered peace lily or is in a potting mix with poor drainage. Pythium root rot is a fungus infection to your peace lily caused by Pythium spp. An infection that can be identified through the leaves.
Rotting is caused by Cylindrocladium spathiphyllum and causes the plant’s lower leaves to turn yellow. This fungal infection does not happen suddenly and can take weeks or even months before signs start being notable.
This fungus can potentially damage the plant’s entire root system, and by the time you notice it, the peace lily cannot be saved. Cylindrocladium root rot is also notable in the peace lily petioles as dark brown spots.
These pests would quickly come over to the plant’s roots and the key cause is when it is being overwatered.
The latter would take place when you simply irrigate it more than the necessary time, or when you won’t check the soil’s moisture level first. In addition, when you don’t check even physically or observe the way that soil has been dry completely, then you would be excessively irrigating it.
The cause of the phthium root rot will be through the pest, and it will result in yellow leaves and wilting are a result of the fungus attack. It is a slow-attacking culprit. The roots will have turned black and mushy by the time you realize it. Unlike the Cylindrocladium root rot, the Pythium root rot does not attack the plant petioles.
How To Recover Root Rot in Peace Lilies?
To recover root rot in peace lilies you can use hydrogen peroxide, repot the plant, use proper soil with drainage, fertilize the plant properly, and start to water it correctly. In addition to this, you must also thoroughly prune the plant, and adjust the right spot.
– Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Before the root rot ultimately damages your peace lilies, you can save your plant using hydrogen peroxide. This approach is effective in killing bacteria and fungi.
The best period to soak your peace lilies is six hours. Allowing your plant to sit on the diluted solution helps eliminate 97 prcent of the pathogens. It also helps in supplying oxygen to the plant, which is a relief from the root rot attack that suppresses air intake.
Start by cutting the infected roots and re-plant your peace lily in a new pot with fresh potting mix. Mix a cup of water with a spoonful of hydrogen peroxide. Fill the solution in a spray bottle and use it to spray the plant at the base. Ensure the solution does not touch the leaves, as it can kill the foliage, especially when not properly diluted.
When using hydrogen peroxide to maintain root rot in your lilies, small quantities are required, which is why a spray bottle is used. The solution kills the fungus and prevents it from spreading further. And the extra hydrogen bubble helps the remaining plant grow faster and healthy.
However, when you are adding hydrogen peroxide, it cannot revive your dead peace lily, if your plant has had root rot and it is not cured immediately.
It is more helpful when you use it on a lily when it still has some life. Check your plant to see if it has white or cream roots after the infection. If it has some, hydrogen peroxide can help you revive the plant by killing the pathogens.
– Re-potting
If root rot has not attacked the entire root system of your peace lily, you can save it by re-potting. However, there are a few things to do while re-potting to ensure you do not transfer the disease to the new pot.
Remove the peace lily from the old pot and clean the roots. Ensure the soil has come off the soil so you can see the remaining roots. Be gentle while washing the roots to ensure you do not damage or bruise the healthy ones.
Use prunes or scissors to cut off the infected roots. When doing this, ensure you have a disinfectant such as hydrogen peroxide or alcohol solution. Each time you prune a disinfected root, ensure you dip your pruning tool into the disinfectant. It can be a lot of work, but it helps prevent the fungus spread to the healthy roots.
Dip the remaining part of the peace lily roots in a disinfectant for a few hours to kill the fungus and give the plant a fresh start.
Transfer the disinfected plant to your new pot with fresh potting soil. You can disinfect your new pot before pouring the potting mix to be sure it is free from root rot-causing pathogens.
Re-pot your peace lilies every 4-6 weeks so that you can identify the rot early before it is too let to save the plant. It also helps you track down the progress of the new growth after pruning the infected parts.
On the other hand, you cannot re-pot a peace lily whose entire root network has been infected and expect to save that plant. The extent of the root damage matters and the type of approach you use for the infection.
– Correct the Soil Drainage
Correcting the soil drainage of your protect your peace lily from root rot caused by overwatering. Some gardeners fix the problem of overwatering by changing the potting mix or pots but fail to check the drainage of their pots.
Although changing the potting mix to one that drains faster and prevents retention, the effort can be inefficient if the water does not have an outlet. A potting mix with proper drainage also helps improve air circulation in the plant.
If your soil mix has excellent drainage, the problem is with your pot. Check if it has holes at the bottom where excess water can escape. If not, consider getting another one that has a hole. Some gardeners also opt to improve the existing ones by calling a professional to help them make drainage holes in their pots.
– Proper Fertilizing
A 10-10-10 NPK is a great option for your peace lilies. Feed your plants with this type of fertilizer or any other with high nitrogen. It helps grow healthy lilies with lush foliage. You can use the fertilizer in different forms, such as plant food spikes, soluble fertilizer, or pellets.
– Correct Watering
Like other lilies, the peace lily can grow when completely submerged in water in its natural habitat. Therefore, overwatering is not usually the cause of root rot in the peace lily plant. As a houseplant, the lily is often watered using tap water, which contains chemicals often used to treat it.
As a result, its roots become over saturated with salts which causes clogging. The problem gets accelerated when the pot size is too big. Besides having too many salts that clog the roots, soil can create a conducive environment for pathogens when left wet for prolonged periods.
The best approach for correcting overwatering is reducing the watering intervals for the plant. Allow the topsoil to dry at least one inch deep before the next feed, this would ensure less stress coming to the plant because as mentioned, your plant is now growing out of its recovery phase.
Alternatively, you can opt to use distilled or bottled water. It helps reduce the salts that clog your peace lily’s roots. This approach is practical when other factors, such as soil drainage and air circulation, are considered.
– Thorough Pruning
There is nothing much you can do when the root rot has attacked the entire root system of your peace lily. At this point, the contents in your pots will have started to produce a foul smell.
Wear protective gloves and get rid of the contents in your pots. Avoid touching other lilies you have when discarding as you can easily transfer the infection.
Once you remove the infected roots, trim off some leaves to reduce the foliage. Disinfect the scissors as well to avoid spreading the infection from the roots to the foliage. Cutting off some leaves helps the plant grow faster as the energy it could have used to sustain the bulky foliage is directed towards developing new growth.
You should also ensure that where you discard the contents is safe and unreachable to sneaky kids and pets. The kids and pets can spread the infection to other plants if they touch these infected contents as they curiously adventure their environments. If you choose to keep the pot, disinfect it before storing it.
The trick is to ensure you do not damage the remaining healthy roots. Under the right conditions, new ones start growing, and they help support the growth of other plant parts.
– Proper Placement
You can consider putting your lilies near bright, indirect light for fuller bunches, especially if you have kept yours in the dark space.
The reason that this aspect is very important is because the plant is still in a recovery phase, and you have just moved it to a new environment, and it needs to feel out of stress, so the proper lighting will help it so much.
Because peace lilies are topical plants, it becomes hard to replicate their natural habitat outdoors. While outdoors, you cannot control factors such as temperature and humidity.
This leaves the indoor environment the best place to plant your peace lilies. You can easily care for your lilies as indoor plants in this controlled environment and enjoy the multiple blooms that happen under such conditions.
Conclusion
Signs of root rot in peace lilies do not occur immediately. They take time to show as the pathogens kill the plant slowly. Identifying them can sometimes come a bit too late when the root is overlay affected and there is nothing to save.
Peace lily root rot:
- Occurs when the planting pot has no drainage holes, causing the soil to retain water for prolonged periods. Makes the foliage looks unattractive by causing blemishes and withering.
- Can create a foul smell in your living space. The smell comes from the potting soil, signifying root decay and a plant that cannot be saved from the infection.
- Can be managed by using different approaches, such as the use of hydrogen peroxide, re-potting, and correcting drainage problems.
Gardeners whose peace lilies have been attacked by root rot can give you a terrifying report on their experience with the fungus. But, as long as you are keen on your lily plant changes, you are good to plant this amazing tropical perennial.
References
- Photosynthesis. National Geographic.
Retrieved from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/photosynthesis - Marjan Kluepfel, Robert F. Polomski. (Feb 15, 2022). Peace lily. Clemson University Cooperative Extension. .
Retrieved from https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/peace-lily/ - Spathiphyllum. N.C. Cooperative Extension.
Retrieved from https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/spathiphyllum/ - Jonathan Newman. (January 2013). Centre for Aquatic Plant Management Information Sheet 13: Water-lilies, Nuphar and Nymphaea species. ResearchGate.
Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234111320_Centre_for_Aquatic_Plant_Management_Information_Sheet_13_Water-lilies_Nuphar_and_Nymphaea_species