All plant lovers know that it’s not unusual for their leaves or flowers to suddenly show different colors.
It can be cause by pests, disease, or just age.
Peace lily flowers turn black or brown because you have taken a poor care, there is stress (usually from less-than-ideal living conditions like bright, direct sunlight) or it is getting old.
Peace lily flowers are bright, white, and pure (almost) and it is meant to stay that way – they are called ‘white sails’.
Seeing brown or black on peace lily flowers means you have an indicator that tells you something is the matter. Here’s what you should know.
Why Are My Peace Lily Flowers Turning Black or Brown?
There are several reasons why your peace lily might be browning or blackening and the best news is they are reversible.
Here is a summary.
Stress
Stress is the most common cause of discoloration in most house plants.
Plants are meant to stay in their natural habitat, so even if they are kept in your home with the right conditions, stress can occur.
The various factors in a house can stress out a peace lily. Ill watering and incorrect soil can contribute to stress and other factors such as lack of light, or too much light contribute. Peace lilies require indirect sunlight.
As discoloration appears on the flower you can tell there is too much light. Discoloration will not be the only sign of stress. The plant may start showing its leaves as wastage or looking weak. The spadix may start to match side color of the leaves indicating a high level of stress.
Improper Care
Most house plants are hardy and can tolerate improper care, but there are some house plants that are needy.
For example, peace lilies are one of the needy house plants. If it has not met the requirements, it will wilt and show brown margins.
Peace lilies need indirect sunlight, but that also does not mean it should be concealed in the shade.
Peace lilies do require a certain amount of light in order to survive, so an option would be to place them next to a window with a semi-transparent curtain.
Peace lilies can also be expected to be watered once per week on average.
Tip: As a rule of thumb, the soil should remain moist, so you should thoroughly monitor humidity levels and surrounding conditions before watering.
Aging
What if your plant isn’t stressed? What if you are providing excellent care?
Why might some leaves continue to show browning or blackening?
If you don’t want to hear the answer, here it is: aging.
It doesn’t happen a lot, but sometimes you work so hard to feed, sustain, and bring a plant back to life, but age just takes its course.
Peace lilies are the same way, once they go throw aging:
- Brown and blacked edges will appear on the flowers and on the leaves.
- Leaves begin to wilt and show fragility.
If you want to keep track of the duration of a flower, take a look at its spadix.
The spadix should be white once you purchase the plant. It will also start bright green for the opening of the flower. After that, it may return to white, or begin browning, this is the flower aging.
The brown spadix definitively indicates the pollen will not occur and the plant will she be upstart withering.
Ways to Fix Black/Brown Peace Lily Flowers
There is no cure for browning peace lily flowers, but there are a few things that you can try that may prevent this flower from browning.
If you are nurturing the plant and follow the suggestions below, chances are it may not brown once it ages to old enough to do so:
Temperature Control
Peace lily flowers love to be around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, as they sprout from tropical places.
Try to maintain a close temperature level to keep the plant healthy. If it drops lower, it is fine, but try to keep it above 60 degrees.
You can use a thermometer to take care of indoor temperatures. If the humidity level is low for the plant, you may use a humidifier.
On the other hand: Use a humidity tray, which is a tray full of water and gravel. You have to set the peace lily pot on top of the tray, and the magic will begin.
Don’t Over-Fertilize
So, if you are fertilizing the peace lily, is should be done every six weeks, preferring towards the end of the winter.
When it is cold out, it is not suggested you use any type of fertilizer.
Typically, the spadix has the most chance to thrive in the two prime seasons of spring and summer.
Over-fertilizing or fertilizing too quickly may have its toll on your flower.
Eventually, the flower will change colors and will have brown or black edges.
Do Not Use Tap Water
It is not suggested that you water peace lily plants with tap water.
The water contains fluoride, chloride, and way too many extras on the no-no list for plants. If you are watering with tap water a lot, that is likely the culprit your plant is browning.
Try to use filtered water and unless you must use tap water, avoid it altogether.
In addition to the above-mentioned water, try to keep it at room temperature.
Is There a Cure for Peace Lily Flowers Turning Black or Brown?
Sorry, there’s no cure to remove the brown color from your peace lily flower.
However, there is a potential remedy to help the plant grow again with healthy new flowers:
- You can try removing the flower at the stem base, removing the spathes too. As well, remove the damaged leaves and only retain the healthy green leaves.
- Be sure to use clean shears for the cutting and do not use your hands.
- If you want to be extra safe, you would want to sop your shears before and after use, in case there is some sort of disease on the plant. To sop the shears, put some alcohol on a rag and clean them, let them dry before using on another plant.
- When cutting, be sure that you only cut the stem on the part where it turns green again. Try to avoid cutting the healthy part because we want it to shoot the new flowers off of it.
- After trimming the affected portion of the plant, look at the soil for rot or mold for indications of a problem. Remove any brown or old stalks from the soil.
- It is possible that the plant has too much water, which may have caused the brown color. The water blockage usually occurs when the drainage holes in the pot are blocked. Check the pot and see if it is sitting in water because the holes are blocked.
- If the holes are blocked, then clean them and let the pot drain all of it’s water in the sink. Then look at the surface of the soil. If the surface is dry, then water the soil, but don’t over do it.
- After all of that, the plant will grow a new flower. It may take time, about a month or so to sprout a new flower, but it should eventually happen.
To Conclude
Usually, black or brown peace lily flowers are caused by stress.
There may have been a change in environments of living conditions or not enough light.
Or, the flower had just been in the season for aging, which can’t be helped.
All you can try to do is care for the plant and give it enough water and light to hopefully not have discoloration.