Why is my Peace Lily drooping? Causes and Solutions

It’s always a little sad to see that one of your houseplants isn’t doing so well, with Peace Lilies the change can be very dramatic. The leaves and stems will droop very low until they’re almost resting down by the sides of the pot, sometimes even the flowers will follow along. At this point it would be easy to think that your plant is dyeing — but that is certainly not the case for the Peace Lily.

We’ve listed below all of the most common reasons that your Peace Lily might start to droop and how to fix them fast. For the most part all your plant will need is a good watering, though it is definitely worth checking out the other causes to make sure there’s not going to be any long term issues for your Peace Lily.

A lack of water can cause drooping leaves

The first and most common issue that will cause your Peace Lily to droop is a lack of water. When it comes to watering we normally recommend a little and often view that should keep your houseplants happy in general. Make sure to give your Peace Lily plenty of water and you’ll see it spring back to life in as a little as a few hours. Consider amending your watering schedule if drooping is a common occurrence with your specific plant, especially as you come out of winter and into the growing season as your Peace Lily will start to need a more water through the warmer months.

Overwatering can also cause drooping leaves

If you’re confident that underwatering isn’t the cause of the drooping leaves on your Peace Lily, the next thing to check is overwatering. Check the soil to see if it is soggy or holding onto too much excess water. It should be moist but not completely soggy, so you might have to amend your watering so that it isn’t getting too much.

If your plant is in a reasonably warm environment you can just leave it for a couple of days to dry out a little more — or if you’re more concerned about it you can remove some of the wet soil and replace it with dry for a quicker fix to the drooping stems, just make sure not to damage the root system.

A drooping Peace Lily can also indicate drainage issues

As we’ve mentioned earlier in this post, a build-up of excess water can be a cause for your Peace Lily to droop, and a quick way to fix that is to make sure that your pot has good drainage. Start by checking if your pot has holes in its base, if not you can quickly make some with a corkscrew. If you find your pots drainage holes are getting clogged up with debris from the soil you can simple add a few small stones in the bottom of the pot to keep them nice and clear and prevent your Peace Lily from drooping.

From that point onwards, it’s as simple as making sure that you empty any water in the saucer or planter after you have finished watering to avoid overwatering causing drooping leaves. This will also minimise the risk of odours from stagnant water and the vastly minimise the chances of root rot becoming a problem for your Peace Lily in the future.

Drooping leaves might also be due to cold air

A much less common reason why your Peace Lily might start to droop is temperature changes. This is normally very easy to diagnose and solve however so it’s certainly not a major issue. If your Peace Lily is near an outlet for a cooling system, close to a radiator or could catch a cool draft, you might want to move it to a different spot. These areas can have large changes in temperature over the course of a day and your plant simply won’t be able to adapt quickly enough to stay happy and healthy which is why it’ll start to droop.

These are all of the main reasons that you might find your Peace Lily is drooping — and really it’s not as big of a deal as it may seem, they’re just a very dramatic plant. If you would like to learn more about your plant do check out our Peace Lily care guide.