The peace lily is a popular houseplant that requires little maintenance. With its beautiful white spathes and delicate fragrance, this lily is a fantastic plant for sprucing up your interior.
Even though this plant requires minimal care, it’s still possible to run into issues. Read on to learn more about lily buds dying before opening and what to do about it.
Peace Lily Overview
The peace lily is an evergreen plant that comes from tropical regions. This plant needs constant humidity and partial sunlight.
Flowers typically bloom in May or June, but they will keep blooming year-round in the right conditions. Your peace lily should go through 10 to 30-day blooming cycles. When your peace lily blooms, you will see small flowers protected by a white spathe. The flowers will then produce seeds, and the spathe will turn brown.
Pruning Your Peace Lily
After a stem flowers, it’s best to remove it. The same stem will not flower twice, and old stems will use energy and nutrients. You can cut old stems at the base to make room for new growth. Failing to prune old stems can cause lily buds dying before opening.
Lily Buds Dying Before Opening
Here are the most common causes of lily buds dying before opening.
Too Much Light
The peace lily is a tropical plant. In nature, it grows on the floor level of dense forests. Large tree canopies provide dappled shade.
Direct exposure to sunlight can cause stress for this plant. It can burn leaves and damage stems. This damage can stop the photosynthesizing process, which means buds will not bloom.
Water Stress
Lilies thrive in a slightly humid environment but can be sensitive to overwatering. Keep the soil moist and add more water when it gets dry. You can also mist the leaves and flowers.
It’s best to water in small increments. You can determine if your peace lily is getting enough water by observing its leaves. Leaves will droop when the plant needs water, and they will turn yellow and wilt if you’re overwatering.
Buds might die without blooming if the plant is in need of water. Overwatering can also cause root and stem diseases that will affect the flowers.
Cold Temperatures
Peace lilies need warm temperatures during the daytime and cooler temperatures at night. Ideally, you should keep your peace lily in a room with a temperature somewhere between 68 and 85°F.
Cold temperatures can stunt growth. Combined with the humidity, the cold can cause buds to turn brown and die before blooming.
Too Much Fertilizer
Peace lilies are sensitive to environmental change and need little or no fertilizer. High nitrogen levels can easily burn the shouts and cause buds to die due to chemical burns. It’s best to use regular potting soil without additives.
Magnesium deficiencies can happen with peace lilies. You will typically see the edges of the leaves turn brown. You can address a magnesium deficiency by mixing some lime or adding a small quantity of Epsom salts into the potting mix, but there is no need to add compost or fertilizer.
Wrap Up
Peace lilies are easy to grow and typically require little maintenance. If you’re seeing buds dying before opening, make a few changes to provide dappled light and a slightly humid environment. You should also keep an eye on the leaves to look for signs of overwatering, disease, or magnesium deficiency. Pruning old stems can also help the plant support new blooms.