My peace lily is wilted since 2 weeks, its neither a case of not watering nor of over watering..

The story is: I bought this plant 2 weeks back in wilted condition but shopkeeper told me it have not been watered since long and have watered just 2 hours before and will revive soon, and it actually did in 2 days...

Then I took it out of its plastic bag in which it was potted and put it into a 8 inch plastic pot, but after a day later it wilted.

I thought its not in a good soil, been a more clay containing and was very tight. So I waited for 2 days and seeing it not revived. I bought a good and well drained potting mix from same nursery and repotted. But even after 10 days it is still wilted. But neither of leaves are getting yellow or brown:

image of current day

During whole period soil was nicely moist, and not soggy for sure. Please help, its an imp plant to me due to of its rarity in my city, I got it on order at very high cost, so please suggest advice to my dying peace lilly.

  • Please turn that plant upside down to take the root ball out of its soil. Look at those roots. Are they WHITE with no browning at the tips? It was truly planted in a PLASTIC BAG? That means no drainage and the shop owner might be a bit of a con artist. I've NEVER SEEN plants for sale or anywhere else in plastic bags. This is screaming root rot. The shop owner put it in a bag to contain the fungus from his other plants. Were there other plants in plastic bags? This guy shouldn't have cost more than 10 us bucks. Pot size is correct, good potting soil what kind of light? – stormy Mar 14 '17 at 19:32
  • @stormy, thanks for reply sir, During the reporting I had checked for root rot their was no signs of root rot, yes the roots were not brigth and clear white but they were even not mushy to touch they were hard and solid, in addition I would like to share with you it don't have a complete root ball it has very little root system – user16887 Mar 14 '17 at 19:34
  • Right there, a poor root system is telling. Too few roots to support that top growth would do exactly the same thing, causing wilt with no browning of the leaves. I would then trim some of the foliage OFF so there isn't so much to support. See if that helps! – stormy Mar 14 '17 at 22:22
  • When you took it out of its plastic and checked the rootball, how big was it compared to the size of the pot you've now planted it into? If it was less than half the size of the pot you've used, you need a smaller pot so it can form a solid rootball rather than roots which wander everywhere, and you should clip off some leaves, probably around 5 leaves, as Stormy suggested, so any roots its got don't have to support so much topgrowth. – Bamboo Mar 16 '17 at 23:41
  • @Bamboo it had no rootball, it was having only 2 to 3 major roots on the name of root system,, but as I have already repoted it 3 times so I don't want to do it any more, so what will be the case if he keeps growing in the same pot. – user16887 Mar 17 '17 at 12:44

Peace lilies are very dramatic when they are thirsty. When the plant wilts, give it a good soaking. It'll bounce back in a few hours.

When you water it, put it in the sink and fill the pot up, let the soil soak up the water for a half hour to an hour. Drain the excess water out.

It really is just thirsty.

  • Peace lillies also wilt when they've been overwatered, I'm afraid. – Bamboo Mar 16 '17 at 23:42

Following on from comments above, yes, if there's been no improvement, I'd be inclined to risk potting it again into something smaller - but it depends on how long the couple of roots it had were. If they're very long, then using a smaller pot won't help, because you don't want to cramp up any roots it has got by crushing them into a smaller pot.

I'd be inclined to have 2 or 3 pots in different sizes (all smaller than that 10 inch one) available, make sure the pot is well watered an hour beforehand, turn the plant out, gently, lay it down on a tray or something and carefully remove what soil you can simply to get an idea as to what roots are there, then pot into whichever of the smaller pots you've got available which seems to be able to accommodate the roots, without crushing them, but without leaving too much space around them.

If the root material is still very small (that is, it hasn't produced any more or very little) then remove half the leaves by cutting them at the base, at soil level. Removing topgrowth enables the plant to concentrate more on producing roots and reduces the stress of trying to support topgrowth with the little bit of root its currently got. New leaves will arrive as the roots start to grow. Water in well, allow to drain freely for half an hour, then stand on an outer tray and place in a position which receives good daylight, but not direct sun, away from heat sources such as radiators, in a room which does not get very cold overnight. And keep your fingers crossed...

The alternative is to take a chance, leave it in its current pot, and just remove a third to half the leaves.

Your Answer

