Why Is My Peace Lily Drooping After Repotting?

If you have recently repotted your peace lily, and instead of looking perky and pleased with the new environment, it’s drooping all over the place, you might be wondering why? What would cause this, given that the plant has just been provided with fresh soil and more space? In this article, we’re going to look at the potential reasons.

Peace lilies that have just been repotted may be wilting because of transplant shock, in which case they will pick up again reasonably quickly without input from you. Other potential causes of drooping include heat stress, water stress, or too much direct sunlight. Finally, your peace lily may be under attack by pests.

Why Is My Peace Lily Drooping?

Your peace lily is probably drooping because it is shocked. This is the most likely explanation for drooping after the plant has been moved from one container to another. Because you have disturbed its roots, the plant starts to wilt.

Even if you handle the peace lily very carefully when repotting, this may happen because you have put it into new soil, and the plant will take a little time to adjust to this.

If you have divided your peace lily up while repotting it, it is even more likely to suffer from transplant shock. Don’t worry if it goes very limp for a few days to a week, and it looks like it is dying. It is probably just shocked, and it should get over it.

GROW SOMETHING GREEN made a nice little video about transplant shock. Even though it is not specifically about peace lilies, you should still check it out, as the principles are the same, and – spoiler alert – it even has a happy ending.

What Else Could Be Wrong?

There are many other reasons a peace lily may droop when repotted, especially if it has also been relocated. Too much or too little water or poor drainage in the new container are likely explanations. Peace lilies don’t like to stay very wet for long, so mix perlite into the soil.

Alternatively, your plant may be suffering from heat stress if you have put it in a new spot or if it got exposed to a temperature fluctuation while being repotted. If you left its bare roots out of the soil in the sun for any length of time, it will wilt.

If you have put your repotted peace lily in too much direct sun, this could also lead to wilting. When we repot plants, we often put them in new places because they don’t fit so well in the old ones – but it’s better to avoid this if possible.

The new position will have new conditions for your peace lily to get used to, and it also has to get used to the new soil while suffering from stress at being handled. It is best to only subject your peace lily to one change at a time, so if you have repotted it, try not to relocate it until it has recovered.

Sometimes this is unavoidable, but if it doesn’t have to go to a new place, don’t put it in one. If you need to move it, make sure it is not going to be in more sun than it was previously, even if you have to rig up some shade to keep it safe.

One last thing to check for is pests. Although not related to repotting, things like mealybugs and spider mites can leave your peace lily vulnerable if they attack in large numbers. Coupled with the stress of being repotted, this could lead to wilting.

You should check under the leaves of your peace lily. If you see little white balls, your plant has mealybugs. Threads of web mean spider mites. You might also see aphids crawling around or the dark ovals indicating scale insects are present.

Check for pests, isolate infected plants, and treat them quickly.

What Should I Do?

If your peace lily is wilting, you need to determine the cause. Check whether the soil is wet or dry, if the plant is in too much sun or whether it has been allowed to get too hot or too cold. Look for insects.

If there is no apparent cause of the drooping, likely, your plant is shocked from being repotted. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about this except wait for it to recover on its own.

Keep your plant somewhere with reasonable temperatures, away from direct sun, while it is recovering. It may take a week or two to pick up, but don’t try and give it fertilizer, lots of water, or any other correctives – treat it gently and wait.

Final Words

After being repotted, a peace lily will droop for many reasons, but the most common one is transplant shock. In general, there is not much you can do to solve this; you will have to wait for the plant to recover. However, it should do so reasonably quickly, especially if you keep it in semi-bright light and treat it gently.

Photo of author
Author
Alexander Verdes
Just a stay-at-home dad who loves taking care of my home, my kids, and my plants. Actually, I kind of consider my plants to be my babies too, so I could just say that I love to take care of my home and my kids :-)

Leave a Comment