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Growing Peace Lily Plants: Watering, Light, Repotting, and Pests
Learn how to care for a peace lily, one of the most popular indoor plants. These beautiful houseplants are fairly easy to grow, but knowing how often to water peace lilies and what to do if their leaves droop or turn yellow is essential. Plus, find tips on how to repot your peace lily to keep it happy!
About Peace Lilies
Peace lilies are not true lilies. They are tropical, evergreen plants in the Arum family, native to tropical Central and South America. These plants thrive on the forest floor, receiving dappled sunlight and consistent moisture and humidity. Replicating these conditions in the home is the key to keeping your peace lily happy and healthy.
With enough light, peace lilies produce white to off-white flowers starting in the early summer and continue to bloom throughout the year in the right conditions.
Most household varieties of peace lily grow up to 16 inches tall, but larger outdoor cultivars can have leaves up to 6 feet tall. Peace lilies are not cold-hardy, so they can only be grown outdoors in warm, humid climates (USDA Zones 10, 11).
Is the Peace Lily Toxic to Cats and Dogs?
Yes, peace lilies are mildly toxic. All parts of the peace lily plant contain calcium oxalate, which may cause stomach and respiratory irritation if ingested in large amounts. Keep peace lilies out of reach of small children and pets who might chew on the plant. Common plants containing calcium oxalate also include philodendrons, daffodils, true lilies, and hyacinths.
Growing
Lighting
- Place peace lilies in indirect but bright sunlight. An east-facing window is perfect, as the plant will be exposed to the bright morning sun. A north-facing window would also be a good choice for a peace lily.
- Keep peace lilies out of areas where they鈥檒l get direct sunlight all day (such as in a south-facing window), as it may dry them out too much.
Watering
- How often should you water your peace lily? It鈥檚 not the number that matters but the dryness of the soil that counts. Keep the soil lightly moist to the touch but not overly saturated. Peace lilies can tolerate short periods of dry soil, but their leaves will develop brown tips if they don鈥檛 have enough water or humidity.
- Tip: One nice thing about peace lilies is that they will tell you when they鈥檙e thirsty: the plant鈥檚 leaves start to droop. When the plant starts to look less 鈥減erky鈥 than usual, test the soil with your finger. If it feels dry, it鈥檚 time to water again. They can be a bit dramatic; don鈥檛 panic if they start to wilt.
- Peace lilies are sensitive to chemicals commonly found in tap water, such as fluoride, which may cause brown leaf tips. Use filtered, room-temperature water, if possible.
Humidity
- Peace lilies enjoy high humidity. Misting their leaves or placing their pot atop a moistened tray of gravel can help to increase humidity around the plant.
Fertilizing
- Peace lilies are not heavy feeders, so fertilize only occasionally. To encourage spring and summer growth, fertilize every 6 weeks or so with a balanced houseplant fertilizer starting in late winter.
Temperature
- Peace lilies are tropical plants; they do best in temperatures between 65掳F and 75掳F degrees (18 to 23掳C) during the day and about 10掳 cooler at night.
- Keep these plants away from the furnace or a drafty window or door.
Other Peace Lily Care Tips
- The large leaves of peace lilies tend to collect a lot of dust in the home. Gently wipe them down with a wet paper towel occasionally; a thick layer of dust can inhibit photosynthesis.
How to Get Peace Lilies to Flower
- Most often, if no flowers appear, the plant is not getting enough light. Peace lilies are very tolerant of low light, but 鈥渓ow light鈥 doesn鈥檛 mean no light! To encourage flowering, move the plant to a brighter location where it will receive bright, indirect light for at least a few hours each day.
- Green flowers, weak-looking flowers, or a general lack of flowers can also be caused by improper fertilizing. In the case of green flowers, cut back on fertilizing, as the plant may be getting too much nitrogen. In the case of weak-looking flowers or a lack of flowers, try switching to a fertilizer made for flowering plants. This type of fertilizer will have a higher amount of phosphorous, which plants need for blooming.
Wit and Wisdom
- The peace lily is said to have gotten its common name from its white flowers, which rise timidly above its green foliage and resemble white flags of peace.
- Despite the peace lily鈥檚 common name, it is not related to true lilies at all.
- The plant鈥檚 attractive blooms are also the source of its Latin name, Spathiphyllum, meaning 鈥渟pathe-leaf.鈥 The flowers consist of the spathe (the white, sheath-like leaf) and the spadix (the spike of small flowers located within the spathe).
- Peace lilies are poisonous to dogs. Learn more about houseplants that are toxic to your pets.
Photo by W. Carter/Wikimedia
Catherine Boeckmann
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I have had this for a few years and it does not re-flower. I have it placed in a window where it receives filtered sunlight daily. I water it every Saturday and the green foliage looks wonderful. But it has never rebooted. What Can I do?
Thank you for your suggestions.
I had the same problem until I started using my used tea bags as fertilizer. Now I have 5 blooms on the plant that had not bloomed again after the initial blooms died.
I bought a fairly large peace lilly a couple of months ago, I knew it was too large for the pot it was in so I transplanted it to a much larger pot, after doing so, as plants do, it stressed out. I trimmed all the dead leaves but after about 6 weeks none of the other leaves are standing up, they are all bent over but alive. Would tieing them to a stake help them recover? I can see the bend in each stem and the leaves are way to large and heavy for the stem to stand back up on its own. As I said its alive and kicking but not attractive at all because NONE of the leaves are standing up they are all dropping over the sides of the pot. I have wooden kaboob skewers and I used a garbage bag twist tie to on one of the biggest stems just the other day, do you think that will help?
Too much water in the pot or too little can do that. I had the same thing happen when my Lillie鈥檚 were left outside in the summer (not in direct sunlight). I brought them home and watered them, sprayed the leaves with water and in 2 days they came back to life! Hope that helps.
Can you mix cow manure and topsoil to an organic potting soil mix for the peace lily.
Hi Andre,
For an indoor potting mix, topsoil is not a good mix. It can lack many nutrients that the plant requires. For cow manure, it should be well aged for at least 6 months before being used. Mixing the manure with the organic potting soil mix will work just fine.
How do you know how much water is to much for the Peace Lily plant in terms of amount. in other words if you should water according to the size of the pot,amount of dirt, etc.? Can over watering occur even if there is no excessive water drainage?
I bought two and got both of them to flower. Will the flower die after awhile or will it stay ? If it does die will the same plant produce another flower ?
The flower will die after a few weeks or so but the plant will produce more.
I have a small peace lilly which i bought 3-4 months back. I keep it in my room which is moderately warm but without any sunlight, I often turn on AC through out night. For the past 1 month the plant has lost all its flowers, and the tips are turning brown. I give water thrice a week but its getting lighter and there is absolutely no growth. Unable to add picture in comment otherwise would have showed the current condition. Advice please! p.s. the plant was a present and i really dont want to lose it :(
