The Truth About The Peace Lily | How To Keep It Healthy And Beautiful
The Peace Lily is a beautiful, tropical plant, quite common in many homes.
Native to the tropical regions of the Americas and the Southeast regions of Asia, the Peace Lily is easy to keep alive, yet tricky to maintain healthy and beautiful.
I’ve struggled with my own, and I’ve had many requests for help with Peace Lilies.
And they all sound the same; “My Peace Lily has yellow and brown tips, and won’t flower. I received it as a gift and I don’t know what I am doing wrong!”.
Many of us have a Peace Lily in our homes because it has been gifted to us.
In-fact, Peace Lilies are highly symbolic plants, and for this reason, they are commonly gifted to people as a sign of sympathy, empathy, and care.
The problem is that most of the Peace Lilies care guides out there, don’t dwell into the real needs of this plant, and don’t go much far beyond the basics to keep them alive.
Keeping a Peace Lily alive is not enough.
In order to enjoy the beauty of this plant, it is important to keep it healthy and good looking.
The Peace Lily is prone to yellow tips and brown leaves, and simply learning its lighting and watering requirements is not enough.
I learned it the hard way myself! I struggled with my Peace Lily too!
But when I finally did some research on its origins and family, I figured out what I needed to change!
And the positive results I’ve got after changing the way I cared for my Peace Lily were obvious!
So you can trust my advice on how to care for Peace Lilies properly!
It’s important to keep in mind that Peace Lilies are not real Lilies, as its name may suggest.
The Spathiphyllum, (Peace Lily), actually belongs to the aroids family, like Philodendrons, Anthuriums, and Alocasias. All plants that are prone to crispy tips and require high levels of humidity.
So why do we pretend to care for Peace Lilies differently from Swiss Cheese Plants, Elephant’s Ears, and all these precious tropical plants?
There is no reason for it, and that’s probably why, many Peace Lily parents struggle with them!
Here is everything you need to know to keep your Peace Lily in its best tropical looking conditions!
My Peace Lily here. Can you see the difference between the top and bottom leaves?
Can you see those yellow and brown tips on the bottom leaves? Those are the signs of struggle, my struggle to figure out this plant’s real needs.
Once I finally understood what my Peace Lily needed in order to thrive, I started seeing the difference in its new leaves!!
peace lily meaning & symbolism
There are several different meanings and symbolisms associated to the Peace Lily.
Common meanings and symbolisms are; healing, hope, peace, purity and prosperity.
Its name, and the pure white colour of its spathe, (white specialized leaf), suggests that this plant is often gifted as symbol of peace and purity.
- Peace after a disagreement between friends or even family members.
- Purity, symbolized by the white colour, is associated to this plant’s exceptional air cleaning properties.
- Healing and Hope, as Peace Lilies are commonly gifted as a sign of condolence to someone who has lost a beloved one. (That’s how I got my Peace Lily. My thoughtful girlfriends bought me one when my Grandmother passed away a couple of years ago.) And that, explains why, so many people want to know how to care for Peace Lilies properly. There are so many emotional attachments to these plants.
- The Prosperity meaning of Peace Lilies is mostly related to the discipline of Feng Shui. In-fact, according to Feng Shui, Peace Lilies are great at balancing the energies in a room, converting negative into positive energy.
I keep my Peace Lily in a draining pot with a saucer, which a place inside this beautiful decorative basket.
You can find many similar decorative baskets online on Amazon.
ideal light conditions and blooming
Peace Lilies, like many other tropical plants, can live in low to medium light conditions.
I kept mine in a Dining Room corner, and even though it was in close proximity to two windows, it was still in a shaded spot. It did quite well for months, until it outgrew its pot, and I had to move it elsewhere.
I ended up moving it to a much brighter spot, and did I ever notice the difference in growth!
So, let me rephrase the sentence at the beginning of this section; While Peace Lilies do well in low, to medium light conditions, they actually thrive, in bright, indirect light. Hear me well here; indirect light!
Do not expose your Peace Lily to direct sunlight, or it will scorch its leaves!
A North facing window is ideal for this plant.
The biggest difference in having your Peace Lily in bright light versus medium light, is in the blooming of its white specialized leaves.
The more light your Peace Lily gets, (provided that is not direct sunlight), the more it will produce those gorgeous white leaves.
Did you know that what people think are Peace Lily flowers, are actually specialized leaves?
The white hooded leaf is called the Spathe, while the white protrusion is called the Spadix.
The Spadix grows minute flowers that are protected by the Spathe, (hooded leaf).
You’ll notice that after a few weeks, (around three to four), the spadix will start shedding white powdery pollen on its green leaves, and slowly, it will turn brown, while the spathe will start to fade into brown or green. At that point you are ready to cut the stem off.
My Peace Lily still in its original shaded spot in the Dining Room corner.
This is how it looked like when I first received it from my friends.
Don’t let those white blooms lead you to believe that Peace Lilies can bloom in shaded areas. This picture was taken a few days after I got my Peace Lily. In-fact, growers can make Peace Lilies bloom on demand, by using natural hormones to stimulate blooming.
If you want your Peace Lily to bloom, move it to a bright, indirect light area of your home, and let it grow into a mature plant!
humidity requirements and brown leaves
Humidity, (ore the lack of thereof), is one of the biggest factors to consider when caring for Peace Lilies.
Dry air is one of the reasons why Peace Lily leaves tend to brown their tips.
These plants benefit immensely from high levels of humidity. Such levels of humidity are not common in heated or air conditioned homes.
This is why it’s important to provide extra humidity to your plant.
There are four ways to increase humidity levels around plants;
- Using a plants humidifier. There are several products available on the market, like the highly rated Pure Enrichment MistAire, which is an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier.
- Misting your plants. I mist all those plants that thrive on high humidity, such as Marantas, Monsteras, Alocasias, Stromanthes, Calatheas, Fiddle Leaf Figs, Strelitzias, Ferns, Pileas, Peace Lilies and Norfolfk Pine.
- Grouping your plants by species. Grouping plants together will help them raise the surrounding air humidity levels.
- Using a tray filled with pebbles and water. Filling a saucer with small pebbles and adding water so that it barely reaches the top surface of the pebbles, helps maintaining higher levels of humidity around the plant. However, it is important that the bottom of the pot is not submerged in water with the roots stagnating in it. This will cause root rot in the long term.
Here you can see the typical Peace Lily yellow and brown crispy tips.
Here is an example of pebble trays filled with water. This strategy, helps plants increase their humidity levels.
watering, fertilizing, and brown leaves
WATERING
There are two schools of thought when it comes to watering Peace Lilies;
- Some believe this plant is drought tolerant and suggest waiting until the leaves droop before watering it.
- Others believe that this plant needs to have the right balance of moist soil, but not too soggy, and that letting it dry in between waterings will cause its leaves to go brown.
The problem is, that unfortunately, under watering and over watering Peace Lilies, have identical symptoms; yellow and brown crispy tips.
I can tell you for sure, that over watering Peace Lilies, will definitely damage them, as they are prone to root rot.
So what to do?
Honestly, I use my finger! You can’t schedule your Peace Lily watering.
I don’t wait until the leaves droop, and I don’t blindly water it on a set schedule.
I simply dip my finger in the soil, and when I feel that the top soil is dry, I water it!
Now, to make things a bit more difficult, Peace Lilies are also susceptible to mineral and chemicals in tap water. Hard water, excessive chlorine and salt, can also cause yellow and brown tips.
I noticed the biggest change in my Peace Lily leaves a few weeks after I started watering it with distilled water! I can’t recommend using distilled water enough!
In addition to watering my Peace Lily with distilled water, I also mist it with tap water twice a week.
I truly believe that the combination of switching to distilled water and misting my Peace Lily, had radically improved its health and look.
I also started noticing more beautiful spathes!
FERTILIZING
Literature available on Peace Lilies only recommends fertilizing this plant a few times a year, and mostly between Spring and Fall.
I agree with fertilizing between Spring and Fall, however, I do fertilize mine with liquid fertilizer every time I water it from Spring to Fall.
To be on the safe side, I recommend you fertilize your Peace Lily every second watering from Spring to Fall, by diluting a liquid fertilizer in its water.
soil, pots, repotting, and drooping leaves
Light, humidity, and watering are all very important variables for the health of your Peace Lily.
However, proper drainage is a critical aspect of every plant’s health.
Without proper drainage, watering, light and humidity conditions, become irrelevant.
Let’s start with the drainage fundamentals; the pot.
Make sure your Peace Lily is planted in a pot with drainage holes. It doesn’t matter whether it’s terracotta, ceramic, or plastic. As long as it has drainage holes.
If you want your Peace Lily in a beautiful, non draining pot you already have, there are ways to provide drainage to the plant. Click here to learn How to Plant in Pots Without Drainage Holes.
The use of proper soil is also important.
In the case of Peace Lilies, I recommend using a tropical plants mix, to which you should add some perlite, to increase drainage.
Once your water your Peace Lily, make sure you discard any excess water left in its saucer.
Don’t rush repotting your Peace Lily, unless you notice it’s lacking drainage, as these plants like to be root bound, (having tight roots within its pot).
You’ll know it’s time to repot your Peace Lily when its leaves become droopy, less than a week after watering, and when you notice crowded and deformed leaves.
I recommend you increase its pot size by 2″ in diameter. Not more, or your plant will suffer!
There are even theories that believe that Peace Lilies will stop blooming if planted in pots that are too big for their rootball.
In-fact, Peace Lilies should no be planted in pots bigger than 10″ in diameter, no matter the plant’s size!
Time to repot my Peace Lily. As you can see there wasn’t much soil left…
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propagating peace lilies
The most common way to propagate Peace Lilies is by Division.
This can be done on plants like Peace Lilies because they grow separate bunches of stems from the soil, unlike plants with a single trunk or stem.
Division can be done in one of two ways;
- If the plant is still small, you can simply separate the roots by gently pulling them apart with your hands. (You first need to remove the Peace Lily from its pot, loosen up the soil, and then, gently pull the roots apart with your fingers.)
- If the plant is bigger, and root bound like in the picture above, you’ll need to cut the rootball in the middle, using a sharp or serrated knife. (Once again, remove your plant from its pot, loosen up whatever soil is left on its rootball, and start cutting from the bottom up, towards the stems. Cut as many pieces as you’d like, in order to reduce the size of your plant.)
In both situations, you will plant your divided plants, or cuttings, directly into a pot filled with soil.
In the cutting case, you may notice some drooping leaves, as you may have likely cut some roots during the division process. That’s ok! This will not damage the plants, (both the original and the new cuttings). They will only need some time to recover. That’s it!
Once you got your cuttings planted, water them thoroughly.
Spathe and Spadix, getting ready to bloom.
additional information
In addition to the care instructions provided above, it is interesting to know some other facts about Peace Lilies;
- They are excellent air purifiers, and they help removing formaldehyde and xylene from their surrounding air.
- They are mildly toxic to pets and humans, and can cause oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of the mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting and difficulty swallowing if ingested. Make sure you place your Peace Lily in a spot out of small children, cats’ and dogs’ reach.
- As mentioned before, they won’t bloom until they are mature plants, and their spathe and spadix will last approximately a month until it dies.
- They generally only bloom in spring, however, mine has been blooming year round…
Here you can see how the spadix on the right “flower” is turning dark, and how the spathe is fading to green. This means the white specialized leaf is approximately a month old, and about to die.
As the spadix turns dark, it releases white, powdery pollen from its tiny flowers. You can see where the white, powdery pollen has dropped into the leaf below.
summary
Here is a concise summary of what your Peace Lily needs from you, in order to stay healthy and beautiful;
- Place it in a bright, indirect light area.
- Provide high levels of humidity by misting it with distilled water twice a week.
- Only water it with distilled water when the top soil is dry to the touch.
- Fertilize it every two waterings from Spring to Fall.
- Make sure it’s planted in a well draining pot.
- Only repot when necessary.
Disclosure: This Blog contains affiliate links, which means I will make a commission at no cost to you, if you make a purchase after clicking my link.
Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.
Love your very detailed article on how to properly care for Peace Lily. I’ve also read that Peace Lily is one of those plants that can live in water, I plan to get mine and keep in water in a transparent vase. Any advise/experience with this please?
Hello Ann!
Thank you for the feed back and kind words!
I have never tried growing a Peace Lily in water, but I would love to see how yours develops!!
New lilly mom here wish me luck!
Good Luck! You’ll do great!
My Peace Lily is doing very well outside in my backyard in Spring, TX.
That is great! Thank you for sharing Angela!!
Hello! Great article – thank you for sharing 🙂
My peace lily has been shedding white powder when I shake its spadex. How can I tell if that is pollen or powdery mildew?
Hello Sena,
Thank you for the feedback! When powder falls from the spadex is pollen. The way to know for sure if this happen when the spadex is getting old and starts to turn green and decay. New spadex don’t release any pollen.
I’m a new peace lily parent too. I read I should submerge the plant in about 2 inches of water for about 15 minutes so that the roots can absorb the water. It seems to have worked–the leaves rippled!! I received this plant as a gift and thought the green spadix were going to turn white, and some are, it seems. I didn’t know they were dead spadix. Honestly, this plant is so spectacular, I’m wringing my hands over it like I would a newborn. I’m so happy to hear you mention distilled water. I’ll try that right away! Thank you for such help.