Also known as closet plants, the Peace Lily is one of the most popular indoor plants for offices and houses.
Not only do they survive in low light and are easy to care for, but they also produce magnificent white flowers that can captivate the beholder.
Although they are relatively easy to care for, Peace Lilies, like all other plants, have certain care requirements.
If the plant is deprived of proper growing conditions, it will stop blooming, and in worse cases, growing altogether.
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How to Get My Peace Lily to Flower Again?
The natural blooming time for Peace Lilies starts when the plant has matured (1-1.5 years). To get your plant to flower, you need to make sure it is old enough and is being provided ideal blooming conditions. Peace Lilies like consistently moist soil and chlorine-free water. The plant should be potted in a well-draining mix and placed in partial shade – besides a window or six feet away from the window. Ideal temperatures for blooming are 65-86 F (18-30 C).
Something About Peace Lilies You Need to Know
If you are someone who bought your Peace Lily with a bright white flower in the middle of the sword-like dark green and glossy leaves, and then your plant never flowered again, you’re not alone.
Almost all novice Peace Lily owners have come up with this complaint, and they all have one thing in common.
They bought their plant from a commercial grower. It’s not wrong to buy plants from commercial growers.
However, most commercial growers apply artificial growing methods on plants to sell them quickly. The same is the case for Peace Lilies.
It is mentioned above that the plant begins blooming once it has matured at the age of 1-1.5 years old.
Nursery owners and plant sellers do not have the patience to wait for this long, so they use an artificial method to force the plant to bloom on command.
A plant growth hormone called gibberellic acid is used to treat young Peace Lily plants to bloom a long time before they have matured.
This is an unrecommended practice and should only be used by skilled growers.
So if you got a blooming Peace Lily from the nursery, the flower lasted for about a month, and it never flowered again, the chances are that your plant has not matured yet. You will have to wait for almost a year for the plant to flower.
Ideal Blooming Conditions
The natural habitat for a Peace Lily is the tropical forest floor, where it gets dappled sunlight and moist soil rich in humus.
Even if a Peace Lily is healthy, it is entirely normal for the plant not to bloom sometimes.
Apart from waiting for the plant to mature, there are a few other factors that need to go right for your Peace Lily to bloom.
The best part is you don’t need to learn a lot of technical stuff. All that is required from you is a little effort in providing a home that your Peace Lily loves.
Peace Lily Nutrition – Water and Nutrients
The Peace Lily is particularly easy to care for because it can let you know what it needs.
The leaves can significantly droop when the plant is thirsty and will look firm and healthy when it’s got adequate water.
Watering the plant once a week will suffice. However, if you live in a warmer climate, you might have to check the soil more frequently to ensure that the soil is evenly moist, not too dry, nor too wet.
Peace Lilies are sensitive to chlorine toxicity. If your public water supply contains chlorine, try using drinking or distilled water to water your Peace Lily.
Chlorine causes older foliage to turn brown and the new growth to weaken and yellow.
Although it is impossible to provide the same humus-rich soil as on the tropical forest floor, you can still help your Peace Lily thrive by using a soluble houseplant fertilizer.
Start fertilizing your plant at the beginning of the growing season with a dilute fertilizer to obtain the best results.
Ideal Light for Peace Lilies
Peace Lilies are famous for their ability to thrive in low-light, but this vague description for light conditions misleads many Peace Lily parents.
More often than not, plant owners end up placing their Peace Lily in a dark corner that seldom sees the light of day.
Partial shade is a more detailed description, but more information is still needed.
Experts recommend placing Peace Lilies beside windows and not directly in front. This is because direct sunlight can scorch the glossy leaves.
If you see patches or streaks of brown on the leaves, it’s because the sunlight is too intense for your tropical plant.
So if you’re growing it indoors, place it either beside or six feet away from the window, so the leaves don’t have to endure direct sunlight.
In case you’re growing outdoors, shade your plant under a wall or a tree.
Although Peace Lilies can tolerate light levels as low as 20 foot-candles, they won’t be blooming in these light conditions. Light between 50-100 foot-candles, or light enough to read a newspaper, would be sufficient.
Ideal Temperature for Peace Lilies
Temperature plays the most prominent role for Peace Lilies to flower. The blooming patterns of Peace Lilies are significantly influenced by temperature, so you need to pay close attention when growing the plant indoors.
The ideal temperature and humidity for humans and Peace Lilies are the same, e.g., 65-80 F (18-26 C).
Anything higher or lower than this temperature range will hinder plant growth and not let your Peace Lily flower.
Frequently Asked Questions about Flowering and Peace Lilies
Will Peace Lily bloom outdoors?
It depends on the weather, the place you put your Peace Lily in, and other factors. If outdoor temperatures fall below 65 F (18 C) or the plant receives direct sunlight for prolonged periods, the plant will fail to thrive. If you can mimic tropical forest floor conditions outdoors, the plant will flower.
Can I use gibberellic acid to make my Peace Lily flower?
Using artificial methods to make a plant flower is an unrecommended practice and hinders the plant’s development. Such techniques can only be used by professional horticulturists and can damage the plant permanently if not done correctly. It is advised to let your plant mature and bloom naturally.
Daniel has been a plant enthusiast for over 20 years. He owns hundreds of houseplants and prepares for the chili growing seasons yearly with great anticipation. His favorite plants are plant species in the Araceae family, such as Monstera, Philodendron, and Anthurium. He also loves gardening and is growing hot peppers, tomatoes, and many more vegetables.