Peace lily care can be a little tricky for beginners, but with the proper care, they thrive! A happy peace lily will reward you with beautiful green foliage, and white flowers known as spathes. The Peace lily, scientifically known as Spathiphyllum, come from the tropics of South America, and southeast Asia.
Lighting
Peace Lilies are considered low light plants. However, low light does not mean no light! I have heard stories of people growing them in windowless offices for years, but I don’t recommend this. To best care for a peace lily, place it at least few feet from a window. They should be getting little to no direct sun, as they are prone to burning. Peace lilies can be great plants for rooms with north facing windows.
Watering
Peace Lilies should be watered when the first two inches of soil dry. These plants don’t like to dry out, and they’ll let you know it! Peace lilies wilt very dramatically when they need water. They should perk back up within a few hours of watering, but try not to let them wilt too often. This will cause browning on leaf tips, and it can eventually kill your peace lily. You will also want to be careful not to over water peace lily as this can cause root rot. Watering is definitely the trickiest aspect of peace lily care, but they are still fairly forgiving plants. As long as they don’t dry out too much, they should bounce back.
Soil
Peace lilies don’t like to dry out, but I find that store bought potting mixes can hold too much moisture for too long. I recommend adding perlite and orchid bark to a store bought potting mix. The perlite will improve drainage, and the orchid bark will retain moisture, as well as provide aeration to the soil.
Humidity
Standard house hold humidity should be fine for peace lilies, but they could benefit from increased humidity, especially in more arid climates that have naturally low humidity levels. If you are looking to raise humidity, a humidifier is the best way to raise humidity for plants. Grouping several houseplants together can also raise the humidity around those plants.
Propagation
Peace lilies most easily propagated via division. Peace lilies will push out offshoots, naturally as they grow. To know if your peace lily is ready to be propagated, look at the base of the plant, and you should see individual clumps, or crowns. If you would Like to propagate your peace lily, I recommend waiting until you are repotting, and simply remove offshoots from the mother plant.
Peace lilies are great plants for the darker rooms in your home, and while they have more needy watering requirements, they are still fairly forgiving. If you have any questions, or additional advice on peace lily care, feel free to leave a comment below!