How Long Do Peace Lily Flowers Bloom? (And How To Care)
Featuring gorgeous white flowers and vibrant green leaves, peace lily are easy to grow and adaptable to low light environments. This easy to grow indoor houseplant is a rewarding plant that is fun to grow. But how long does a peace lily bloom?
How Long Is Peace Lily Bloom Time?
A healthy peace lily can bloom for 1 to 2 months. This means that the flowers can stay lush and healthy looking for 4-8 weeks!
Plant care is essential if you want the pretty white blooms to last. Growing conditions affect the health of the plant and how long the flower blooms will stay vibrant and fresh looking.
As with all indoor plants, peace lily have specific conditions which they enjoy best. The right soil, water, light and humidity will encourage them to stay healthy and produce blooms.
Read on to learn how to encourage your peace lily to bloom and how to care for the flowers after they fade.
About
Peace lilies are a vibrant evergreen plant native to tropical regions of Southeast Asia as well as South American areas (such as Columbia and Venezuela).
They are not a true lily, but a lush tropical plant that adapt well to warm indoor conditions.
In their native environment peace lily live on a forest floor beneath a canopy of other trees with limited light. The light they do receive is dappled through larger plants and trees. They enjoy high humidity and consistent moisture in their native homes.
When grown as a houseplant, they enjoy a warm, humid environment and do not require a large amount of water or light, making them a versatile plant for indoor gardeners.
The trick to getting these beautiful plants to bloom is to recreate a similar growing environment in your home.
When grown indoors, peace lily thrive in indirect sunlight and can even tolerate a lower light level than many houseplants.
They need well draining, moist soil and a container that has holes in the bottom of the pot. Soil must be kept consistently moist but never water logged.
Did you know? A peace lily is also known as a White Spathe. Spathiphyllum is the genus featuring over 40 different kinds of peace lily plants. These gorgeous evergreen plants feature shiny leaves and beautiful white flowers.
Gibberellic Acid For Blooming
Gibberellic acid is a natural plant hormone that stimulates stem growth and blooming. This hormone is often used by commercial growers to stimulate the production of a peace lilies flower.
These forced blooms are often the reason why you see so many peace lily blooms in grocery store plants!
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How Often Will Peace Lilies Bloom?
When given good care, this tropical plant will typically bloom twice a year: once in the spring and again the fall. With the right care, the beautiful white blooms last a long time, typically a month to two months.
Get our list of the most aesthetically pleasing indoor plants here.
Bloom Time
Peace lilies typically bloom in late spring to early summer. They can sometimes bloom again in fall.
Proper care is essential for keeping peace lily plants healthy and encouraging blooms.
Enough diffused but bright light, proper watering, the right soil and humidity levels are all essential to keeping your plant happy enough to bloom!
Growing Conditions For Blooming
To get beautiful peace lily flowers, do your best to meet your plant’s needs, mimicking it’s native tropical conditions. Give them the right soil, water, humidity and light.
Here’s how:
Light
Peace lilies crave bright, indirect or diffused sunlight in order to thrive and produce blooms. It’s important to make sure the plant gets enough sunlight while avoiding direct sunlight (which can burn the leaves).
While they are flexible with the light they receive, the best light for this tropical plant is bright indirect light, or diffused light.
Since they naturally grow under a canopy of larger fauna, they are used to their light source being diffused.
Peace lilies can tolerate low light conditions, but this may impact their ability to bloom. Make sure your plant is getting enough diffused/indirect light per day.
Avoid keeping them in a dark room, unless you have supplemental lighting.
They need to get enough light in order to thrive and produce blooms, but too much direct sunlight can cause the leaves of peace lilies to burn.
If you do not get enough light in your home to sustain your plant, you can supplement with a grow light. This need can fluctuate with the time of year and seasons (homes in the Northern hemisphere may benefit from supplement grow lights in winter).
If your plant does not receive enough indirect light, it will not bloom. This is one of the most common reasons for lack of blooms.
We have grown peace lilies in a variety of different lighting conditions. One peace lily in a bathroom with an east-facing windows, and it received lots of indirect morning light (about 6 hours). This peace lily thrived and produced flowers. We had another peace lily that grew in a downstairs living room with a few windows. This plant received diffused afternoon light. This plant had healthy green leaves, but did not bloom.
Water
On average, peace lily need to be watered every 7-10 days. They are a moisture loving plant, so don’t neglect watering this beauty and make sure to give enough water.
The top inch of soil should always retain some moisture to it. If the leaves start to droop it is definitely time to water.
Keep in mind that watering needs will range depending on the climate, season and location of your plant. If you live in a dry environment your plant may need more water than in a more humid area.
And the plant may need more water in the hot summer months.
Fresh water in the form of rainwater is the best source of water for your lily.
We review the best water for houseplants here (everything from tap water to filtered water and more!). Make sure the water you use for indoor peace lilies is tepid, mimicking the moderate temperatures of their native habitat.
Water thoroughly until you see liquid flowing out of the drainage holes.
Humidity Level
Peace lily enjoy moderate to high humidity, at around 50-60%.
The humidity level refers to how much moisture is in the air. Different plants prefer different levels of humidity, and tropical plants prefer humidity levels to be a bit higher.
If your environment tends to have lower humidity levels, it’s a good idea to increase the humidity to promote the plant’s health. Try using a humidifier and filling it with distilled water to increase the humidity levels in your home.
Soil
The best soil will allow for both retention of moisture and good drainage. The plant needs to stay hydrated but not water logged.
Perlite, peat moss and coconut coir are commonly added to the soil to encourage moisture retention and good drainage.
We have used and had good results with Miracle Gro potting mix. This blend is a good balance for peace lily as it contains coconut coir which helps promote water retention and good drainage at the same time!
Containers
The most important part of choosing a container is making sure it has drainage holes. These drainage holes will prevent water pooling at the bottom of the roots, which will cause root rot.
Water sitting in the bottom of the plant can also cause the plant to produce fungus and attract insects like fungus gnats, which love wet soil.
Room Temperature
Because they come from a tropical climate, the right temperature for peace lilies is between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cold temperatures can deter your plant from blooming. If you give them the right temperature they will be more likely to thrive and produce blooms.
For best results, avoid placing your plant in areas that receive cold drafts (like right next to a window during the winter months).
Likewise, air conditioners in the summer months can dry out the plant and create an environment that is too cold for flowering.
When To Remove Dead Flowers
A peace lily will start out with green flowers that turn bright white. Eventually the flower fades and turns brown and the flowers take on a spent, crumpled look. It can then be pruned.
Dead heading lilies is an essential part of their care and maintenance. Doing so will allow the plant to take the energy spent on the flower and put it into it’s leaves and roots.
To remove the spent flower, take a pair of clean pair of clippers or shears (always disinfect first) and make a clean diagonal cut on the flower stem near the base of the plant.
Regularly removing spent blooms will allow the plant to put it’s energy into the roots and leaves, and eventually into forming new blooms!
Cleaning
Peace lily tend to collect dust on their beautiful leaves. This can limit how much light the plant receives. To clean your plant, simply use a damp cloth and gently wipe the leaves.
Common Problems
Here are the top reasons your plant may not be blooming:
- Low light Although they can tolerate lower levels of light than many houseplants lilies do need diffused light in order to bloom. If you are keeping your plant in a particularly dark area this may be contributing to the lack of blooms.
- Lack of water. These houseplants do not retain water in their soil like other houseplants. They need to be watered regularly and the soil should be kept consistently moist. If your plant is being given drought like conditions it may fail to thrive and produce blooms.
- Too much fertilizer. Using the wrong type of fertilizer or fertilizing too much can promote the growth of plant leaves and limit blooms. Keep fertilizing to a minimum.
- Age. In the first year of life young peace lilies do not flower. A new plant is putting it’s energy into establishing a healthy root system and growing it’s leaves! You may just need some time before you see the plant mature and begin it’s flowering cycle.
FAQ’s
Yellowing leaves on a peace lily are usually caused by problems with it’s light source: either too much or too little. Make sure your plant receives bright, indirect light. Stress from receiving too little water (drought), and over watering can also cause yellowing. Make sure to give the plant the right amounts of sunlight and water for it to thrive! (Old leaves will also turn yellow and die, you can simply remove these!).
Typically a peace lily plant will live for 3 to 5 years. But given the right conditions peace lily can outlive the lifespan! Treat your peace lily with care and reap the reward of a longer lifespan.
Final Thoughts
With beautiful dark green leaves and stunning bright white flowers, peace lily are a must have plant for the indoor garden.
They are one of the most popular houseplants due to their easy growing nature and ability to tolerate conditions with little light.
Give your plant the right growing conditions and it will produce stunning white flowers.
I have had a peace lily for over 4 years. It was quite large when I got it. A year ago I divided it into 3 pots. They are all doing well I hope. I have given away 2. My plant is flowering continuously. It had a slow period of maybe a month, I like keeping it on my porch out of direct sun during summer months. I am from Western Pennsylvania and we do still have seasons. I love taking care of it. It has been the easiest plant to care for.
Hi Tina! Thank you so much for sharing! Peace lily are such an amazing houseplant. I love hearing about your experiences with them— that is so wonderful that it is blooming continuously! I bet it loves being out on the porch in summer. Thank you for sharing- well done with your plant!
Thank you for all of the good information. What caused the tips of the leaves on my plant to turn dark brown ? Unsure if I am watering way too much, or not enough.
Thank you,
Janet
Hi Janet! Yes, brown leaf tips can be caused by overwatering or lack of good drainage. Try using a moisture meter to get an accurate feel for how much water is in the soil!