Peace lilies are popular houseplants, but getting them to bloom can be tricky
Peace lilies are known for their lush foliage and elegant, sail-shaped blooms(Image: Anna Blazhuk via Getty Images)
Peace lilies are known for their lush foliage and elegant, sail-shaped blooms. When those flowers fail to appear, it’s natural to wonder what’s gone awry.
More often than not, if your peace lily refuses to bloom, it’s down to one key missing element, according to nursery and garden centre @botanicalheaven_.
A gardening expert who frequently shares tips on the Instagram page explained that lighting is the primary culprit behind non-flowering peace lilies, and offered a simple solution.
She explained: “My number one recommendation, and it’s the one that makes the biggest difference, is to move your peace lily to a spot that receives brighter natural light from a window.
“So, no direct sunlight because that can burn its leaves, but just a brighter spot. That is going to make the world’s difference.”
Peace lilies are widely celebrated for tolerating low light conditions, which tempts many gardeners to place them in dimly lit corners, reports the Mirror.
Sadly, while they’ll manage in shade, flowering will be sacrificed in the process. They won’t flourish, much less produce blooms.
The first step when your peace lily refuses to flower is relocating it to a brighter spot with indirect light. A north-facing window offering bright indirect light is the perfect scenario.
It’s perfectly normal for peace lily flowers to begin green, turn white, then brown, but if your blooms remain green, that’s typically a tell-tale sign the plant is receiving excessive light. The gardening expert also highlighted that feeding peace lilies can encourage blooming, though only during their active growing periods.
Plants cannot produce flowers without proper nutrition. If your peace lily hasn’t received any fertiliser since leaving the nursery or retailer, it simply lacks the necessary resources to bloom.
She explained: “Only fertilise them during the growing seasons, which are spring and summer. It’s very energetically expensive for a peace lily to produce flowers, so you need to give them all the extra nutrients and light they need to do this.”
Nourish your peace lily with a balanced, water-soluble houseplant fertiliser every four to six weeks throughout spring and summer.
Be careful not to over-feed, as excessive fertiliser can harm the roots and actually hinder flowering.
