How To Care For And Grow Your Peace Lily
Native to: Colombia
Watering needs: Frequent – keep soil moist
Lighting needs: Preferably as much as possible; will survive low light, but will bloom less often
Difficulty: Some care required
Great for: Beginners
Pet-Safe: No
Looking for a quick introduction?
We've summarized all the essentials in our short Peace Lily video, here:
2.0 Picking The Right Spot (Lighting, Air Conditioning, Temperature)
3.0 Caring For Your Peace Lily (Watering, Dusting, Re-potting)
1.0 Choosing your Peace Lily
Peace Lilies are simple.
It’s Alright If You See:
No flowers
Peace Lily flowers don’t really last long. So seeing no flowers at all is not an indicator of poor plant health.
But, Watch Out For:
Black or Brown Leaf-tips
Indicates that the Peace Lily had a watering issue at some point.
2.0 Picking The Right Spot (Lighting, Air Conditioning, Temperature)
Half of plant parenthood is choosing the perfect spot.
Lighting
The more indirect light your Peace Lily gets, the more it'll bloom and the larger its flowers will be. But avoid direct sunlight (max: 2 hours) as that may burn its leaves.
When you bring your Peace Lily home, place it as close to a window as you can, making sure it has the largest possible view of the sky. Then, keep an eye on it for a few days. We highly recommend placing it near a window for the first month, so it gets acclimated to its new home.
If you see scorch marks on your Peace Lily within an hour, then that means it’s getting too much sunlight.
Pro-tip: You don’t need to worry about UAE windows, most of them are tinted, so the sunlight coming through is already filtered indirect light, not direct. If you were to keep your Peace Lily near a non-tinted window, you would see scorch marks on its leaves within the hour.
Air Conditioning
Place your Peace Lily as far away as possible from the direct air escaping from your AC vent. The dry air may cause its leaf tips to start browning.
Temperature
Like most houseplants, Peace Lilies are happiest between 18 °C – 30 °C.
3.0 Caring For Your ZZ Plant (Watering, Dusting, Re-potting)
How to keep your plant alive (and also show your love).
Watering
Maintain moist soil
Peace Lilies want their soil to be kept moist. At least once a week, touch the top layer of the soil; If it feels dry (not wet or cold), then that means it’s time to water.
Your Peace Lily’s leaves will also start to droop when it’s thirsty. Don't be alarmed – a drink will perk it back up. As with all plants, the more light it gets, the more water it will need – keep an eye out for its drooping leaves to signal when it's time for a drink.
Note: The more light it gets, the more often it’ll need to be checked and watered.
Leave water to aerate for 24–48 hours
Peace Lilies require a little more work as they’re more sensitive than other plants when it comes to chlorine and calcium found in tap water. To combat this, we recommend leaving your tap water out for 24–48 hours before watering to give the minerals time to evaporate.
Dusting
Once a month, gently wipe away any dust on your plant.
Wiping your Peace Lily free of dust with a damp rag once a month will help it soak in light and breathe through the little pores on its leaves (stomata).
Re-potting
Leave it in its nursery pot
Peace Lilies are slow growers, so they only need to be repotted once every 3–4 years. When you notice its roots growing out the bottom of the pot, then that means it the time for re-potting.
Time to re-pot
When it's time, use a high-quality potting mix and transfer your peace lily into a pot that's about 1–2 inches in diameter larger than its current one (or one or two sizes up).
When in doubt, reach out to our team at hello@plntd.ae, and we’ll help you identify whether the soil bag you’re considering will work for your Peace Lily.
Remember, always go for a pot with drainage holes.
Pro-tip: To keep watering simple and easy, you can simply re-pot your Peace Lily into a larger nursery pot and place that nursery pot in a larger planter.
4.0 Beginner questions
Ask away, grasshopper.
How easy is a Peace Lily to care for?
Peace Lilies are low maintenance.
They can tolerate low light levels, though they grow larger and bloom larger flowers the more sunlight they get, but they are fairly thirsty drinks and require water 1-2 times per week (the more light they get, the more you can expect to water them).
How much light does my Peace Lily need?
Peace Lilies are native to the rainforest floors of South America and have evolved to grow in the shade, under the canopies of tall trees.
Your Peace Lily will thrive in similar medium-light conditions. As long as there is a window in the room it's placed in; it will be happy.
Having said that, the more light they get, the bigger they will grow and the larger their flowers will bloom.
Can I use UAE tap water to water my Peace Lily?
Yes. Peace Lilies can be watered using UAE tap water.
However, UAE tap water contains chlorine and calcium which Peace Lilies are especially sensitive to.
- Scorched brown tips at the leaves = too much chlorine.
- White crystals on the soil = too much calcium.
To combat this, make sure to:
- Leave tap water out for 24–48 hours before using it. This allows the chlorine time to evaporate.
- When watering your Peace Lily, make sure to water through the soil until it is dripping out the bottom of the nursery pot. This flushes out any excess build-up of calcium (and other minerals) from the soil.
Will AC harm my Peace Lily? What temperature should I set it to?
Peace Lilies are native to tropical rainforests, as such, they thrive in warm, humid climates.
AC's achieve the opposite results: they make the temperature colder, and the air dryer.
The ideal temperature for Peace Lilies, as with most indoor plants, is between 18 °C and 30 °C. Though they can tolerate lower temperatures, you'll need to reduce your watering drastically, as the risk of overwatering increases the lower the temperature is.
So, whenever possible, place your Peace Lily (this applies to all plants) as far away from AC vents as possible.
To combat the drying effect of the AC, mist your Peace Lily with water to replicate its native climate. Once a week is minimum; once a day is ideal!
Do I have to re-pot my Peace Lily as soon as I receive it?
In short, no.
Once you receive your plant, place it in the spot you plan to keep it in (whilst still in its nursery pot) and allow it at least 6 months (ideally 12) to acclimate to your home's temperature and light levels.
Once acclimated, you can choose to either re-pot your plant or leave it in its nursery pot.
How will my Peace Lily arrive?
The short answer is: in its nursery pot.
Our priority is to get your plant to you as safely as possible and ensure that it flourishes when it gets there.
The most effective way to do this is to deliver your plant to you in its nursery pot. Once you receive it, place your plant in the spot you plan to keep it in and leave it there, in its nursery pot, for at least 6 months (ideally 12), allowing it to acclimate to its new environment.
Will my plant look like the plants on your website?
Whilst every plant is unique and will have natural variations in color, shape, and size, we do our best to ensure every plant you receive closely matches what you see online.
I've killed plants before and am worried about doing so again. Can you help me?
That's what we're all about! We've written detailed plant guides for all of our plants, as well as general plant guides that should be helpful to any plant beginner.
Furthermore, if you ever find yourself worried and guessing as to how to care for your plant, then we're always an email away. Just write to us at help@plntd.ae and we'll do our best to help you out!
5.0 Some Common Problems
Don't let this list scare you — trust us, Peace Lilies are easy to care for.
Brown/Burnt Leaf-tips
No matter the cause, burnt leaf-tips won’t regain their color, we also recommended snipping away with clean scissors so you can keep track of your Peace Lily’s health.
Cause 1: Overwatering
Suggestion: Allow soil time to dry out completely (sometimes this can take 2-4 weeks), then slowly re-water.
Cause 2: Too many impurities raising the pH level, such as chlorine from tap water.
Suggestion: Peace Lilies are more sensitive than other plants when it comes to chlorine and calcium found in tap water. To combat this, we recommend leaving your tap water out for 24–48 hours before watering to give the minerals time to evaporate.
Cause 3: Too much fertilizer
Suggestion: At the next watering, give your Peace Lily a good shower to rinse out as much fertilizer as possible, or, better yet, re-pot it using fresh high-quality potting soil.
Drooping Leaves, Stems, Flowers
Cause 1: Underwatering or low humidity
Suggestion: Time for a drink!
Cause 2: Too much light
Suggestion: Move it away from its current spot and it should stop drooping in about a day.
Cause 3: Too hot
Suggestion: Reduce temperature to below 30° C, improve air circulation, or move your plant to a cooler spot.
Cause 4: Damaged roots
Suggestion: Remove the rotted stems and roots and re-pot your Peace Lily.
Flowers Wilting Away
Peace Lily flowers don’t last long. When your flowers start to wilt, simply snip them away with a clean pair of scissors.
Not flowering
Cause: Not enough light
Suggestion: Move your plant to a place with more indirect sunlight, but not outdoors or under direct sunlight.
White Powder-like Substance
Cause: Too much calcium in water used
Suggestion: Peace Lilies are more sensitive than other plants when it comes to chlorine and calcium found in tap water. To combat this, we recommend leaving your tap water out for 24–48 hours before watering to give the minerals time to evaporate.
6.0 Buying Peace Lilies Online
When shopping for a plant online, look out for the following:
Height
If you're looking for a table-top plant, then go for one that's 40cm tall. A 60cm tall plant would work well on a low side-table. Plants about 1 meter or taller would work well as statement floor plants.
Note: Stated heights will always include the height of the plant AND planter.
Pot style
This is all about the vibe you're looking for, and you'll typically have a choice amongst different colors and shapes.
If you're looking for subtlety, we suggest a circular pot in white. To make more of a statement, look for contrasting shapes and colors!
Delivery
It goes without saying that your plant supplier should meticulously package all plants.
When you personally buy a plant from a store, you're able to rush it home, ensuring it stays outside for as little time as possible. But when you order online, your plant will ride-share with a lot of other plants all on their way to their new homes.
Depending on where you live, weather can play a big part in your plant's health along the way.
If possible, ask your plant shop what precautions they take to ensure your plants stay as safe as possible en route to you.
Reviews
Reading customer reviews are a good way to get an idea of the customer experience provided by the seller (here's ours, by the way), but you need to practice caution there.
Don't expect to be able to tell a fake review right away, some reviewers can be great con artists, and some negative reviews can be fake to harm the seller.
Your best bet is to zoom out and look at multiple comments from multiple categories to get a good overview of whether you can trust this company and/or their review section.
For example, look at how recent the reviews are, and how spread apart. Was there a sudden spike of comments in a short amount of time? Do they sound like they're all written by someone rehashing the same template? Do they all sound too positive to be real?
Yes, going all detective on reviews can be a chore, but Future You will thank you for it.
Returns and refund policies
Things can go wrong.
Sometimes it's no one's fault, and sometimes there's nothing anyone can do.
So the best practice is to offer (and honor) a no-questions asked return/refund policy. Check out the seller's policy before you make a purchase, so you know you're insured in case things don't work out.
You can check out our return/refund policy here.
Ready to adopt a Peace Lily?
Your Peace Lily can't wait to meet you — just choose a height and pot and let's introduce you two!
