There are not many households these days that don’t have a peace lily sitting somewhere in a quiet corner. Unfortunately most of these poor lilies, in my experience, look like they have seen better days!

They are one of my favourite house plants. I have five (cheeky grin). Granted, they are easy plants to keep alive but when it comes to making them really happy, it takes a little more “technique”.

This is how you can keep your lily baby happy:

Peace Lilies like water and they don’t like to be left to dry out for too long. They will certainly tell you when it’s time to water as they slowly start to look droopingly sad.

This is when it’s time for a walk! A walk you say? It’s a standing joke in our household yes. When it’s time to water, Mr Peace Lily gets taken for a walk outside, placed in a shallow basin and drenched with rain water from our tanks using my watering can, and I mean drenched. Even the foliage gets “rained on” as these lilies like a shower.

As mentioned in my previous blog, it’s trying to duplicate the environment where they originally come from. The thing is that it’s usually a little late by the time the plant starts to droop. You should do this just before this happens preferably to stop black tips from forming on the leaves. It’s easy to forget but try and make a schedule for watering. If you don’t have an “outside” then place them in basin under the shower or in the bath tub and water as you wait for the water to get warm.

Black tips on the leaves? Yes, these are a problem and it’s difficult to keep at bay. I often get it wrong, but black tips form when there is irregular watering or a build up of salts in the soil from shallow watering and fertilising. This is why it’s important to drench the plant thoroughly and let the water drain through. You will see results, I promise.

If you can lift a lily out of its pot and there is hardly any soil but just root, it is what we call “pot bound”. Time to repot! Do this, but only move one pot size up. Too big a pot and you will have one unhappy plant. They like to be snug, but just not too snug.   

Don’t forget to feed your lily with an organic plant food like Seagrow from time to time. This will promote flowering and general well being. Good light (but not direct sun!) will help with this too. Do all of this and this thriving, beautiful plant will enhance your space and even clean your air in return.

Congratulations, you are now a fully fledged Peace Lily plant parent!