With its graceful white flowers forming a beautiful contrast to its bushy dark green leaves, peace lilies are an oasis of natural beauty indoors. The elegant houseplant is often marketed as a beginner-friendly plant, but when it comes to watering, they can be notoriously finicky.
When it comes to the biggest mistake people make with peace lilies, Jordan Trainer, the owner of houseplant shop Plantique in Glasgow, says it comes down to watering. The peace lily is prone to drooping dramatically or yellowing, the latter of which, rather confusingly, happens when it could either be too wet or too dry. Thankfully, Jordan has explained the best way to check when you need to water a peace lily—and how to revive yours if it’s gone sideways.
How to check when to water a peace lily
“When it comes to keeping peace lilies, the biggest mistakes people make are either under- or over-watering,” Jordan began. “This may seem confusing, but it’s very easy to spot when you need to water a peace lily. The best way to check is by feeling the soil.”
If the soil is damp to the touch, Jordan advised that watering it would aggravate problems like yellowing leaves and root rot.
“Root rot is where the plant becomes unstable and the foliage tends to drop quickly,” the plant expert explained.
To avoid root rot, simply leave the plant to partially dry out. As a rule of thumb, Jordan added, “A typical desk-size peace lily would need to be watered every 10-14 days on average. Larger plants require less watering than this.”
A peace lily will also turn yellow when not watered enough, with foliage looking “limp, often yellowing foliage”.
Don’t fret, though, as the droopy leaves will perk up with a good watering.
As Jordan said, “Although this isn’t great for the plant, it can be easily fixed by saturating the plant in water for a few hours until it perks up again. Remove any yellow leaves, and the plant will look healthy again.”