Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, green-thumbed enthusiast Lucie Bradley, on behalf of Easy Garden Irrigation, revealed how to make a peace lily bloom. “There are a wide range of reasons why your peace lily is not producing flowers,” Lucie shared. Firstly, some plant varieties are more likely to flower than others – even if they’re all known to be a peace lily.
Most specifically, Spathiphyllum Wallisii and Spathiphyllum Sensation (both peace lilies) tend to produce more blooms than the peace lily Spathiphyllum Cochlearispathum. Secondly, the real reason your peace lily may not be flowering is simply down to age.
Lucie explained: “Peace lilies will not flower if they are too young or too old, and just because when you bought your peace lily it was in flower doesn’t mean it was old enough to be flowering.
“Peace lilies need to be at least one year old before they bloom; once they are two to three years old they should be reliably producing blooms as long as they receive the correct care and attention.”
Was my peace lily to young to bloom?
Lucie elaborated: “When you bought your lily and it was in bloom, if it was in a pot 15cm diameter or smaller, then it was too young to naturally produce blooms.
“[The plant] had been forced by keeping it in carefully controlled conditions and given gibberellic acid, a plant hormone known to induce flowering.
“After this type of treatment your plant may flower for a couple of months and then stop until it’s old enough to naturally flower.”
Correct care and attention
Appropriately aged peace lilies can bloom once in the spring, then again in the late summer or early autumn.
In order to do so, the plant requires “bright, indirect sunlight near a north or east-facing window” and “consistent watering with good drainage and no standing water”.
Additional factors include: a potassium-rich fertiliser; a humid environment that is between 18C to 29C; and any dead or yellowed leaves should be snipped.
