How to Grow a Peace Lily? Detailed Guide to Care Methods and Precautions

The peace lily is not only a blessing phrase for the New Year and festivals, but also the name of a plant. Its leaves are long, elliptic-lanceolate, tapering at both ends, with obvious veins. It is one of the plants widely grown in courtyards or indoors. So how do you grow a peace lily? What precautions should be taken during cultivation?

1. Propagation

Division propagation: Best done in May to June; lift the whole plant out of the pot, cut the rhizome apart from the base of the clump, with at least 3 to 4 leaves per division, and place in semi shade after replanting to recover.

Seed propagation: After flowering, artificial pollination can produce seeds. Seeds must be sown immediately after collection. The germination temperature is 30°C, and germination occurs 10 to 15 days after sowing.

Tissue culture propagation: Using young inflorescences and lateral buds as explants, after disinfection they are inoculated on MS medium supplemented with 10 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine and 2 mg/L indoleacetic acid. After 40 to 45 days, callus tissue and adventitious buds grow. The adventitious buds are then transferred to MS medium supplemented with 2 mg/L indoleacetic acid, and roots are induced in about 30 to 40 days, forming complete plantlets.

2. Light

The peace lily is fairly shade-tolerant, so it is suitable for growing in a semi-shady environment, and direct sunlight must be avoided. According to experiments, about 60% scattered light is enough to meet the growth needs of the peace lily, so it can be grown year-round indoors in a spot with bright scattered light. If it is placed under strong light, the leaf surface will turn yellow and may even be directly sunburned. In northern winter greenhouse cultivation, shading may be omitted or reduced. If the light is too dim for a long time, the peace lily will be unlikely to bloom.

3. Temperature

The peace lily likes high temperatures and is especially afraid of cold. The most suitable growth temperature is 20—28°C. Once winter arrives, it must be brought indoors. The lowest temperature it can tolerate is 10°C, so attention must be paid in winter. Relatively speaking, northern cultivation conditions are too poor. If the peace lily is kept at low temperatures for a long time, it will cause root rot, leaf drop or scorching, and in severe cases may even lead to death.

4. Soil

Soil is the foundation of cultivation. Potted peace lilies require loose soil with good drainage and aeration; heavy clay soil must not be used. Generally, a substrate can be prepared by mixing leaf mold, peat soil and a small amount of perlite, and a small amount of organic fertilizer can be added as a base fertilizer when planting.

5. Watering

The peace lily has a relatively high water demand and must be kept with moist potting soil at all times. However, it must not become waterlogged. Once watered too much, a large amount of water accumulates in the pot, which easily causes root rot and plant yellowing. In summer and during drought, water should often be sprayed on the leaf surface and the ground to increase air humidity, which is beneficial to its growth. In winter, watering should be controlled, and slightly moist potting soil is preferable.

6. Fertilizing

Because the peace lily grows quickly and has a relatively high fertilizer requirement, liquid fertilizer should be applied once every 1-2 weeks during the growing season. Fertilizer should be applied thinly; do not apply concentrated fertilizer or raw fertilizer, and after applying solid fertilizer, water once with clear water. It is best to use dilute fertilizer water instead of clear water for irrigation. In this way, fertilizer damage generally will not occur, and the plant will grow luxuriantly.

7. Diseases and Pests

This is a common problem for home-grown plants, and it can be avoided as long as care is proper. If harmful mites cause damage, the leaves will show undesirable symptoms such as wilting, reduced gloss and yellow withering. Acaricides specific to mites can be sprayed for control, such as dicofol, hexythiazox, pyridaben, etc.

Precautions for Growing a Peace Lily

1. The peace lily needs relatively high growing humidity. If the air is too dry, the leaves will wilt.

2. Master the appropriate light level. Generally speaking, growing a peace lily requires at least 73% shading. In summer, 80% shading is better. If the light level is too low, the leaf color of the peace lily will fade, and growth will also be inhibited.

3. The peace lily is easy to grow, but its demand for magnesium is much higher than that of many other foliage plants. When magnesium supply is insufficient, the edges of the old leaves of the peace lily will turn dry and yellow.

4. Controlling root rot is crucial; if the plant is infected with root rot, its root system will turn black and cause the old leaves to wither and die, and in severe cases it will lead to plant death.

5. Spraying gibberellic acid artificially induces the plant to bloom. Different varieties bloom at different times. Note that too high a concentration of gibberellic acid will cause the plant's flowers to become deformed.

6. Choose a container of appropriate size according to the variety.