The peace lily is the plant most Australians own and most Australians quietly struggle with. It survives in a dim corner, forgives a missed watering and tells you plainly when it is thirsty, yet it also browns at the tips, refuses to flower and collapses in a cold hallway. Almost all of that comes down to four things: light, water quality, winter temperature and pot size. Get those right and a single plant will last a decade.
Quick facts
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Mature size | Most indoor cultivars 40-70 cm high and wide; the Sensation peace lily reaches 1.2-1.5 m |
| Position | Bright indirect light: a metre or two back from a north or east window, or close to a south-facing window |
| Climate zones | Indoors nationally; outdoors only in frost-free subtropical shade |
| Soil | Free-draining indoor potting mix with added perlite or coarse bark |
| Water | When the top 20-30 mm of mix is dry; roughly weekly in summer, fortnightly in winter |
| Temperature | Keep above 12-15 degrees; damage shows below about 10 degrees |
| Toxicity | Contains calcium oxalate crystals, an irritant to cats, dogs and children |
Choosing the right variety
Peace lilies are all Spathiphyllum, and the differences between the cultivars sold in Australia are mostly about scale. The Stephanie peace lily is a compact, well-proportioned form that suits a side table, a desk or a bathroom shelf where a full-sized plant would overwhelm the space.
The Sensation peace lily is the giant of the group, with deeply ribbed leaves and a mature height well over a metre. It is a floor plant rather than a shelf plant, and it needs a heavy pot for stability and considerably more water than the compact cultivars. Larger-flowered selections such as Blue Moon and Sweet Romano sit between the two.
Whichever you choose, buy the size you want rather than expecting fast growth, because peace lilies bulk up steadily but do not grow quickly indoors. If you are still deciding, our roundup of low light plants for the home compares them with the other reliable options.
How to plant
Pot into a container only one size larger than the current one, with drainage holes. Peace lilies flower better slightly snug, and an oversized pot holds wet mix around roots that are not using it, which is the fastest route to root rot. If you are using a decorative cachepot, keep the plant in its nursery pot inside it and tip out any water that collects in the base.
Use a quality indoor potting mix with about one part perlite or coarse orchid bark to four parts mix. Sit the crown at the depth it was growing before, firm gently and water until it runs from the base. Repot every two years in spring, dividing a crowded clump into sections that each keep several leaves and a fair share of roots.
Position it out of direct sun and away from heater vents, air conditioners and draughty doorways. A bathroom with a window is close to ideal, and a spot two metres inside a north-facing window gives good light without burn. Our indoor plant tips for beginners cover the rest.
Ongoing care
Watering
Water when the top 20-30 mm of mix feels dry, which usually means weekly in summer and every ten to fourteen days in winter. Water until it runs from the drainage holes, then let it drain completely, and never leave the pot standing in a saucer of water. Peace lilies wilt dramatically when dry and recover within hours, which tempts people to use wilting as their schedule. Do not: each wilt kills fine root hairs, and repeated cycles cause the brown tips people then blame on humidity. Australian tap water compounds this, because chlorine, fluoride and dissolved salts accumulate in the mix and burn the leaf margins. Use rainwater where you can, and flush the pot heavily every two or three months.
Feeding
Feed at half the recommended strength every four to six weeks from September to March, and stop entirely over winter. Peace lilies are light feeders and salt-sensitive, so a weak solution regularly beats a strong one occasionally. If leaf tips are browning and you have been fertilising to fix it, stop and flush the pot instead, because overfeeding produces exactly the same symptom as underwatering.
Pruning
Cut spent flower stems right down at the base rather than partway, because the stub browns off and dies anyway. Remove yellowing or damaged leaves at the base too. If tips have browned, trim them with clean scissors following the natural leaf shape, and fix the cause rather than trimming repeatedly. Wipe leaves with a damp cloth every month or two, because dust reduces the light reaching a plant already growing in low light.
Common problems and fixes
Brown, crispy leaf tips. The most common complaint. Usually fluoride and salt build-up from tap water and fertiliser, sometimes repeated wilting or dry winter air from heating. Flush the pot, switch to rainwater and raise humidity.
Yellowing lower leaves. Ageing if it is only the oldest one or two. If it is widespread and the mix is wet, it is overwatering, which our guide to avoiding overwatering covers in detail.
Wilting even though the mix is wet. Root rot. Tip the plant out, cut away black or mushy roots, repot into fresh mix in a smaller pot and water sparingly until new growth appears. See our article on root rot for the full recovery process.
No flowers. Almost always not enough light. Move the plant closer to a window without putting it in direct sun. Plants bought in full bloom are often treated by growers to flower uniformly, so a new plant may take a year to bloom again on its own.
Green flowers. Spathes naturally age from white to green. If they open green, the plant is getting too much light or too much fertiliser.
Blackened leaf margins in winter. Cold damage. Move the plant away from windows and external doors, and keep the room above 12 degrees. Cut watering back to once every ten to fourteen days over winter, because growth slows and cool wet mix is where root rot starts.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my peace lily have brown tips?
Brown tips are usually a water-quality problem rather than a watering-frequency problem. Fluoride and chlorine in mains water, plus salts left behind by fertiliser, concentrate at the leaf margins where water evaporates. Flush the pot with three or four pot volumes of plain water every couple of months, switch to rainwater or water left standing overnight, and feed at half strength. Repeated wilting and dry air from heating cause the same symptom.
Can a peace lily live outdoors in Australia?
In frost-free subtropical areas such as Brisbane and northern New South Wales it grows well outdoors in deep shade, on a covered patio or under a dense canopy, and appreciates the humidity. It must be protected from direct sun and from any frost. In Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth, treat it strictly as an indoor plant that can spend warm months in a sheltered, shaded position outside.
Are peace lilies safe for cats and dogs?
No. Every part of the plant contains calcium oxalate crystals, which cause burning of the mouth, drooling, vomiting and swelling if chewed. It is rarely fatal but it is genuinely painful, so keep the plant out of reach of pets and small children and wash your hands after pruning. If you need a safer option, choose a plant specifically listed as non-toxic instead.
Do peace lilies really purify indoor air?
Only marginally. The laboratory research usually quoted was carried out in small sealed chambers, and later analysis found you would need dozens of plants per room to match the effect of simply opening a window. Peace lilies are worth growing because they tolerate low light, look good and are easy to keep alive, not because they will measurably clean the air in a normal home.
Ready to plant?
Peace lilies ask for very little: indirect light, rainwater when the top of the mix dries, a warm room in winter and a repot every second spring. Browse our indoor plants range to compare cultivars, or choose the compact Stephanie for a shelf and the Sensation for a floor-standing feature. If your room is genuinely dim, our low light indoor plants collection lists everything that will cope.
