‘Essential component’ to ‘encourage’ your peace lily to flower

If you’ve got a lush green-leafed peace lily but no flowers, go and take a closer look. No flowers, right? Not quite. If you look really closely, you can see the beginnings of a brand new peace lily flower on the houseplant. Peace lily ‘flowers’ emerge on a stem just like the leaves. They start small with the spathe tightly wrapped around the spadix hidden amongst the rest of the peace lily leaves. Eventually the flower stem will go on a growth spurt and emerge above the canopy with the spathe slowly opening to the familiar shape we all know and exposing the spadix within. But how can plant owners encourage more flowers to bloom from their peace lily?Madison Moulton, gardening expert at Blooming Backyard said: ‘Your peace lily flower can last for up to a month and then will turn yellow or green before eventually turning brown or black. Deadhead your peace lily flower at any stage to preserve the beauty of your plant.’Here are a few things houseplant owners need to get their peace lily to flower:The best growing mediumPeace lilies, like other houseplants, need well-draining soil that is light and airy to thrive. While they do prefer moist soil, it should never stay waterlogged in order to prevent root rot.Most houseplant soil mixes will be suitable for peace lilies, but gardeners can also make their own by combining two parts potting soil, one part perlite and one part coconut coir. For peace lilies in sunnier spots, add one part compost or water-retaining crystals to the mixture, advised the expert.She added: ‘While you’re assessing the soil, take a look at the pot too. Peace lilies do like being somewhat compressed into their containers, but if you see roots growing from the drainage holes, it’s best to repot.READ MORE: ‘Best place’ to keep your peace lily to avoid ‘killing the plant’ ‘Only way to perk them up!’ ‘Essential component’ to ‘encourage’ your peace lily to flower (Image: GETTY)’Rootbound plants struggle to draw up moisture and nutrients, resulting in stress and stunting growth. This lowers your chances of flowering and can cause a range of other health issues. Repotting Peace lilies is best done in spring once every year or two, depending on the size of the plant.’Feeding Madison said: ‘Nutrients are essential components in plant health, particularly if you want to encourage your plants to flower. Recently purchased peace lilies won’t require feeding, but if they’ve been in the same pot for a while and have used up all the available nutrients, fertiliser or repotting is the only way to perk them up again.’She advised using a balanced houseplant fertiliser and feeding them at least once every two months. For those who find more green flowers appearing, reduce the feeding to every three months, or reduce the strength of the plant food by half. This may not help with the current season, but you should see an improvement the following flowering season.Weak flowers are also a sign that there may be a nutrient deficiency. If the flowers are not well-formed, switch to a fertiliser high in phosphorus. The plant expert said: ‘This nutrient encourages flowering and fruiting in plants and should spur flowering in your peace lily too.’DON’T MISS’Must-have feature’ that will help sell your home and add value [EXPERT]’Natural’ method to ‘effectively’ whiten ‘stubborn’ grout stains [TIPS]Dissolve ‘thick’ toilet limescale with ‘essential’ cleaning staple [COMMENT] Bright light can trigger photosynthesis in the spathes and make them green rather than pure white (Image: Getty) Peace lilies flower naturally in spring and early summer (Image: Getty)For those who have new peace lilies they may be wondering why they are not flowering, this is because ‘young peace lilies do not flower until they are at least a year old’, says the plant guru. She added: ‘To speed up the process, commercial growers feed young plants with plant hormones to make them flower early.’If this is the case, you may take your beautifully flowering plant home and care for it correctly, only to find it stops flowering. The flowers will last a month or longer, but after that, you may battle to get more.’ Give your peace lily a bit more time to mature and it should begin producing flowers again. In the meantime, you can enjoy their wonderful deep green glossy foliage.Flowering season Like age, flowering time is also largely out of your control and a common reason for peace lilies not to flower. Madison explained: ‘Peace lilies flower naturally in spring and early summer. Their flowers can last over a month, extending into the colder seasons. They can also flower once more in autumn in some cases. If you don’t see any flowers popping up in winter during the colder months, that is just a part of the plant’s natural life cycle. You will likely see them again when spring comes.’No stress Wilting leaves or yellowing leaves are signs that a peace lily is under stress and will do anything to conserve energy – flowering not being one of them. These plants are easy to care for and do with a bit of neglect, but if you want them to perform at their best, follow the rules above for a better prospect of healthy plants that flower regularly.