Peace Lily, Not Blooming Anymore

Question:

I’ve had my peace Lily now for three years now. We keep it in a north facing window with open blinds. Water only when drooped slightly, usually every Sunday. It’s a mature plant we bought from a local flower shop in a 10″ container.

I have never had a house plant and I usually kill every plant I have. 🙂 lucky for me she’s forgiving when I forget to water her for a few days.

This last year we moved to a new house and I’ve noticed she’s not bloomed once since we moved over a year ago. We would get two or three blooms from her In our apartment. (North facing window). I’m wondering what could cause a peace lily to stop blooming? There’s no other signs of distress except some yellowing tips on the larger leafs.

I’m also concerned of root rot. What symptoms would I need to look for and what’s the best way of dealing with it? I’m planning to re-pot in March.

Answer:

Congratulations on your success with your Peace Lily!

Peace Lilies are sporadic bloomers at best. Some varieties bloom better than others, but most are bred to bloom profusely at time of sale, but bloom only sporadically thereafter. There is not much you can do about the genetic makeup of your Peace Lily, but there are a few things you can do to help promote flowering.

*Keep your Peace Lily potbound. Repotting discourages flowering because the plant then puts most of its energy into  filling the pot with roots at the expense of flowers. Repotting is also likely to cause root rot. If a Peace Lily wilts and does not perk up after watering, then that is because the roots have rotted and by then it is usually too late. As long as you don’t repot and you delay watering until the leaves are at or close to the wilt-point, then you do not have to be concerned about root rot.

*Lots of bright indirect sunlight such as you get very close to an uncovered north or east window will encourage flowering.

*Proper watering just before the leaves start to wilt will also help.

*Finally adding some all-purpose plant food at half strength once per month may encourage flowering.

Even if you do all of the above, you will never get as many flowers as it had when you first purchased it. Just be satisfied that you are doing all you can to optimize flowering and enjoy the healthy, green foliage.