Last updated on September 26th, 2022 at 01:25 pm
When growing plants, especially for ornamental purposes, a major concern is how long the plant will stick around to properly pay off the time and the resources invested.
For a small, fragile and potted plant like peace lily, who requires little attention to thrive, it is easy to think of them as short-lived annuals. But is this so? And how long can you expect them to live?
Peace lilies are perennial plants and, as such, can live for about 3 to 5 years, if afforded the proper care and attention. Even outdoors in temperate regions, peace lilies may die off in winter but will come back every year when conditions become more favorable. In bright light, peace lilies will continue to flower over and over until the plant lives out its lifespan.
How Long Do Peace Lilies Live Indoors?
The perennial nature of peace lilies is heightened when grown indoors. Here, they can grow well over five years in an ideal position with proper temperature and humidity levels. Peace lilies flower and can reseed in the same pot resulting in new growth, which can replace older plants whenever they give out.
Indoors provide a haven for peace lilies. Remember, peace lilies are shade-loving plants that appreciate a humid atmosphere. Therefore, an indoor environment provides nothing short of an ideal growing condition for peace lilies.
Nevertheless, if a peace lily is constantly subjected to stress indoors, it could die off before living out its lifespan. A common cause of stress for peace lilies indoors is the constant use of air conditioners and dehumidifiers.
These devices sap moisture from the leaves of the plant, causing the plant to dry out quicker. Negligence towards an indoor peace lily could also cause it to die off prematurely.
True, a peace lily does not require too much care and attention, yet when deprived of the meager care it requires, the plant readily gives out, especially when grown indoors where natural conditions are limited.
Note that the lifespan of a peace lily grown indoors is not fixed as a race. Rather, how long your peace lily will last indoors largely depends on you and the conditions you provide. So, what can you do?
How Can I Make my Peace Lily Live Longer?
You can keep your peace lily around for much longer by adhering strictly to its required growing conditions, preventing and swiftly fighting pests and diseases of the plant. With these actions, you can even have your peace lily live beyond the average five-year lifespan as many have.
A proven fact here is that, the more you care for your peace lily, the more likely it will be to live beyond the average lifespan.
You can never really give too much care to your peace lily. However, an average or negligent care will only keep peace lily within the 3 to 5 years lifespan or less.
Below are some suggestions that you can adopt to make your peace lily live longer.
1. Provide Adequate Light
You must have heard it said that peace lilies grow even in the dark. Well, here is the fact, peace lilies thrives in bright indirect light and a balanced shade. Peace lilies only survives in extremely low lights but with reduced activity and minimum health.
Therefore, to keep your peace lily healthy and thus extend its lifespan, ensure to place your plant where it receives moderate and indirect light. Look out for and correct any symptoms of lightning problems such as yellowing of leaves or the presence of brown spots.
2. Keep the Atmosphere Humid
Peace lilies originate from and thrive in tropical and subtropical climates. Thus, a healthy peace lily can only be grown in a warm and humid environment, even if it is grown indoors.
Peace lilies may not show any visible sign as a tolerant and forgiving plant when these requirements are not met until it becomes extreme.
However, peace lilies will only tolerate a less humid atmosphere to live for an average lifespan. For your peace lily to live longer, you need to keep the atmosphere around the plant warm and humid at all times.
3. Enrich Your Soil
As a simple plant, even the nutritional requirements of peace lilies are undemanding. However, since they are usually potted, it depends wholly on you to provide rich soil for your peace lily.
I recommend using an all-purpose potting mix to grow peace lilies, although, you can use good draining garden soil or succulent soil.
Periodic application of compost will improve the health and longevity of peace Lilies. You can apply fertilizers as well, but I would not encourage that. Fertilizer application easily becomes excessive and encourages mineral accumulation, which affects the peace lily negatively.
4. Avoid Pests and Diseases
The broad leaves of peace lilies accumulate a lot of dust which attracts pests such as mites and mealybugs. These pests eventually feed on plants causing the plant to decline in health. Other than these pests, peace lilies can also be infected with stem and root rot.
The presence of excess water introduces stem and root rot due to overwatering. To ensure that peace lilies lives beyond their average lifespan, avoid these diseases by watering your plant only appropriately. Also, keep pests away by applying horticultural spray on your peace lily.
5. Re-Pot Annually
A peace lily that grows healthily should outgrow its container every year. At that point, the roots become congested and the soil insufficient. Peace lily will be aided to continue growing when it is re-potted to a properly sized container.
Repotting annually also helps you improve nutrient efficiency. With this process, the soil is changed even before the soil is completely used up, improving the health of your peace lily.
Doing this will also help you prevent diseases from developing as a result of congested roots.
Despite how simple growing peace lily and extending its lifespan seems, as discussed here, some people still find it an arduous task. But just how hard can it be? Let us find out.
How Hard Can it Be to Keep a Peace Lily Alive?
Just like propagating it, peace lilies are not difficult to keep alive. You do not need to be a professional horticulturist, nor do you need to consult one frequently to ensure that your peace lily stays alive through its lifespan. Once propagated, a peace lily requires very little care and attention to keep alive, and with proper conditions, a peace lily can do fine even on its own.
It is very unusual to see a dead peace lily except those who have lived out their lifespan and produced numerous offspring. Notwithstanding, you can find dying peace lilies courtesy of negligence and the application of improper methods. Let’s briefly discuss these.
The internet is filled with countless reviews stating that peace lilies are self-sustaining and do not need attention. Adhering to such recommendations only encourages negligence when growing peace lilies. Remember, when peace lilies are not given the required care, especially when grown indoors, they can easily die off.
Applying improper methods, on the other hand, can also encourage the death of a peace lily.
For example, while fertilizing your peace lily is advantageous, the amount recommended by the manufacturers for houseplants can be excessive for a peace lily.
Also, while flowering in peace lilies depends heavily on light availability, exposure to direct sunlight, which will scorch and eventually kill the peace lilies.
You can easily do the following to keep your peace lily alive:
- Propagate peace lily in a good draining, all-purpose potting soil.
- Exposure your plant only to bright, indirect light, and sufficiently.
- Adhere to a good watering schedule to avoid overwatering and underwatering.
- Re-pot your peace lily plant annually to create room for growth.
- Use a proper sized pot to improve aeration in the soil.
- If necessary, use fertilizers but only sparingly.
- Keep the room warm and the atmosphere humid.
- Avoid disease and pest infestation in your plant.
Conclusion
Peace lilies can live for 3 to 5 years and beyond as perennial plants if afforded the proper care, especially when grown indoors. It requires nothing special or extraneous to grow peace lilies and keep them alive through their lifespan.
This article has outlined guidelines to improve your experience in growing peace lilies and extending their lifespan far above average. Adhering to this guide can make your peace lily healthy and attractive, even immortal!
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