GrowingHQ
Houseplantflowering houseplantStraightforward

Peace lily

Spathiphyllum wallisii

One of the few houseplants that flowers reliably indoors and the only common one that tells you clearly when it is thirsty: it collapses dramatically and recovers within an hour of watering. That is a useful signal and a bad habit — repeated wilting weakens it over time.

Position
Moderate light
Water
moderate demand
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Grows to
40–65 cm × 40–60 cm
Frost
Frost tender
Flowers
April to August
Difficulty
Straightforward

August

In flower

Peace lily’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
In flowerApril. May. June. July. August.
Take cuttingsApril. May.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light
Partial shade, Dappled shade
Frost
Frost tender
Grows best at
18–27 °C
Soil
Peat-free compost
Soil pH
5.5–6.5
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Water needs
moderate
Drought
poor tolerance
Waterlogging
moderate tolerance
Heat
moderate tolerance
Wind and exposure
poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Peace lily — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Peace lily — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Peace lily — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Peace lily — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Spathiphyllum wallisii — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Peace lily — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

More tolerant of wet than most aroids, though not of standing water.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayGrows well herePeace lily grows perfectly well on heavy clay without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
SandyWorks, with one conditionPeace lily will crop on sandy, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering.Water and mulch will carry it through. On this soil the watering is not optional in a dry spell, which is the difference between a crop and a failure.
Chalky and alkalineStruggles herePeace lily struggles on chalky and alkaline: The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 6.5, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely.
LoamGrows well herePeace lily grows perfectly well on loam without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
SiltyGrows well herePeace lily grows perfectly well on silty without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Peaty and acidGrows well herePeace lily grows perfectly well on peaty and acid without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Shallow over rockWorks, with one conditionPeace lily will crop on shallow over rock, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering.Water and mulch will carry it through. On this soil the watering is not optional in a dry spell, which is the difference between a crop and a failure.
Made ground and urban soilWorks, with one conditionPeace lily will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 6.5, and this soil sits around 7.2 to 7.8.The pH is the obstacle. Small shifts are achievable and slow; large ones are not. On made ground and urban soil the dependable answer is a container of the right compost rather than an attempt to change the ground.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
40–65 cm
Mature spread
40–60 cm
Rooting depth
20 cm
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

In a container

Minimum volume
4 litres or more
Minimum depth
18 cm
Where the container figures come from
Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Indoor potWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Indoors, or outdoors in summer only
HydroponicsWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

WindowsillMarginal
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Open groundNot suitable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors.

Growing it

  • WateringWater before it wilts rather than using the wilt as the reminder. The recovery is complete and the stress is real: repeated collapses show up later as browning tips and fewer flowers.
  • FeedingA plant that has stopped flowering usually needs more light, not more feed. Move it closer to a window — out of direct sun — before reaching for fertiliser.
  • PropagationPeace lilies cannot be grown from a leaf and are increased by division instead. Knock the plant out of its pot in spring, and you will see it is several crowns sharing one rootball; tease or cut them apart so each piece has leaves and its own roots, and pot them individually. Expect a sulk of a few weeks afterwards.
  • TransplantingIn spring, every second or third year, one pot size up, and take the chance to split a large congested clump into two or three — a peace lily is a clump of separate crowns and comes apart by hand or with a knife more easily than it looks. A plant that wilts within a day or two of watering has filled its pot and is telling you it needs this. Do not repot in autumn; a peace lily that droops in November is usually cold, dry-aired or overwatered rather than pot-bound.
Where this guidance comes from
WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Peace lily — watering

Checked 2026-08-13

FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Peace lily — flowering

Checked 2026-08-13

PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Spathiphyllum — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

TransplantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Spathiphyllum — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

Four ways to make more plantsFour propagation operations compared, each showing where the separation is made and what must be present on both sides of it. Division: a clump cut between crowns, with roots and at least one growing point on every piece. Stem cutting: a shoot cut just below a leaf node, because the node is where roots form, with the lower leaves removed. Runner: a plantlet already rooting where it touches the ground, severed from the parent only after its own roots have taken. Offset: a young shoot at the base of the parent, separated with its own roots attached. In each case the cut is marked and the part that must be retained is labelled.Divisioncut between crownsroots on every piececut below a nodeStem cuttingroots form at the nodestrip the lower leavesRunnerlet it root firstthen sever the linkOffseta shoot at the basetake its roots with it
The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

What goes wrong

Start from what you can see

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogsPainful or persistently unwell; veterinary advice worth takingListed at genus level

Listed as harmful to cats or dogs

Peace lily is listed as harmful if eaten. All parts carry needle-shaped insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which drive into the soft tissue of the mouth on contact. The pain is immediate, which is why an animal rarely takes a second bite and why fatalities are rare — but the drooling and swelling that follow are real and distressing.
source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Spathiphyllum — toxic plants list

Checked 2026-08-13

Affected parts: all parts.

  • Pets and livestockpetschildrenContains insoluble calcium oxalate crystals. Chewing causes immediate burning of the mouth, drooling and swelling. It is NOT a true lily and does not cause the kidney failure that true lilies cause in cats — a distinction worth making, because peace lilies are frequently reported with that far more serious hazard.
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Spathiphyllum — toxicity

    Checked 2026-08-13

    Keep out of reach of pets and small children. Rinse the mouth if chewed and seek veterinary advice if there is swelling or difficulty swallowing.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.

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