Getting a peace lily to bloom can be harder than you first think. I’ve had mine sit there for months looking healthy with it’s green leaves but no blooms whatsoever.
And then one day I changed the fertilizer I was using and very quickly saw new blooms.
In order to give your plant the best chance of thriving then knowing what to feed it is going to make a big difference. Changing up your fertilizer or finding the right one could well be what your peace lily needs.
So I’m going to show you what I believe is the best fertilizer to make a peace lily bloom, how to make it, mistakes you might make and more.
Why Your Peace Lily Isn’t Blooming (And It’s Probably Not What You Think)
Before we get into the fertilizers themselves I want to touch on why your peace lilies is refusing to bloom. I spent way too long blaming my fertilizer when the real problem was that my plant was sitting in a dark corner and not getting enough light. So start there first and make sure you’re giving it the necessary amount of light.
But assuming that’s not an issue then fertilizer becomes the next piece in tjthe puzzle. Peace lilies are native to the tropical rainforests of Colombia and Venezuela and they’re used to soil thats full of nutrients that also gets replenished by decomposing organic matter. In your home that isn’t happening. That’s where we come in.
The NPK Ratio That Actually Makes Sense
You’ve probably seen those three numbers on every fertilizer bag – 10-10-10 or 20-20-20. That’s NPK: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. For peace lilies that won’t bloom phosphorus is going to hell. It’s the nutrient that’s responsible for the flower developing.
I used a fertilizer that was high in nitrogen for months (which is great for the leaves but terrible for flowers). What you really want is something like a 10-15-10 or even 5-10-5 ratio where that middle number, which is the phosphorus, is higher than the others. This should help your peace lily to make some flowers instead of just giving you more foliage.
My Top Fertilizer Picks
After going through around a dozen different products these are the ones that got my peace lilies to bloom on a regular basis:
- Espoma Organic Indoor Plant Food (2-2-2): I know the NPK is lower than I just said but there’s a reason for that. But this is gentle, organic and won’t burn your plants. I use it every two weeks during the growing season and my peace lilies love it. The slow release formula means you’re not shocking the plant by dumping a huge amount of nutrients on it.
- Miracle-Gro Bloom Booster (15-30-15): When I really want to get blooms fast this is the one I go for. That 30% phosphorus is powerful. I’ll use this once a month during the spring and summer, diluted to half strength because peace lilies are sensitive.
- Jack’s Classic Blossom Booster (10-30-20): Similar to the Miracle Gro but I find it dissolves better. The high amount of phosphorus in it really works to get peace lilies blooming, though I only use this when the plant is already healthy. It won’t fix for a neglected plant.
- Schultz All Purpose Liquid Plant Food (10-15-10): This is the one I choose for maintenance feeding. The balanced ratio with little bit more phosphorus keeps my peace lilies in blooming without overdoing it. Plus it’s fairly cheap and available basically everywhere.
Fertilizing Schedule
This is where a lot of people makes mistakes (and I’m no exception to that). They either over-fertilize or under-fertilize. There’s this weird middle ground that peace lilies need and it took me around two years to figure it out.
During the spring and summer (March through September for most of us), peace lilies are growing. This is when you want to fertilize every 4 to 6 weeks with a diluted fertilizer.
I do about 1/4 to 1/2 strength of whatever the bottle recommends. Peace lilies are known to be sensitive to the salts in fertilizers, and if you do overdo it you’ll get some nasty brown leaf tips.
In the fall and winter I pretty much stop fertilizing altogether. Maybe doing it once every 8 to 10 weeks if the plant looks like it needs it but for the most part I just let it rest.
The Dilution Method
I started doing this method after reading about it on some obscure gardening forum at 2am. Instead of giving a full strength dose once a month I give a super diluted dose (something around 1/4 strength) every time I water during the growing season. This seems to work because it’s similar to how the plant would get nutrients in the wild.
My peace lilies responded almost immediately. Within about six weeks I had new blooms coming through.
Organic vs. Synthetic: Does It Matter?
I’ve gone back and forth on this quite a bit. Some gardeners are very committed to organic fertilizers whereas others swear by the synthetic. After using both im of the opinion that both work, but they work differently.
Organic fertilizers like fish emulsion, worm castings or compost tea release nutrients slowly as they break down. They’re gentler, harder to overdo and they improve the structure of the soil over time.
The downside? They can smell foul. like you wouldn’t believe. Especially the fish emulsion.
I’ve sure it indoors before and my home smelt like a marina for days after. I won’t be doing that again!
Synthetic fertilizers are more precise and work faster. You know exactly what NPK ratio you’re getting and the results show up quicker.
The risk is overfertilization and salt building up in the soil. And I’ve killed a few plants with synthetic fertilizer and it’s usually because I was thinking “if a little is good more must be even better”. It’s not though.
What I do now is use organic fertilizers for regular maintenance and synthetic when I really want to get more flowers.
The Micronutrients Everyone Forgets About
I’ve mentioned NPK a lot but peace lilies also need micronutrients like magnesium, calcium and iron. I didn’t think this mattered much until my peace lily’s leaves began to turn yellow inbetween it’s veins which is a big sign of a lack of magnesium.
A lot of quality fertilizers have these micronutrients as part of them, but if yours doesn’t you can supplement it. I occasionally use Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) by dissolving a teaspoon in some water and using it to water once every few months. The difference in the color of the leaves and how good the plant looked was apparent within about three weeks.
Calcium is another big one. Peace lilies grown in distilled or very soft water can end up with a deficiency of calcium because there are no dissolved minerals.
If you’re using tap water then you’re probably fine. If you’re using filtered or distilled water you might want to add a calcium magnesium supplement or try occasionally watering with tap water.
Fertilizing Mistakes That Kill Blooms
Don’t make these silly mistakes with your fertilizing:
- Fertilizing dry soil: This was my biggest mistake early on. Always water your peace lily first, then fertilize it. If you add fertilizer to dry soil it can burn the roots and cause some serious damage.
- Using cold fertilizer solution: Mix your fertilizer with room temperature water, not cold water straight from the tap. Peace lilies are tropical plants and cold water shocks their system, which in turn can stress them right when you’re trying to feed them.
- Not flushing the soil: Every few months I send a lot of water thdoufh my peace lily’s soil to wash out any build up of salts from the fertilizer. I’ll take it to the sink and run water through the pot for a few minutes and let it drain fully. This syops that salt from building up which cab cause brown tips of the leaves.
- Fertilizing sick plants: If your peace lily is struggling with root rot, pests or disease then no amount of fertilizer will help it. In fact it’s far more likely to make things worse. You have to fix the underlying problem first then get back to fertilizing when it’s healthy.
- Ignoring the soil pH: Peace lilies prefer slightly acidic soil (pH 5.5-6.5). If your soil is too alkaline then the nutrients become unavailable even if you’re fertilizing the right way. I test my soil pH every year with a cheap kit you can get from the garden center.
Moving Past Fertilizing
Fertilizer on it’s own isn’t going to make your peace lily bloom if the other conditions aren’t right. It’s part of a bigger picture.
Light is probably the most important factor. I moved a peace lily that wasn’t blooming from a north facing window to an east facing one and that was enough to get it blooming. All it needed was better light.
Humidity matters too. Peace lilies come from tropical environments where humidity is around 50-60%. Most of our homes are more like 30 to 40%, especially in the winter. I use a humidifier near my plants during dry months and they definitely have healthier leaves and bloom more often because of it.
Temperature is another piece of the puzzle. Peace lilies bloom best when the daytime temperature is around 68 to 85°F and nighttime temps don’t go below 60°F. When the nighttime temperature drops it can help get blooming to start as the plant interprets it as a seasonal change.
The Repotting Trick That Jumpstarts Blooming
Sometimes a peace lily won’t bloom for the strangest reason – it’s too comfortable in its pot. They bloom more when they’re a little bit rootbound. But if it’s been in the same soil for 2 to 3 years the potting mix is probably lacking nutrients no matter how much you fertilize.
I repot my peace lilies every 2 or 3 years into fresh potting mix. Having new nutrients in the soil plus a fresh start will often get it to start blooming within 6 to 8 weeks. Just don’t go up more than one pot size or you’ll get lots of leaves growing instead of flowers.
My Current Fertilizing Routine
After all this trial and error this is what I do now:
- March through September: Diluted balanced fertilizer (10-15-10) every time I water at 1/4 strength
- Once a month during growing season: Bloom booster at 1/2 strength to get the plant producing flowers
- October through February: Fertilize once every 6 to 8 weeks at 1/4 strength, if at all
- Every 3 months: Thoroughly flush the soil with plain water to stop salt from building up
- Every 6 months: Epsom salt supplement for magnesium
This routine has kept my peace lilies blooming pretty consistently from spring through to fall with some occasional blooms in winter as well. They’re not constantly covered in flowers – that’s just unrealistic – but I usually have at least one or two spathes on each plant at any given time.
Final Thoughts
There isn’t one “best” fertilizer that works for everyone. What your peace lily wants and needs will come down to how much light it’s getting, the humidity, temperature, water quality and the nutrients in the soil.
What works for me in my home with a bright east facing window that has 50% humidity might not work if you live in an apartment that’s dry and with little light.
But if I had to give you a starting point? Get a balanced fertilizer with slightly higher amounts of phosphorus (like 10-15-10), dilute it to 1/4 or 1/2 strength and then use it every 4 to 6 weeks during the growing season.
You could also have a bloom booster ready for when you really want to push flower production. Make sure you don’t overfertilize it either as it’s the fastest way to kill any chance of your plant from blooming.
The most important thing is being consistent and keeping an eye on your peace lily. See how it reacts to whatever fertilizer you use.
Yellow leaves? That means you should use less nitrogen. No blooms despite lots of growth? Increase the phosphorus. Brown leaf tips? Reduce fertilizer concentration or frequency.
Peace lilies are generally quite forgiving once you figure out their rhythm. Mine went from never blooming to giving me flowers regularly and it wasn’t because I found some magical fertilizer – it was because I stopped doing too much and started giving the plant what it needed, when it needed it.