First things first: if your environment doesn’t change that much during winter, you don’t have to make any changes to your peace lily care.
Peace lilies come from tropical rainforests near the equator that don’t really have a winter. If your house stays warm and bright year-round, just keep doing what you’re doing.
If, like me, you come from somewhere where winter is cold and dark and grim af, then you may need to amend your care. For more guidenance on how to do that, read on.
How peace lily care changes in winter
What to do less of
Water less.
Wait until the soil is almost dry – or until your lily wilts.
This might take significantly longer in winter for the following reason:
- your plant isn’t growing as quickly, so will absorb less water
- It’s colder, so water won’t evaporate as quickly
- It’s darker, so again, water won’t evaporate as quickly.
Repot & fertilise
If your peace lily isn’t actively growing then you don’t need to repot or fertilise your plant.
BUT
That does NOT mean that if you do decide to fertilise or repot your peace lily it will immediately drop dead. If it’s healthy it will likely not care at all.
But you don’t NEED to feed/repot in winter.
But you can should you feel the urge.
What to do more of
Check for pests and cleaning the leaves.
Peace lilies can tolerate pretty cold winters (indoors – frost will kill em) but it is an opportune time for pests to creep in.
Peace lilies, in my experience, aren’t particluarly pest-prone, but it’s a good idea to keep a close eye on them anyway.
If you want to learn more about how I clean my peace lilies I have an article on it here.
Watering peace lilies in winter
Overwatering is soooo easy in winter because the soil can stay damp for so long. I tend to wait for my lilies to droop before watering in winter (in summer I like to catch them in plenty of time) because I don’t want them to get root rot.
The other problem of overwatering is that if the soil is constantly wet it can really reduce the temperature of the soil, which can encourage rot and discourage growth.
Here’s my article on watering peace lilies should you be interested.
The importance of temperature
Warmth has a MASSIVE effective on keeping plants healthy over winter.
Huge.
I only realise just how impactful it was when I got an obnoxiously large and efficient radiator (weird thing to brag about, Caroline) last November and my plants went wild (well, not wild, but they grew a bit more than they usually do that time of year).
In summer light is the thing that will make the biggest difference to your plants growth. In winter, temperature is the key to health.
If you have a plant you’re worried about, consider moving it to a warmer spot or getting it a heat mat.
You may find you have to do a bit of moving your plants around to optimise heat/light in winter. Obvs spots near windows are nice and bright but they can be super cold too.
Fertilising peace lilies over winter
The general rule is if your peace lily is still throwing out leaves go ahead and feed it.
In reality I’ve tried feeding over winter, not feeding over winter, feeding in summer, not feeding in summer and it didn’t make much difference. Fertiliser is but a supplement!
How important is light in winter?
Controversially, I sometimes move my plants away from optimal lighting in favour of warmer rooms. I don’t keep any plants in my (south-facing, big windowed) bathroom over winter because it’s too cold.
I actually move most of plants from the bathroom and living room into the bedroom because I have some bookcases dividing the room that is about six feet from the window.
The light is AGGRESSIVELY medium but it doesn’t get too cold. Whilst plants definitely don’t thrive over winter, they do ok there.
Leaf issues in winter
- Drooping
- Yellow leaves
- Brown leaves
I was going to cover all of these separately but in reality, most leaf issues have the same few causes. So, if ANYTHING weird is going on with the leaves check for:
Root rot
Take the plant out of its pot and check the roots. IOF the soil is wet and the roots are mushy then dry out the soil and snip of the affected roots. Peace lilies usually bounce back well from root issues.
Pests
Hose the leaves down. I like to spray the leave with a horticultural soap solution. You’ll need to do it a couple of times a week for a few weeks.
Getting the leaves wet can encourage bacterial infections so wipe them over with a towel after you’ve sprayed it down.
A homicidal plant
In winter, peace lilies like to take stock fo their leaves and may shed the ones that aren’t pulling their weight. If the leaves go yellow but in a vibrant way rather than a sad way then it’s usually the lily having a little self-audit.
Leave the leaves on until they go brown – the plant will suck any nutrients out before dropping the leaf.
Lack of humidity
Peace lilies can get a bit funny about dry air – if you notice brown tips to the leaves that can be a humidity issue.
TBH peace lilies are FINE at ambient, if not quite low humidity levels, if you can deal with the odd brown leaf tip. You may find that over time they’ll realise sulking didn’t result in higher humidity so they stop doing the brown tip thing.
Tap water
See humidity. Peace lilies have been kept as houseplants for hundreds of years (this may not be true – but definitely dozens of years). If you can drink it, they can drink it. I am NOT having any plant in my house drinknig better quality water than me.
Buuut if your tap water isn’t drinkable then your peace lily may appreciate filtered water (though don’t expect any thanks from it).
