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The peace lily is considered a great houseplant due to its appearance and its easy-going care nature. A Peace lilies fertilizer, light, and temperature requirements are very trouble-free making it a great addition to your home.
But fertilizing your Peace does need some care and attention. Fertilizer plays a significant role to provide nutrients to the plant.
A fertilizer for a Peace Lily should be a balanced ratio of 20-20-20 and it must a water-soluble houseplant fertilizer. It is a good idea to add it during the growing season and avoid over-fertilizing your Peace Lily. After fertilizing, water your plant to spread the fertilizer evenly.
Are you thinking that why the fertilizer is important for Peace lily? I know that you are wondering if nutrients can be fulfilled by the potting mixture as it also carries many nutrients in it.
Potting mixture indeed has nutrients for the plant, but they are not enough for your Peace lily. The potting mixture has its role in plant development, and fertilizer adds to this.
A lack of fertilizer can cause slow growth in your plant, weaken the stems and roots and cause discoloration in your Peace lily.
When Should I Fertilize my Peace Lily?
The best time to fertilize your Peace Lily is in the growing season. For instance, in spring or summer. But this isn’t a written code for a Peace Lily.
You can put in fertilizer at any time in the year. But do not add fertilizer immediately when you bring your Peace lily home from the shop. Because it has fertilizer in it and if you add it to it, then might it cause fertilizer burns.
In general, reduce the amount of fertilizer when winter is approaching and do not add it in winter.
What Type of Fertilizer Should you Give your Peace Lily?
Fertilizer for your Peace Lily should be a balanced ratio of NPK that is 20-20-20. I know you’re looking for more in-depth information. So, let’s study it in detail.
Fertilizers are present in inorganic and organic forms. It plays a vital role to provide nutrients to the plant that helps in growth.
Now, what is the NPK balanced ratio? NPK stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (K). These three are the major macronutrients present in fertilizer.
And these three nutrients must be present in a 20-20-20 ratio because each of them plays an essential role in plant growth.
Nitrogen helps to stimulate new progress in the plant. While Phosphorus is essential for flowers’ growth. Moreover, Potassium enables the regulation of the water in plants.
Apart from these functions, NPK also encourages photosynthesis and protein synthesis in plants. NPK 20-20-20 balanced ratio fertilizer is the fairest selection for Peace Lily.
Apart from these macronutrients, fertilizer also carries micronutrients that also influence a vital role in plant development.
These micronutrients are listed as, Iron, Zinc, Chlorine, Nickel, Calcium, Sulphur, and many more. These micronutrients boost the plant to spread and become bushy.
Moreover, it is a good idea to choose a fertilizer for your Peace Lily in the form of liquid. First of all, liquid fertilizer is very susceptible to utilize.
Secondly, it is very manageable to control the amount of liquid fertilizer. You can add it according to the need of the plant.
If you’re enjoying this article, check out our article on how big does a peace lily get.
How to Make a Homemade Fertilizer for your Peace Lily
You can easily make a homemade fertilizer for a Peace Lily with a few things, such as;
- Compost Fertilizer
- Coffee
- Banana peels
- Aquarium water
- Egg Shells
Compost is a very simple and reliable way to add natural homemade fertilizer to your Peace Lily. Compost Fertilizer is consisting of old or dried leaves, stems, or grass.
It is recommendable not to throw away damaged or old leaves of the plants because it carries the crucial nutrients in them. These can be reused by converting them into a fertilizer for your plants.
Coffee grounds enable you to maintain the growth of your plant due to it providing the Micronutrient that is Nitrogen (N). It is very simple to make fertilizer from coffee grounds.
Add coffee about ¼ part in the water ¾ part and mix it well. Leave it for a week or two. And your homemade Peace Lily fertilizer is ready to use.
Banana holds many nutrients in it. Such as potassium in large amounts, nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium.
Instead of throwing away banana peels, you can cut them into small pieces and add water, two to three drops or more if needed. And make a thin paste of it. Then you can use it as your Peace Lily fertilizer.
If you have an aquarium in your home, then it’s a plus point for your plants. It is necessary to change the aquarium’s polluted water to provide healthy water for your fish.
That contaminated aquarium water is full of many nutrients such as Nitrogen (N) and Potassium (P). Moreover, it also carries many beneficial bacteria that help plants to grow steadily. You can use it as your homemade fertilizer as well.
Egg Shells are also another way to make your a fertilizer at home for your Peace Lily. Eggshells are a great source of Calcium a micronutrient that your Peace Lily needs.
Boil a gallon of water and add eggshells to it. Add 10 – 20 washed eggs shells to it depending on what strength you would like. Leave it overnight. After that use it as your homemade fertilizer for your Peace Lily.
If you’re enjoying this article, check out our article on the 7 great benefits of having a peace lily in your home.
When Should you not Fertilize your Peace Lily?
You should not fertilize your Peace Lily when it’s sick or unhealthy. It will inflict more harm and trauma to the plant.
Moreover, it is applicable not to add fertilizer in winters. But there are numerous other things you need to keep in mind about fertilizing your Peace Lily.
Do not add fertilizer to your Peace Lily when you have just brought it home. You can skip fertilizing for the first eight months. The reason is very simple.
The seller would have normally added fertilizer to the plant and that’s why you don’t need to add anymore. But in case you are planting the Peace Lily and not buying them, you need to add fertilizer to your plant.
Moreover, if you examine brown and yellow leaves after you add fertilizer, about two to three days after. Then it means you added too much extra fertilizer to your Peace Lily.
In this case, you need to remove your peace lily from the pot and place it under running water.
This process will help to remove the extra fertilizer from the plant and ultimately you will become a Peace Lily saver.
Furthermore, if you observe that your Peace Lily is sick due to low/too much light or because of any other reason.
Then do not add fertilizer. First, find the cause of the problem in your Peace Lily, and treat it. Then you can add the fertilizer.
You may also like: How do you care for a peace lily in the winter
How Much Fertilizer Should you give your Peace Lily?
For proper growth, you need to fertilizer your peace lily twice a year.
But according to research, the amount of fertilizer given to a peace lily is directly related to the amount of light. If a Peace Lily is receiving a lot of light, then it needs more fertilizer.
For instance, you have positioned a Peace Lily in high light for better development.
Now, the plant is collecting energy at a high level and consuming all its nutrients to thrive. In this case, you need to reinforce fertilizer to maintain the balance between energy and nutrients.
On the contrary, if a Peace Lily is getting low light, it means that it is needing less energy. That indicates that the plant isn’t consuming nutrients at a high level and you will need to avoid adding fertilizer.
In high light, add fertilizer once in two months. If it is in low light, fertilizer doesn’t need to be added so frequently.
In high light, it needs more fertilizer, but do not add too much. If you have added too much fertilizer then it might cause fertilizer burns.
In medium light, add fertilizer up to 2 times a year. While, in very low light, add fertilizer once a year. In this scenario, it is favorable to add fertilizer to a Peace Lily in the growing season.
Final Thoughts
Peace Lilies fertilizer requirements are not tough. It doesn’t require too much fertilizer for proper growth.
In this case, you need to keep in mind not to add too much fertilizer to your Peace Lily. Too much fertilizer might cause damage to your plant.
On the contrary, not enough fertilizer also leaves a negative impact on the plant. It will cause weakness in your Peace Lily. And if your plant becomes weak, it will damage the appearance as well as the infrastructure of your Peace lily.
It is essential to add fertilizer to your plant. Apart from that Peace Lily likes a balanced ration of fertilizer. It helps the plant to grow adequately.
Before you go, here are some more related articles I encourage you to read below to help solve more of your gardening issues:
How Do You Revive A Dying Calla Lily
Can A Peace Lily Survive Outdoors
Should You Give Your Peace Lilies Coffee Grounds
