What Kind Of Light Does A Peace Lily Need? (Peace Lily Light Requirements)

The peace lily or Spathiphyllum is a fantastic houseplant if you are a beginner and want to start with a houseplant that is easy to grow. Before you get your hands on one, it would be better to know what kind of light peace lilies need to thrive, grow, and flower.

Light is one of the critical factors that cross our minds whenever we consider adding any houseplant to our collection. So, in this article, we will learn what kind of light does a peace lily needs?

Peace lilies require moderate to bright indirect light, but they can adapt in low light as well. Even though peace lilies are an excellent choice for a low-light plant, keeping them under bright indirect light is recommended to encourage fuller growth. Make sure to avoid harsh direct sunlight.

If you are not aware of the light requirements of your houseplants, you might end up providing the wrong kind of light that will only cause problems.

Peace lilies are easy to care for, and with the right light, you will see lush green foliage and beautiful white flowers (if you are lucky!) Now let’s learn about the lighting requirements of the peace lily plant.

Importance of light for peace lilies

Why do we focus so much on the light? The reason is it is the food for your plants. 

Plants use light to photosynthesize. They use light along with carbon dioxide and water and turn all of that into food and energy. And peace lily is no different, so it requires light for the same process.

If your peace lily doesn’t get enough sunlight, it will grow leggy, weak, and develop other problems. If you don’t make any changes, you will see stunted growth that eventually leads to death.

What is the best light for Peace Lily?

The Peace Lily comes from the tropical regions where it is used to dappled light. As a houseplant, peace lily requires bright and indirect sunlight for best growth.

Peace Lily is a tolerant plant that can survive in a low-light area. However, you might not see march flower or foliage growth in this case. 

Always remember that you should keep your Peace Lily plant away from direct sunlight and too intense light. 

If you notice that the edges of the leaves of your Peace Lily are becoming crispy and brown, the reason might be that your plant is getting direct sunlight. 

Therefore, find the spot with medium to bright indirect sunlight for your Peace Lily.

Direct vs. Indirect sunlight

As a beginner, it can get difficult to understand the difference between direct and indirect sunlight. 

While all the articles on the Internet tell you that your peace Lily requires indirect sunlight, most of them do not explain what indirect sunlight means. 

Don’t worry as we are here to explain. 

If your Peace Lily is placed in front of a window with no glass or curtains, it means that sunlight is hitting the plant directly. This is called direct sunlight. 

On the other hand, if you are Peace Lily is near that window, but the window has blinds or curtains, the sunlight will not hit the plant directly as it will pass through the curtain first. This is an example of indirect sunlight. 

Most of your houseplants prefer indirect sunlight as direct sunlight becomes too intense for their tolerance.

Summer vs. winter light

The sunlight does not remain the same throughout the year, affecting your Peace Lily or other houseplants if you don’t know what to do about it. 

Most of your houseplants rise in the summer and spring season and slide into a dormant state with the arrival of the colder months. 

During the summer, the intensity of the sunlight remains more, and the duration is longer compared to winter. 

If you don’t notice much growth in your peace Lily during the winter season, try not to panic as this is normal.

In winter, the plants do not receive much light as the days are smaller, and the intensity of the light also reduces. Therefore, these plants go into a dormant state to save up energy and survive through the winter. 

So even if it seems that your Peace Lily is not growing, it is storing that. It will use some for survival while storing the rest to use during the spring.

Where should I place a peace lily in my house?

The best place for your Peace Lily is near a window of your house where it will receive bright to medium indirect sunlight. 

If you stay in the Northern hemisphere, and East-facing window would be perfect for your Peace Lily. Here it will get the cool morning sunlight and gentle sunlight through the rest of the day. 

Some varieties that have cream and dark foliage indicate that they are more low-light tolerant. If you don’t have a good natural light source in your house, you can consider getting one of these. 

However, you will need to provide some light to it, if not natural, then artificial. 

You can also place the Peace Lily plant under fluorescent lights. If you think of getting a plant for your office, a Peace Lily plant might be a good option.

Note: Keep your Peace Lily away from the spot where it gets hit by the direct sunlight. Exposure to direct sunlight for a long period can cause severe damage to the plant.

How many hours of sunlight does a peace lily need?

The Peace Lily plant requires sufficient bright to moderate sunlight throughout the day to thrive and remain healthy.

It can adjust to low light conditions, but the growth will be slower.

However, if there is not enough natural light, you can use one to two fluorescent lights, especially in winter.

16 to 18 hours of fluorescent light will work well for the peace lily plants. You can also use good quality grow lights to boost their growth.

Effects of low light on Peace Lily 

The Peace Lily plant is considered a great low-light plant. It can survive in a shady or a partially shaded area and can even tolerate fluorescent light. 

However, low light conditions can slow down the growth of your Peace Lily plant. Other problems that you can come across due to low light are: 

• Yellow leaves
• Leggy growth
• Smaller leaves
• Dull foliage 

All these happen because the plant fails to photosynthesize or perform other activities due to inadequate light. The plant runs out of all the stored energy soon and therefore becomes weak and develops problems. 

However, you can fix this by placing your Peace Lily in a brighter location where it gets sufficient indirect light.

Effects of too much light on Peace Lily 

While you can fix low light issues by tweaking the placement of the plant, the effects of too much life are harder to fix. 

Signs:

• Yellow leaves
• Brown leaves
• Dry soil
• Crispy foliage
• Droopy leaves 

The first step to fixing a Peace Lily receiving too much light is pruning the damaged leaves with a disinfected pruner. This will let the plant focus on new growth instead of recovering the damaged ones. 

Now, you must find a location where the Peace Lily will not get direct sunlight. 

A window with a sheer curtain is perfect as it would provide indirect sunlight to your Peace Lily. Relocating the plant will save it from further damage due to direct sunlight.

Can Peace Lily grow in low light?

Peace Lily is a good choice if you cannot provide bright light but do not expect too much growth if you keep it in low light conditions.

Peace Lilies require moderate to bright indirect sunlight throughout the day to show faster growth. Without enough light, you will fail to see that.

However, there will still be growth but at a much slower rate.

Can Peace Lily survive without sunlight?

Peace Lilies can survive without direct sunlight. It is considered as one of the plants that grow or survives in low light by many gardeners.

Direct sunlight can cause severe and irreversible damage to these plants.

Peace Lilies can thrive under 16 to 18 hours of fluorescent lights. So, consider adding these lights or getting artificial lights for your Peace Lilies if the light is low.

What if there are no windows in the room?

Many gardeners have reported that their peace lilies have grown flowers while growing in a room with no windows!

However, that doesn’t mean you’ll not provide any light to the plant. A room without any window means that there is no natural source of light in it.

Therefore, you must provide some light to your Peace Lily plant so that it won’t develop any problems. 

The good news is Peace Lily plants can grow in fluorescent lights, so you can install two bulbs over the plant and check how your plant is reacting to it.

You can also purchase artificial lights, also known as grow lights, that are available online and use them on your Peace Lily plant.

Final words

If you plan to get your hands on a Peace Lily plant, try to find the place in your house where it will receive moderate to bright indirect sunlight. 

Peace Lily is an easy-to-grow plant other than being a great air purifier. If you want your peace lily to thrive and increase, you must consider giving it good lighting along with the other basic requirements. 

But, if you are getting a Peace Lily for a low-light area like your office desk, consider using fluorescent bulbs or artificial lights to support the plant’s lighting requirements. 

Intense or direct sunlight can burn the leaves of your Peace Lily plant, along with causing other problems. So you must keep it away from locations that receive direct sunlight. 

With the right knowledge and proper care, you will have a thriving Peace Lily plant that will purify the air inside the house.

---

Ref: ScienceDirect, NCBI, University of Vermont, Nationalgeographic, NC state university, University of Florida, The University of Arkansas, Queensland Government.