Peace Lily: A Beneficial Plant You Must Have at Home
Peace lily, scientifically known as “Spathiphyllum”, is one of the most popular house plants. Because of its low maintenance and beautiful appearance, this plant can be a favorite choice for anyone. It is native to the tropical regions of America and Southern Asia.
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It is a tropical evergreen plant that can grow to three feet tall. Its glossy dark green oval leaves make this plant look elegant. These leaves directly rise from the soil. The plant also produces light pregnant white flowers, which have a resemblance to the calla lilies. These long-lasting, white flowers will turn green as they age.
Peace lilies can be an ideal gift to be given to a person, not just because they are elegant-looking plants but also because they are very easy to keep and will not become a burden. It is the type of plant that you have to water at once and then forget about it for a week or two.
It will let you know when it is thirsty and when it gets saggy. Then water it again, and it will become fresh.
Besides its low maintenance and unique beauty, the peace lily can provide many other benefits as well, making it a good choice to be kept in your rooms or office. This plant can purify the air of pollutants and toxins. Which results in better sleep, improved concentration, and reduction in stress.
The Benefits of Peace Lily Plants
All of the houseplants are very beautiful, but most of them provide benefits beyond their decorative purposes. Peace lilies are among those beneficial plants that can grow at home easily and get many benefits.
1 Purifies Air
One of the many benefits that peace lily provides to humans is purifying the air. Our home contains a large percentage of pollutants that can cause serious health issues. Most people are not aware of these, as they cannot be breathed directly. But just as outdoor, indoor air can be toxic as well.
This is because of the chemical in wooden paints, refrigerators, sprays, and perfumes. Therefore, it is important to remove these pollutants from your surroundings which can be done with the help of proper ventilation and various houseplant, including peace lilies.
The peace lily is also known as the “Cobra Plant”, which can help in reducing these toxins. According to NASA experiments, the peace lily can absorb some of the most dangerous pollutants, including benzene, xylene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. And it eliminates this pollutant by up to 60%, which provides clean and fresh air in return.
2 Promotes Healthy Sleep
Insomnia has become a common health problem today, as every second person is suffering from poor sleep or sleep difficulty. But there are various indoor plants with amazing benefits that can promote restful sleep. Various studies have also shown that houseplants can be very helpful in making you fall asleep and sleep well throughout the night.
For this reason, this plant can be a good option to keep in your bedroom, as it will also provide a beautiful sight. This plant improves sleep quality by purifying the air, increasing humidity levels, and making breathing easy. It also helps in good sleep as it absorbs all the common allergens from the air.
Moreover, the beauty of the peace lily is also well-known for its calming effect by relaxing the mind and body. According to Feng Shui, this plant can bring positive energy and touch to your room. This plant’s pleasant smell and color can also relax the mind and support sleep quality.
3 Prevents Growth of Mold and Mildew
Another benefit of the peace lily plant is that it can balance the humidity level of your home or workplace. Because of their tropical nature, this plant enjoys humidity and can absorb it naturally. This can restore the balance of your home’s humidity level, making it more comfortable.
This ability of a peace lily to absorb moisture can provide an additional benefit. As lower humidity can prevent the growth of mold and mildew. Damp places provide a thriving environment for mold and mildew, as they are usually found in bathrooms, kitchens, and tile grouts, which can cause discomfort and various health issues to people who are sensitive to this.
Exposure to these can result in coughing, sneezing, eye irritation, skin allergies, and nasal stuffiness. People with lung problems or other illnesses like Asthma have sensitive immune systems and are at higher risk of mold exposure. As peace lily love to absorb humidity, it will not only grow properly there but also make your washroom free from mildew by absorbing all the humidity from it.
So, try to place this plant in a place with higher moisture, like kitchen and pool areas.
4 Reduce Stress & Increase Productivity
Indoor plants not only provide aesthetic value but can also positively affect your mental health and provide therapeutic benefits. Studies have also shown the potential of indoor plants to lower physical and mental stress levels.
These studies have shown that being around refreshing indoor plants can suppress any stressful activity in the nervous system. A peace lily is one of these indoor plants which can produce a relaxed sensation in the body and mind, so planting a peace lily can be very helpful if you want to achieve more relaxation and stress reduction.
Moreover, a peace lily can also increase productivity, whether it is at home or at offices. Research has also shown that if there is greenery in an office environment, it can improve productivity by 15%. The researchers also found that these plants can improve concentration and satisfaction in the workplace.
So buying a peace lily for your office is worth considering for people wanting to experience something new at work.
5 Absorb Acetone Vapors
Peace lilies can protect from another dangerous pollutant, Acetone, which can harm human health. Acetone vapors are often present within the product used in homes. Paints, varnishes, nail paint remover, and other products that contain alcohol and acetone vapors.
Continuous exposure to these vapors can cause headaches, blood pressure, acetone poisoning, lack of coordination and even lethargy.
But if you have a peace lily at home, you can keep yourself safe from all of these health conditions. Hence this plant has the ability to absorb the pollutant from the air, including acetone vapors, which can make your air clean to breathe.
6 A Perfect Home Décor
Indoor plants with a lot of benefits can also provide a perfect décor for your homes. The peace lily is one of the houseplants, which is a perfect inclusion to the home décor. The enchanting beauty of the white flowers and green foliage catches anyone’s eye.
This plant species can fit into any kind of room décor, whether it is a part of a larger collection or just standing alone; peace lily works in all conditions. This plant can also be gifted to someone on special occasions. Some variegated varieties are also available, like the beautiful “Peace Lily Domino”.
You can add this plant in many different ways to make your home more decorative. You can select a decorative pot in which you can plant this to make it more appealing. That decorative pot will increase its beauty. Depending on the space, you can also place these plants on your tables, shelves, and counters. It is the best choice for people who want to make their place look gorgeous without the high maintenance.
6 A Low Maintenance Plant
When it comes to indoor plants, most people want a plant that does not need much care and is easy to maintain. If you are also one of those people, the peace lily is the best option for you. As this plant can grow both in bright light and zero light. It can also survive if you forget to water this plant.
So if you are a person with a busy schedule, this plant is a good option for you. As it provides good looks with glossy green leaves and white bracts, with minimum care and attention.
7 Easy to Propagate
Another amazing fact about peace lilies is that they can be easily propagated by division. This means you can enjoy multiple peace lily plants from your original plant. You can also propagate this plant at any time of the year. But the best time to propagate is during summer and spring.
In order to propagate peace lily, first remove the plant from its container. Divide the sections of the plant by using a knife, scissors or your hands. Just make sure that each section must have segments of rhizome and roots attached. Once the division is done, you can report those divided new sections as new smaller peace lily plants.
Peace lilies can tolerate both low and bright light, but they will flower more if they are in the bright light, so to make them grow faster, place them near the window but out of direct light. Their ability to tolerate the light also makes them a good option for indoor spaces with limited access to direct sunlight.
Tips to Grow Your Peace Lily
No doubt that the peace lily is a low-maintenance plant, but still, it is a living thing that is dependent on you, so it is very important to take care of it. But the good thing is taking care of peace lily is not very hectic or time-consuming.
- Light: Peace lilies are not much demanding of light as they can tolerate both low and bright light. But the good choice for them is low light. So if it is possible, keep this plant under shade and avoid direct sunlight.
- Temperature: Peace lily likes the temperature to be constant between 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. So try to protect your plant from cold changes in temperature.
- Fertilizing: This plant does not need any fertilizer to grow, but you can add some during summer and spring. Organic fertilizers can help your plants bloom. avoid fertilizers that contain chemicals.
- Watering: Peace lily can survive without water for very long. You have to water it a lot at once but then leave it to dry afterward. Water it once a week in the summer to keep it fresh. And if the plant is completely drooped, keep watering that way; it will give it a chance to revive.
- Repotting: Peace lily is one of those house plants which only need repotting once in a while. Try to repot your peace lily only when the plant’s roots are showing or the plant is drinking all the water within a few days. You won’t have to buy a larger pot for a peace lily, not more than 10 inches.
- Pests Control: peace lily is an elegant plant, but sometimes it has certain problems like yellowing of leaves and pests like aphids and spider mites, so try to spray the leaves with insecticidal soap and remove the leaves from direct light and water them if they are turning yellow. Moreover, this plant can have little toxicity to small children and pets, so keep this plant away from those.
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Bottom Line
The peace lily is a perfect houseplant for those people who want a low-maintenance yet elegant plant for their house. This plant is well known due to its beautiful appearance and beneficial property of purifying the air from harmful pollutants.
Researchers have developed numerous benefits of peace lily as this plant has the ability to improve sleep quality, reduce stress, increase productivity, and also make your home a naturally beautiful look.
One of the best things about peace lily, which makes it a famous houseplant, is its quality to grow well even with low maintenance and harsh environment. As this plant has the ability to tolerate both low and bright light. It can also survive if it is not given water for a longer period of time.
All you have to do to keep your favorite plant fresh is to keep it away from direct sunlight and keep protected from the cold temperature.
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Great article