With their thick waxy leaves and delicate cup-shaped flowers, Peace lilies are popular indoor plants that will bring a touch of nature to any room. Besides the right amount of water, peace lilies need sufficient light, but how do these lovely flowers do underneath indoor LED lights?
Can My Peace Lily Grow Using LED Lights?
Peace lilies can absolutely live and even thrive under LED lights.
There’s a reason – actually, there are many – peace lilies have become popular indoors. They are low maintenance, and growers don’t have to be concerned with moving their peace lilies to catch the moving sun throughout the day. Instead, LED lights will do just fine.
In fact, full-on direct sunlight will burn a peace lily, sometimes to death, making them unsuited to sunny gardens. Peace lilies do the best with partial, gentle sunlight. When sunlight can’t be adequately provided, indoor LED lighting is the next best choice.
Most LED lights – unlike incandescent lights – provide the red and blue wavelengths of light that peace lilies need to grow and bloom.
What Is LED Light?
Light-emitting diodes, also known as LED lights, are electronic devices that emit light when an electric current is passed through them.
LED lights are gaining popularity as the primary type of bulb used in homes since they are up to 90% more efficient than incandescent bulbs.
LEDs also just so happen to provide the correct wavelengths of light to grow plants like peace lilies. Even a simple overhead light in a room will keep these plants alive, but more direct lighting may be necessary for growth and flowering.
Benefits To Using LED Lights For Your Peace Lily
There are several benefits to growing your peace lily under an LED light! Some of these benefits include:
- Complete control of the amount of light.
- Complete control of the brightness and intensity of light.
- With LED lights, peace lilies can be kept indoors, even in rooms without windows.
Downsides To Using LED Lights For Your Peace Lily
Of course, with any benefits, there will be potential downsides. The downsides of using an LED light with your peace lily can generally be mitigated, but for full disclosure, we’ve listed a few of them below.
The biggest pitfalls are using an LED light for your peace lily are:
- Unless you have smart lighting, you are responsible for switching your lights on and off.
- Peace lilies need moderate light in order to flower, so one LED may not be enough.
- LED lights can overheat the peace lily if placed too close.
- LED lights are not free. There is an upfront cost when you purchase them, as well as an ongoing cost, since they use electricity.
Tips On How Best To Use LED Lights With Your Peace Lily: Do’s And Don’ts
It would be great if growing your peace lily was as simple as switching an LED light on and off, but plant growth isn’t quite that easy. Plants are nuanced creatures with specific requirements.
For your benefit, here is a list of do’s and don’ts for growing peace lilies with LED lights.
Do’s For Using LEDs With Peace Lilies
- Use quality equipment. Not all LED lights are created equal, and the cheaper ones don’t have the correct wavelengths of light to encourage growth.
- Turn off your lights on a regular schedule. In nature, peace lilies would be exposed to the regular day and night cycle, which means we need to fabricate this cycle by shutting off our lights during the night.
- Monitor your light placement. Too close, and you could scorch your peace lily. Too far away, and your lily won’t get enough light to thrive.
Don’ts For Using LEDs With Peace Lilies
- Don’t overdo it. Too many lights, or overly intense lighting, will dry out and eventually scorch a peace lily, killing it in time.
- Don’t use green lights. Green lights won’t hurt a peace lily, but all plants need red and blue light, not green.
- Don’t keep your light in the same place at all times. Give all the leaves on your peace lily equal time in the LED light by rotating the position of your light throughout the week.
Where Can I Buy LED Lights For My Peace Lily?
Local garden shops should carry LED grow lights, but LEDs can also be bought at larger centers and online shops.
For example, if you are US-based and want to do your shopping online, Amazon has the Plant Growing Lamp by Cholas with over 1,000 reviews.
Lowes, a hardware store, also has a wide variety of grow lights, including The Good Earth Lighting LED lamp.
Always read reviews and ascertain that you have the right strength LED before using them with your peace lilies.
Final Words
Peace lilies do wonderfully under LED lights as long as they are well suited for the plant. Pay close attention to your lily when using LEDs exclusively, and it should thrive and flourish.