Does A Peace Lily Need Direct Sunlight?

The peace lily is famous for surviving in low-light environments. However, surviving is not the same as thriving! Without enough light, the leaves of your plant will fade, and blossoms will become rare or nonexistent. On the other hand, exposing your peace lily to excessive, direct sunlight will cause wilting, yellow leaves, and brown tips.

So, does a peace lily need direct sunlight? No, it does not need direct sunlight. Instead, peace lilies need filtered, indirect sunlight.

Keep reading to ensure you have all the information you need to get the light right.

What Kind Of Light Do Peace Lilies Need?

Peace lilies only need indirect or filtered light to keep them growing beautifully.

Try to find a window that receives a little morning sunlight and no direct noon or afternoon sunlight. If your chosen window does receive harsh midday rays, move your plant back a little or place it where it will receive shade from other plants, a curtain, or similar.

An alternative to natural light is to use artificial grow lights. This will enable you to adjust the light to ensure your plant receives just the right amount.

Peace Lily Light Conditions In Their Native Habitat

To imagine the ideal light conditions for your plant, it is helpful to think of its natural habitat.

Peace lilies are native to tropical rainforests. Here they grow on the jungle floor, where the dense canopy of trees and plants above them ensures that little direct sunlight reaches them.

What can you conclude from this? The ideal native conditions for peace lilies include warmth, humidity, and filtered indirect light.

How Can You Tell If Your Peace Lily Receives Too Much Direct Sunlight?

The signs that your peace lily is not getting the right kind of light are similar to the symptoms of other ailments, such as overwatering, underwatering, wrong temperatures, etc. This does not mean that you should be oblivious to the signs, just that you must consider other possible causes when encountering them.

Yellow, curled leaves can indicate that your peace lily receives too intense direct sunlight. This is especially true if the affected leaves are fresh new growth. Older leaves turning yellow and wilting is more natural.

If your peace lily suffers from yellowing, curled leaves, or brown tips, consider whether it might receive too much direct sunlight. If it does, move it to ensure it receives indirect, filtered light instead.

How Can You Tell If Your Peace Lily Receives Too Little Sunlight?

Again, the signs that your plant is not receiving enough light are not unique to this condition, so keep other possibilities in mind.

Yellow, droopy leaves can be caused by insufficient sunlight. While harsh direct sunlight will quickly burn the leaves, yellowing from too little light will happen gradually and slowly.

Another symptom is slow growth and no blossoms. In good conditions, your peace lily should flower several times a year; if it refuses to do so, try to increase the light it receives.

Final Words

Peace lilies thrive when they receive reasonable amounts of filtered, indirect sunlight. A little direct morning sunlight is okay, but too much intense, direct sunlight will burn the leaves.

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Author
Alexander Verdes
Just a stay-at-home dad who loves taking care of my home, my kids, and my plants. Actually, I kind of consider my plants to be my babies too, so I could just say that I love to take care of my home and my kids :-)

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