Seven easy steps to dividing your peace lily.
In this article we will show you how to divide you peace lily. It’s a good idea to divide them every few years to keep them healthy and it’s also great way to get more plants without buying them.
In this post we’ll go step by step through how to divide peace lily plants.
You’ll know it’s time to divide your peace lily if:
- You can see multiple crowns in the pot
- The plant produces less / no flowers
- The soil dries out very quickly after watering
- Root growth from bottom of the pot
Do I need to re-pot or divide?
If your peace lily has outgrown its pot but it only has one crown (many shooting body) you won’t be able to divide it, so it’ll just need to be re-potted into a larger pot.
Peace Lilies can be divided quite easily, following the steps below will reduce any chances of stress on the plant.
My peace lily was getting too big for the pot and it hadn’t bloomed properly for a couple of years so it was really time for some TLC.
What you need to divide a peace lily
- An peace lily plant
- Sharp scissors or a knife
- Newspaper
- New pots
- Good quality potting soil
Step 1
The day before you divide your peace lily give it a good water to ensure it’s in good condition before you start separating it.
Step 2
How many crowns does you lily have?
Check how many crowns the plant has and make sure that you have enough containers to pot them all up.
You can add more than one offset/ crown to each pot if you don’t have enough.
Step 3
Gently remove the plant from the pot by turning the pot to the side and giving it a slight squeeze or shake. If the plant is stuck (rootbound like mine is), holding as much foliage as possible carefully pull the plant from the pot.
Step 4
Cut back any brown leaves or stems around the base of the plant to tidy it up.
And remove loose soil from the bottom. This will make it easier to divide the lillies.
Step 5
Separating the crowns
You can use your hands to gently pull the roots apart or if the root ball is very tight you can use scissors or a knife to cut through the roots. Try not to hack through too aimlessly. We want to try and preserve as much of the routes as possible.
Ensure that each crown has at least three leaves and some roots attached.
Step 6
Pot up the new plants in pots that are large enough to fit the roots and accommodate the plant. Do not plant the peace lily below it’s original potted depth.
Step 7
Water the new plants thoroughly until the water runs out the bottom of the pot.
Place the plants in a cool spot with indirect light to allow them to settle into their new pots.
That’s it you have successfully divided your peace lilies. Give yourself a pat on the back!!
House plants make great birthday, anniversary and Christmas presents. So if you now have more plants than you know what to do with, why not spread the love or in this case peace ✌️
As well as making new plants by division, why not have a go at making your own DIY plant pots.
Further Notes on dividing peace lilies
Transplant shock is common after dividing peace lilies, you may notice that the leaves are droopy for a few days after re-potting. This is normal.
Keep the soil moist and they’ll perk up again in a short amount of time.
These are just a few examples of plants that can be divided: Agapanthus, Anemone, Aster, Bergenia (elephant’s ears), Convallaria (lily-of-the-valley) Crocosmia, Dierama, Delphinium, Epimedium, Eryngium (sea holly), Euphorbia, Gentiana (gentian) Geranium, Helianthus, Hemerocallis (daylily), Hosta, Iris, Lychnis, Lysichiton, Lysimachia, ornamental grasses, Primula (primrose) Ranunculus (buttercup), Salvia, Sedum, Verbena, Zantedeschia (arum lily).
Best time to divide peace lilies?
Basically anytime you like!
It’s best to avoid dividing your lilies during very cold or hot weather so you don’t stress the plant too much.
Can you divide peace lilies while they’re flowering?
To avoid the flowers wilting, I’d recommend waiting until after flowering. But if you lily is overgrown and in desperate need of reporting it probably hasn’t flowered properly for a while now anyway.
With the right care you can propagate peace lilies every few years for many years to come.