Before you dive into repotting your peace lily, let’s make sure that it’s a good time to be doing so. Peace lilies don’t mind being crowded in their pot so you don’t want to repot too soon. If you repot your peace lily when it’s not ready, it could possibly lead to more harm than good.
Here are some signs that your peace lily is ready to be repotted:
- Roots are coming out of drainage holes on the bottom
- Roots are wrapping around the top of the soil
- Peace lily is wilting more frequently
- Peace lily is extremely top heavy
If you see one of these signs to repot or a combination of them, you are set to go.
Repotting a peace lily is a pretty simple process that requires a space that you don’t mind getting a little dirty with soil. The steps to repotting a peace lily are:
- Gently remove your peace lily
- Brush majority of soil off of roots
- Get new pot that’s only 1-2” bigger
- Place peace lily in the new pot
- Fill in with new soil around peace lily
- Water generously
Now let’s dive into each of these steps and the specifics behind them so you know exactly what you’re doing.
Gently Remove Your Peace Lily
To remove your lily without harming it, you can start by tapping around the pot to loosen the soil from the edge of the pot. Once you’ve tapped and loosened it, go ahead and then grab as many of the leaves as you can near the base and gently tug the plant with the soil from the pot.
Brush Majority of Soil Off of Roots
Once the plant is out, go ahead and gently shake off the soil. No need to keep the old soil, you can just toss it out into your garden or somewhere else where it can be of use. Shaking and brushing off the soil will also help loosen the roots and keep them from getting pot-bound in their new pot. No need to stress and remove every piece of soil, just the majority of it.
Tip: While your peace lily is out of the soil, now is a good time to inspect the roots and make sure they’re in good shape. If you see any that are black and mushy, you can snip them off with clean scissors. Black mushy roots are often a sign of root rot and your plant will benefit by you removing them.
Get New Pot That’s Only 1-2” Bigger
You may be tempted to get a pot that’s much bigger than the one the peace lily was in because that will help the plant grow big, right? Not exactly. A large pot will just lead to a lot of wet soil with no roots in it to uptake the moisture. That sitting wet soil leads to root rot, which often can harm or kill your peace lily. By choosing a pot that’s only 1-2” bigger, you ensure that there will be roots throughout most of the new soil that can uptake the moisture. Also, try to choose a pot that has drainage holes so that excess water can freely run out the bottom of the pot. It will save you a lot of headache in the future by not having to deal with constant soggy soil and extreme likelihood of root rot.
Place Peace Lily in the New Pot
Once you have your new pot ready and your peace lily out with soil removed, you can go ahead and place it into the new pot. Try to spread the roots throughout the new pot to give them space to grow and not get root-bound. Get your peace lily set into the position that you’d like it to be in by trying to center it in the middle of your new pot.
Fill in With New Soil Around Peace Lily
With your peace lily in your new pot, go ahead and grab your new soil and fill around the roots. I recommend using an all-purpose potting soil since peace lilies do not require any sort of special mix to survive. That’s the type of soil I’ve used for years and it’s given me and my peace lilies no problems so far. Fill the pot evenly and keep the stems of your peace lily above the soil line, you don’t want to bury it as that can cause the peace lily’s stems to rot. Once it’s filled you can pat the soil down gently and add more soil if needed.
Water Generously
Give your newly repotted peace lily a good drink of water. If you let it sit in dry soil, you can shock the plant and it can permanently wilt. You want the soil to be completely wet and let the excess water run out of the drainage holes. If you don’t have drainage holes in your new pot, be very careful with how much water you pour in. If you pour in too much, it will pool at the bottom of the pot and create a moist environment for root rot.
Once you’ve completed these steps, you can go ahead and give yourself a high five because you’ve just successfully repotted your peace lily. It’s going to be a few years, on average, until you are going to need to repeat this process again. Just keep your eyes out for the signs of your peace lily needing to be repotted and you’ll be golden.