Sensation Peace Lily is one of the largest peace lilies you can grow at home, and will reliably flower with stunning spikes of white, sail-shaped flowers in spring, often through into summer.
With its gorgeous waxy foliage, and cupped petals they are possibly the most rewarding house plant, which can be easily cultivated by novice gardeners.
Despite being easy to grow, sensation peace lily can be very picky about its location, so in this article, we’ll focus on finding the best place for Giant peace lily to grow, and how to find the right light and moisture levels.
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Genus: | Spathiphyllum |
|---|---|
Cultivar: | ‘Sensation’ |
Common Names: | Sensation Peace Lily, Peace Lily Sensation, Spathe Flower, White Sails, Giant Peace Lily |
Location: | Indoor |
Type: | Perennial houseplant |
Growth: | 2m (H) x 1m (W) |
Sun Requirements: | Part shade, or partial sun |
Foliage Color: | Green |
Flower Color: | White |
Flowering: | Spring |
Fruit: | None |
Maintenance Level: | Medium |
Poisonous for Pets: | Highly toxic to cats, toxic to dogs |
What is Sensation Peace Lily?
Source: greenassembly.com.au
Sensation peace lily is part of the Spathiphyllum genus, comprising many different species of peace lilies, each with a unique form or habit.
Spathiphyllum Sensation is one of the largest cultivars, growing up to 2m tall in good conditions, with a dense habit thanks to its ability to grow from underground runners, similar to grass.
Peace lily rhizomes, the thick, fleshy, roots that send up new plants can be easily propagated to create new plants or thin out plants that have outgrown their container.
Sensation Peace lily is identifiable from its large, singular leaves, which send up individual flower spikes, with white, boat-shaped flowers at the tip, with thick pollen spikes at the centre.
Spathiphyllum Sensation’s Natural Habitat
Peace Lily ‘Sensation’ is a cultivar, not attributed to any one species of peace lily, and rather a selection of good breeding. The genus is native to forest areas of Southeast Asia, where it thrives in dappled shade, with reasonably humid but warm conditions.
In our homes, we can replicate their native environment with lightly shaded corners of bright rooms, near windows or doors, where peace lilies benefit from through-breezes to keep them healthy and reduce fungal problems from high humidity. It might sound contradictory, but it works!
How to Grow Sensation Peace Lily
As a rule of thumb, the less care you give a peace lily, the happier it will be. But, peace lily sensation likes moist, but well-drained soil, with a reasonably consistent feeding regime.
To put this isn’t perspective, we’ve had several peace lilies, all in similar locations for about ten years. Some are watered regularly (thanks to being close to a sink), and others just once a month.
All grow just as happily, and like most suckering plants adapt well to the conditions they are used to.
Source: flowerpower.com.au
Ideal Conditions for Planting Giant Peace Lily
Light Prerence
Bright rooms with tables or surfaces away from windows are ideal for peace lilies. They benefit from the heat without risking overexposure to light, which can easily frazzle their leaf tips.
Peace lilies don’t like full sun, so avoid it where possible. If you must plant a peace lily in full sun, then water it more regularly to stop the soil from drying out, and try to keep the environment slightly above average humidity.
Best Soil for Giant Peace Lily
Peace lilies can grow in most growing mediums, but like loose soil structure that their roots can grow through easily. Remember, that each leaf stalk is essentially its own plant, with a connected root system below ground.
So the easier it is for peace lilies to spread, the more foliage, and flowers you will get as a result.
Moisture
Water peace lilies a maximum of once a week. Overwatering them causes foliage to wilt dramatically. If the soil is at all moist for the first two inches, don’t water your giant peace lily. Allow it to drink up what it can before feeding or watering again.
Humidity
Peace lily sensation can cope with humidity levels in most homes, whether they’re slightly dry or slightly damp, but do enjoy somewhere possible.
For example, kitchens and bathrooms often prove problematic for peace lilies, which are over-humidified from steam, while conservatories can be too dry.
For a simple humidifying hack that works for almost any peace lily, including sensation, cover a shallow dish with pebbles, and fill it with water.
The ambient temperature will gently release moisture into the air, providing more than enough humidity for most peace lilies if you prefer not to mist or spray your plants.
Exposure
Peace lilies actually quite enjoy the exposure. Their large leaves are well adapted to cope with gentle breezes, so placing your pot near a door, or in a room with a through-draft can help to reduce potential fungal problems.
Giant Peace Lily Care Tips
Fertilizer and Feed
Once you’ve found the right location for your sensation peace lily, it’s important to feed it every so often. They don’t need a weekly feed but adding fertilizer to the water once a month will help to rejuvenate any lost nutrients in the compost.
Feeding more often risks burning the roots, or overfeeding, which can cause brown leaf tips, and reduce flowering.
Repotting Peace Lily Sensation
Giant Peace lily is a large plant. When you buy a young sensation peace lily, check that the roots aren’t restricted and that it still has space to grow.
When peace lilies have roots that fill the pot (generally when foliage is less than 1” from the rim) it’s time to repot. To do this, you either need to split your peace lily into two pots or find a bigger pot.
Both options will give your plants a boost, but we’ll look at division in more detail below.
How to Propagate Spathiphyllum Sensation
There are two ways to propagate peace lily; seeds and division. Peace lily sensation can’t be grown from cuttings, so you will need either a mature plant or fresh seeds to work with.
Alternatively, you can find responsibly sourced peace lily seeds.
Source: whiteflowerfarm.com
Propagating Sensation Peace Lily from Seed
Ideally, you should use fresh seeds to propagate sensation peace lily, but if you are starting with packaged seeds, soak them for 8-12 hours before planting.
Fill pots with a loose, coir-based compost mix and add some perlite for drainage. Water the pot well, and allow it to drain so the soil is evenly moist but not drenched. Then push peace lily seeds 5mm into the soil, and cover them with a plastic bag.
Leave pots somewhere warm, in indirect light, for around four weeks. Germination can be slow, so make sure the soil stays reasonably moist.
When leaves appear, remove the plastic bag, and water when the soil dries out. In a few months, you’ll have a healthy sensation peace lily, ready for a bigger pot and a gentle feed.
Propagating Spathiphyllum Sensation from Division
By far the easiest way to create new sensation peace lily plants is through division. Dividing peace lilies is incredibly simple as one clump can be made of many different plants.
All you need to do is pry the soil apart, as gently as possible, tearing through any roots in the centre of the pot. Then re-pot each section into a new container with fresh compost (coir, orchid mix, or garden compost work equally well for mature peace lilies).
Peace Lily Sensation Pests and Diseases
Peace lilies rarely suffer from serious pest problems but can harbour mealybugs and thrips, which can cause other problems, and spread to other house plants.
Read on for more detail on dealing with the most common sensation peace lily problems.
Sensation Peace lily Pests
Scale and mealybug are essentially the same things, but mealybugs tend to appear whiter due to a sticky mucus coating. Both eat into the underside for leaves to access nutritious chlorophyll, often leaving small wounds on leaves that appear as orange blotches on the surface of leaves.
If left untreated this can cause fungal problems, particularly in humid rooms like bathrooms or kitchens.
To treat mealybug and scale insects on sensation peace lily, dip a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and wipe it over each individual insect. The alcohol will dehydrate the bugs and break their lifecycle.
Sensation Peace lily Diseases
Yellow leaves on sensation peace lilies or brown leaf tips can be caused by several problems. Both can be fungal problems, and this is usually at the root and should be dealt with by lifting your plants, and removing any dead, damaged, or diseased roots.
This will kill some top growth but will prevent spread. The most common cause of yellow leaves on peace lilies is overwatering. This dilutes nutrients and can rot the roots.
In both cases, nutrients fail to reach the foliage, leaving leaves looking weak, drooped, and yellow. Brown leaf tips are most commonly caused by sunburn or overfeeding. Both are effectively burning the plant.
To avoid overfeeding, stop feeding completely during the winter months, and reduce to once a month, or less. To fix light-related burns, find a slightly more shaded spot from your sensation peace lily.
Sensation Peace Lily Frequently Asked Questions
Source: chooseyourplant.com
Are peace lilies toxic?
For people with sensitive or broken skin, peace lily leaves, flowers, and pollen can cause dry or itchy skin. If ingested, peace lilies are toxic to humans and pets, particularly if pollen is ingested.
In homes with pets, it is strongly advised that peace lilies are kept out of reach, and pollen spikes are removed, which can also prolong flowering.
Why do sensation peace lilies droop?
A drooping peace lily that still has green leaves is likely too dry. If the soil is still wet, this is the first sign of root rot, so remove the plant from its soil, remove diseased roots, rinse, and re-plant in clean compost. If the soil is dry, simply give it a drink.
Should I cut brown tips off my peace lily sensation?
Don’t cut brown tips off peace lilies, as the damage will simply develop further down the leaf. Instead, remove the entire leaf down to the ground. This promotes fresh foliage and will improve the look of your peace lily plants.
Are peace lilies air purifying?
Peace lilies are air purifying plants and are generally considered to be useful additions to living spaces for that reason, but they aren’t quite as effective as some ferns or English Ivy, which can make a significant difference to air quality.
See our list of 20 air purifying plants that will help destress your home.
Enjoy Growing Beautiful Sensation Peace Lily Indoors
If you’ve never grown houseplants before, peace lilies are a great place to start. As well as being relatively easy to grow, they have quirks, which let you know when they need feeding, watering, or less light.
The intuitive nature of growing peace lily sensation makes it ideal for home gardeners, and now we’ve shared our secrets with you, you can get right on and grow your own sensation peace lily into a beautiful, healthy, flowering house plant.