Peace lilies 'bloom constantly' if you add 12p ingredient to water every week

21 March 2024 , 09:47

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Keep your peace lily in constant bloom with this cheap and easy hack (Stock photo) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Avid gardeners are raving about a household staple that will keep your peace lilies looking blooming lovely.

Also known as Spathiphyllum in the horticultural world, peace lilies are a household favourite - popular due to their elegant and regal appearance and relatively low maintenance. They're also great at 'combating harmful household chemicals ' and can 'remove mould spores from the air'.

However, the house plant can sometimes have some difficulty blooming or only flowering for a short period of time (which is when it looks its prettiest). Luckily, there's a simple way to make sure that doesn't happen again - and it will hardly cost you anything.

Taking to the Gardening Hints and Tips Facebook page desperate for advice, one woman asked how to prolong the flowers on her peace lily. "It had lots of flowers when it was given to me about six months ago," she said. "They gradually died off and it hasn’t flowered since."

Whilst some users suggested some common practices such as making sure the plant is in a suitably sized pot and is regularly watered - a rather unusual item was suggested. "Mines in bloom all the time. I feed it banana skin water weekly and I have flowers most of the year."

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Bananas contain high amounts of potassium, which along with nitrogen and phosphorus, makes up one-third of fertiliser. Potassium can also be useful in 'moving nutrients and water between plant cells'. Stephanie Stephenson, author of Rose Gardening, agrees - adding: "Bananas are rich in potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. This combination can stimulate and benefit your plant's growth."

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To make the homemade fertiliser, simply add banana peel into a jar of water with the lid on top and leave it overnight, or for a couple of days. Don't worry if the water has turned cloudy, as this is completely normal. Then, you're good to go.

You can get hold of bananas at pretty much every supermarket or greengrocer - and they're a cheap way of giving your plants an extra boost. Tesco is currently selling a six-pack for just 75p, which works out at 12p per fruit.

Liam Gilliver