Peace lilies are beautiful and popular houseplants with distinctive white flowers that stand above the glossy, tropical foliage. It's this wonderful combination that makes them such a popular choice in homes.

On top of looking stunning, the peace lily is also said, like many plants, to have air purifying qualities too, removing harmful chemicals from the air inside your home.

However, they can sometimes go a while without blooming. And one peace lily owner took to the House Plant Lovers Facebook page to ask: "How can I get my peace lily to flower again? It's been years since it last bloomed."

And, while others said they had experienced the same thing, for many people repotting was the first thing they suggested. Others also suggested the position of the plant in direct light might be worth considering.

One person quickly asked: "Have you repotted with fresh dirt?"

And another said: "I repotted mine. I put a little Epsom salt one week and banana water the following week. And she has sprouted three or four blooms quickly."

A third said: "I think a smaller/shorter pot might help it. Mine quit flowering and I moved it about three feet, under an east window, and it started back up. Maybe your light is a little too indirect?"

Another said: "I repotted and mine had four blooms immediately."

And a fifth said: "Good potting soil is a very good start. Potted soil seems to stay wet for a long time. So try some orchid potting soil or put some perlite in your soil. Both help keep from overwatering."

In a similar thread on Reddit, in which a peace lily owner asked for advice on how to get theirs flowering, one person answered: "I too didn't have any blooms for almost two years but it was thriving and getting bigger. This might be a coincidence, but when I repotted in the spring of year two of owning it, I had a bloom.

"It was big so I split it into two plants and gave them both bigger pots to grow into. Then one bloomed a big beautiful flower. Then over the summer, the second one bloomed as well. Now, it's almost five years old and I've split it into four plants. I still get blooms from the bigger ones, about two to three each year."

However, many cautioned that in their experience, peace lilies did flower less frequently than other houseplants and that it can take a couple of years, or even more, for it to produce flowers, regardless of what you do to try and make it bloom.

How to make sure your peace lily thrives

The experts at Frosts Garden Centres say: "Peace lilies flower best in bright but indirect light, and usually flower in spring, producing one or two white hooded blooms that can last for over a month. They may occasionally flower again in autumn. Once the flowers have faded, deadhead them to keep the plant looking neat."

They say that if the peace lily's roots are starting to grow out of the pot's drainage holes, you should re-pot into a larger container, watering it the day before you re-pot it and then watering well one repotted.

The team at BBC Gardeners' World say "watering is arguably the most important aspect in a peace lily's care regime" and you should "only rehydrate the soil once the top third has dried out". They add: " Peace lilies thrive in bright but indirect sunlight, so near a north, north–east or north–west facing window is ideal."

And when it comes to repotting, they say: "Your peace lily will do best when pot-bound, so don’t be tempted to disturb it too often. When you do come around to repotting it, make sure you treat the root system with the utmost care as it’s easy to cause transplant shock."

Peace lily leaves turning brown or yellow

If your peace lily's leaves are turning brown this could be caused by one of a few problems, say Frosts. These are most likely to be overwatering, overfeeding or a lack of humidity. They advise changing one condition at a time and see what the effect is. Peace lilies are from tropical habitats so prefer humid conditions, like in a bathroom or kitchen.

The Little Botanical houseplant sellers say peace lilies prefer too little water to too much and to tell if your peace lily needs watering you should allow the top inch or so of the soil to dry out before watering again. They also say: "It’s advisable to water peace lilies from the bottom by placing the pot in a saucer of water and allowing the plant to soak up the moisture."

Yellowing leaves, meanwhile, mean that the plant is getting too much sunlight and needs to be moved out of direct light.