How to Care for Your Houseplants This Winter
Winter isn’t just a time for us humans to slow down. It’s also a time when plants slow down too. They take their cues from decreasing light levels and enter a dormant phase.
In this dormant phase, it's really important to allow your plants to rest over the colder months. If you continue to water and feed them as you do in summer, this will encourage them to continue to grow, putting them under strain and leading to weak, spindly growth.
Find out how to care for your house plants during the winter period, including tips on how much to water them.
Reduce watering
As your plants enter their dormant phase, they need very little water. If they receive too much water, they'll either produce soft, weak growth or will rot as water accumulates in the soil.
I think that the best way to find out if a plant needs water is to check how the potting mix feels before watering it. Poke your finger at least an inch into the soil. If it's dry, water the plant thoroughly. If it's moist, wait a couple more days and check the soil again.
However, if you are a person who prefers a schedule, then for most houseplants, reduce watering to once every fortnight. For succulents, only water every two to three weeks, and for cacti, stop watering entirely.
The exception is winter-flowering plants, such as Christmas cacti and poinsettias, which need watering whenever soil feels dry.
As the days get shorter, give your plants more light
With shorter days and less sunshine over winter, plants receive less sunlight than they did in spring and summer. If you have a sunny conservatory or porch, then move them here, so they get light from several directions.
If this is not an option, then move your plants onto a west or south-facing windowsill or a sunny spot. It’s also worth cleaning your windows inside and out to let in as much light as possible. If houseplants on the floor are too big to put on a windowsill, then consider placing them on a plant stand to get them closer to natural light.
Rotate pots a quarter turn each week to ensure all sides of your plants get sunlight from time to time. If boosting the light levels isn't an option for you, most plants will be fine.
Clean the leaves
Your plants need dusting, just as much as your furniture.
Indoor plants accumulate household dust and grime on their leaves and this will reduce the amount of light that can reach the leaf surface.
That means that it is much harder for them to make food.
All you need to do is wipe the dust regularly using a damp cloth or give plants a quick clean under the shower. I use some fluffy gloves which are brilliant for cleaning leaves.
Avoid temperature extremes
You might not mind moving from hot rooms to cold rooms in your house, but your plants will not.
Plants dislike large temperature fluctuations, so keep them away from cold draughts, open windows and doors, radiators, fireplaces, and hot air vents.
Extreme changes in temperature, even for a short time, can cause problems. If plants are on a windowsill, either move them off overnight, or leave the curtains open since they trap cold air at night.
Check for pests
A warm, cosy home provides the perfect environment for many plant pests like aphids, scale insects, thrips and mealybugs to thrive and breed. Spider mites are another common winter pest.
Carefully check plants that have spent the summer out in the garden, so you don't introduce any new pests inside your home, and remove any that you find. When you water indoor plants, inspect them thoroughly for pests under the leaves as well as on top.
Check along stems, too. If you find any pests, try wiping them off with your fingers. Just be vigilant.
Stop fertilising your houseplants in winter
Your indoor plants are going to be in their dormant mode in the winter so they tend to grow very little, if at all. Because they are not producing new leaves and stems, they don't require fertilizer. Stop fertilising in autumn and resume again in spring when they start to receive more sunlight and actively grow again.
Heating on? Increase the humidity
Heated homes tend to be drier in the winter months. Since a vast majority of houseplants originate from tropical areas, you will need to ramp up the humidity inside to help your plants thrive.
Most houseplants tend to grow best when humidity levels are between 40 to 50%, but wintertime humidity levels are typically 10 to 20% inside.
A simple way to increase the humidity around plants is to cluster them together. Water evaporating from the potting soil, as well as water lost naturally through the leaves, will raise the relative humidity right around your plants.
Another easy method to increase humidity is to place plants on trays filled with pebbles and water. The bottoms of the pots should be above the water level to avoid root rot. As the water evaporates, it creates a more humid microclimate for your houseplants.
Resist Repotting Houseplants
Plants respond well to repotting when they are actively growing. Therefore, spring and summer are the best times to repot them. If you repot them in winter, it can shock them, so resist the urge!
If you have any questions or concerns about your plants over winter, please pop into our store in the Banana Block in Portview Trade Centre in East Belfast and we will help!