Bring Your Gardening Skills Indoors!
Caring for Houseplants in Winter
Caring for Houseplants in Winter
Once winter arrives, gardening seems like a topic to put on the back burner until spring, but that is the furthest thing from the truth! You may or may not have a jungle of plants in front of your windows, but most people have at least a few houseplants scattered around their home. There is nothing like a plant to give “life” to a space on those cold dreary days! If you are like me, you have crammed every available windowsill, hung hanging baskets and placed large containers brought indoors for the winter in front of your sliding glass doors! Ok, I confess, I have a few shelves of grow lights as well!
Growing conditions in our homes change in subtle ways in winter. The angle of the sun shifts lower and days are shorter resulting in less light reaching the plants. Room temperatures are warmer and the air is drier. Generally, there is less fresh air and air circulation.
To keep your plants healthy and thriving, you may like to follow some of these tips.
Clean the foliage on your houseplants by dusting, misting or a warm water bath.
Growing conditions in our homes change in subtle ways in winter. The angle of the sun shifts lower and days are shorter resulting in less light reaching the plants. Room temperatures are warmer and the air is drier. Generally, there is less fresh air and air circulation.
To keep your plants healthy and thriving, you may like to follow some of these tips.
Clean the foliage on your houseplants by dusting, misting or a warm water bath.
- Avoid temperature extremes. Keep plants away from radiators, heat vents and cold drafts.
- Be careful not to overwater as plants may need less water in lower light.
- Cut down on fertilizer as many plants are not actively growing at this time of year.
- Remove yellowing and dead leaves and spent flowers regularly from your plants.
- Provide houseplants with adequate sunlight or artificial light.
- Rotate houseplants to keep them lush on all sides.
- Check plants for signs of insects and treat accordingly. Cottony mealy bugs can be killed by touching the pest with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. Also, insecticidal soap or Neem oil sprays can be applied to most houseplants for the control of other pests such as spider mites or scale.
- Keep a fan running near your houseplants to provide good air circulation.
- Give your houseplants more humidity by misting or placing them on trays filled with pebbles and water. Pots should sit on the pebbles, not in the water.
- Pinch back annuals and tropical plants overwintering indoors to create bushier plants.
- Trim leggy hanging baskets and use the cuttings to make new plants.
- Repot root-bound plants. If plants are drying out too quickly, this may be a sign that the plant needs to be root pruned and repotted.
- Divide succulent offshoots or “pups” on plants such as aloe, haworthia, echeveria, kalanchoe, crassula, sedum and sempervivum and pot them up.
- Add fresh soil to pots where needed.
- Refresh your collection by discarding dead or dying houseplants and purchasing a few new plants. Create a dish garden or terrarium. Relocate plants to where you will enjoy them the most.
“Plants give us oxygen for the lungs and for the soul.”
~ Terri Guillemets
~ Terri Guillemets