HOW TO TAKE CARE OF HOUSEPLANTS IN WINTER
Five Winter Tips and Tricks to Take Care of House Plants
Your houseplants aren’t immune to the deadly challenges of winter, even if they live in a temperature-controlled climate. Houseplants, whether they’re year-round houseplants or plants you’ve brought indoors for the winter, can be affected by various winter stressors, including temperatures ranging from daytime heat to nighttime cold. , dry air and short days which reduce its quantity. of light they receive. Keep your houseplants thriving by adjusting their care during the cooler months of the year.
Before starting
Different species of plants can vary greatly in their winter care needs, so always do some research to learn about your plants’ particular needs. The following tips offer a good general guide, but the precise needs of an amaryllis or poinsettia, for example, will be different than those of a fast climbing pothos or potted geranium plant that arrives indoors for winter. .
1. Adjust Your Watering Routine
It may seem counterintuitive, but most houseplants need less water during the winter. While it’s true that winter air is drier, plants experience a slower growth rate during the colder months; some even go completely inactive. Therefore, plants need less water to stay hydrated, and overwatering can lead to root rot. Keep in mind that different plants have different water needs: drought-tolerant cacti and other succulents may not need watering, while some tropical plants may still require more regular watering. Potting soil may dry out faster during the winter months, but this is not a good indicator that the plant needs water. Stick your finger into the soil to determine if it’s dry up to an inch or two below the surface; that’s when it’s time to get out the watering can.
2. Put Your Houseplants on a Diet
Most houseplants don’t need fertilizer in the winter because they won’t grow. Do not feed them until early spring, as feeding them now will interfere with their natural cycle. Resume fertilizing as soon as signs of new growth begin to appear or existing leaves turn green to renew the growing season.
Some tropical plants, especially vining climbers or trailers, grow quite actively all winter long, and these may still require some feeding, though usually at reduced rates. There’s nothing wrong with a little encouragement once in a while: Encouraging your houseplants with fertilizer can promote growth, but, fortunately, it doesn’t have to be done all the time.
3. Give them light
We all need light, and when the sun is very short, like in the middle of winter, it is difficult to get a lot of light. Plants, like people, need light, and houseplants do too. During the winter, the light your house receives is short, and if your house is not taken properly, it can only receive light from certain rooms and windows. Be prepared to move the plant to a good window and place it over winter. Clean the inside and outside of your windows for maximum light. It also removes dust that has accumulated on the leaves, making them better able to absorb light.Plants grow best when they are exposed to light that is as similar to natural sunlight as possible, which is between 2,700 and 7,000 Kelvin. In the old days, growers would use red- and blue- colored LED’s to give plants this full spectrum of light that they need to grow.
4. Prune and re-pot
Now is the time to prune. Again this may depend on the type of plant you have, succulents tend not to need much pruning, if at all. However, if your houseplants include climbing plants, now is the time.
Succulents don’t usually need a transplant either, but if you have woody plants, they tend to go dormant during the colder months. Now is the time to transplant your woody plants so they are ready to start budding and growing in spring. Anyone who does enough container gardening will eventually face the problem of a root bound plant. Fortunately, fixing this problem through root pruning is a relatively simple process. While some are reluctant to go into root pruning, there’s no reason you should be afraid of this standard gardening chore. To help you feel more comfortable knowing how to prune root-bound plant roots, we created this guide. We’ll start by covering the basics of what a root bound plant is. We’ll then walk you through a simple five-step process that you can use whenever one of your plants takes root.
5.Watch for pests
During the winter months, the increased heat from the heaters, lack of sunlight, and increased humidity because of humidifiers all can lead to pests. Pests like spider mites, fungus gnats, mealybugs and others. Be watchful of them on your plants and take steps to eliminate them when they appear.There’s a moment that every gardener fears – watching bugs on their beloved greens. Whether they are lurking on the leaves or in the soil, seeing bugs and pests feasting on your plants is not a great sight. Don’t worry, bugs and pests are totally normal and treatable. We will give you the recipes of the best natural pest repellents you can create using the things lying around in your homes. Use these repellents to safeguard your gardens and keep all the unwanted bugs and pests at bay.
