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Winter Treatment of Houseplants

Winter Houseplant Care

The winter darkness is really setting in and with it so is the cold. Our house plants, especially ones that have just been bought this year, may need a little extra care to get them used to the change of season. Here I will give you just a few tips and things to watch out for when caring for your indoor plants over the colder months.

First and most importantly you need to reduce watering. It's one of the top reasons houseplants don't make it over winter. The reason for decreasing watering is that the plants are generally going into a dormant phase in the cooler months, they stop flowering and minimise foilage growth so they need very little water. Too much water and root rot will set in and kill the plant. A rule of thumb for most plants is to water them once every 2-3 weeks during winter.

Avoid temperature extremes. Another reason they can struggle is our use of heating. Quite often plants are placed above or near a radiator, this gives massive changes of temperature that plants can't handle. Be sure to move any plants away from artificial heat sources to somewhere the temperature is more consistent. Also be aware that if your plant is in a room that is kept continuously warm it may need a little more water than mentioned above.

Sunshine is lacking big time in winter and our plants really feel it. I have a shade loving plant at home and in the summer I have it in the corner of a dim hall but then in the winter, I move underneath a window to get more light. Have a look at the location of your plants and keep an eye on how much light hits them throughout the day. For more light loving plants it might be necessary to move them into a more light catching room or even a greenhouse. Yellowing leaves are usually a good sign of light deprivation.

Clean the dead leaves and old growth to prevent any diseases developing. Fungi and bacterial infections love to lurk in dead and dying leaves so it's important to keep your plants clean and tidy. For larger leafed plants it's also a good idea to regularly dust their leaves during winter, this will maximise the amount of light they can take in and help them in darker weeks.

There is no need to fertilise during the winter months or at least if they are a non winter flowering plant you can cut back drastically. Over fertilising when the plant doesn't need it can actually 'burn' and damage the plant, not to mention encourage diseases into the overly rich soil.

It is best not to repot any house plants over winter (unless they are really really pot bound). The reason for this is that they are conserving energy and have very little growth going on so by taking them out of their current house you will only be stressing them and they won't have the energy to withstand the move. It's best to wait till the beginning of spring to undertake any rehoming projects ;)

If you have a houseplant that is struggling or looks a bit off just run through the most common issues; water/light/heat and disease I will guarantee one of them will be the culprit.

Happy Growing :)