Loving On Your Plants: WINTER EDITION

Winter is in full effect and I’m not going to pretend to like it but I’m here for the educational value. Let’s talk plant care in the winter… it’s important! We want to love on our plant babies – especially those that are working hard to purify the air in our homes and winter time allows us the time to pour into them more as our lives slow down.

Just as you would change the way you self care during the winter, we want to do the same for the plants that live with us our homes. Indoor plants need modified care during the winter months so they thrive, let’s talk about how you can make that happen.

Check Humidity Levels – Think about how dry the air can get during the winter and the effects it can have on humans, dry air can also cause harm to your plants. The heat we use during the winter in our homes can cause the humidity indoors to drop 10-20% lower than normal. Using a humidifier near your plant can help in a positive way, sitting your plant on a tray of water with stones on top so it’s not sitting directly in the water, group your plants together and they will naturally release water through their leaves and/or misting them.

Check the Temperature Inside – plants like for the temperatures to stay the same and with the weather fluctuating in a house during the day and at night more so during the winter months, it can cause harm to your plants. Plants are like people and do not thrive next to a cold window all day and night and/or a hot radiator or vent.

Check Sunlight Changes – The rays of the sun hit at a lower angle in the winter and there are also less hours of sunlight. This time of year will cause you to relocate your houseplants to brighter spots and/or add supplemental light to help with growth.

Check Up The Watering Routine – because most plants go dormant during the winter, if you water like you would during the summer you can harm them and cause root rot. When plants go dormant, they aren’t in growth mode and don’t require as much water. Check the status of your plant’s watering needs by poking a hole into the soil and seeing if it’s dry an inch below the surface.

Check Your Diet – do you use fertilizer for your plants? Don’t use it during the winter. Plants are dormant and barely growing during the winter months so continuing to feed them fertilizer will only upset their natural cycle of growing. A good sign of knowing when to add fertilizer back in is when you see green new growth or when the leaves that are there perk up again.

Want to learn more houseplant tips? Check out this post I shared that has really great tips!

Give your houseplants the essentials to sustain them through winter, but don’t fuss over them or kill them with kindness. Keep an eye out for early signs of problems, which can still include insect pests, even in winter. However, wait until the growing season resumes, before you re-pot them or start taking cuttings. Consider winter an offseason for your houseplants and let them rest.