Can your houseplants survive winter?
The incessant rain, wind, and icy temperatures that dominate winter often make it a less than desirable season for gardeners. Overwintering, the process of protecting plants during the winter, is essential for ensuring their survival, and it impacts indoor plants just as much as outdoor ones. Here's how to navigate the challenges of indoor winter gardening and ensure your houseplants continue to thrive.
1. Maximise light exposure
An essential first step is to move your plants closer to your windowsills or under skylights to maximise sunlight exposure, which is typically scarce during the darker winter days. The horticultural experts at British Garden Centres also suggest rotating pots regularly to ensure even growth and light exposure and to dust off leaves to improve light absorption.
2. Check the temperature
Even though it's especially chilly in winter, you need to maintain a temperature of 12-18°C for your indoor plants. Importantly, avoid sudden temperature fluctuations and direct heat from radiators or heaters and cold drafts. If space is at a premium and your plants need to be by a radiator, ensure they're on a wide shelf or windowsill to prevent their leaves from wilting.
3. Do NOT overwater
Overwatering houseplants is common in winter, and droopy, yellow leaves are a surefire sign. To avoid this, allow the compost to almost dry out between waterings. As a general rule of thumb, water once a week, adjusting for succulents and cacti, which require less water (once a month will do). You can increase humidity by grouping plants or misting them.
4. Stop feeding
Houseplants won’t need feeding as much during winter due to slower plant growth as they enter a dormant phase, so fertiliser won't be required.
5. Check for pests
Conduct a pest check! Regardless of the season, you should regularly inspect your plants for pests like aphids, scale insects, thrips, and mealybugs; they can quickly multiply and cause damage. Also discard dead or yellowing foliage – dead leaves can harbour diseases that can cause your plant's health to decline.
6. Repot (only if necessary)
You might need to repot your indoor plants as needed to accommodate growth, especially if they've outgrown their current containers; check the roots to assess. If this is the case, increase the pot size by about two inches to provide enough room for your plant to grow.
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