How to care for your houseplants in the winter
If you were wondering how the season change will affect your houseplants, then you're in the right page. In this post we will go over 6 tips for winter plant care that you must know as a plant parent!
1. There's less light so water less
- Generally speaking, there's less available light to your plant during the winter because the sun hits the earth at a different angle. That means your plant, receiving less light, will have less growth activity. Which means your plant will use less water, so the soil will dry at a different rate.
- What that means for you is you should water less frequently. Whenever the soil is dry, maybe wait a day or two more before watering. Keep in mind- it's always easier to revive an underwatered plant than an overwatered plant.
2. There's less light so clean your leaves
- This relates to our last point. Since there's less light available in the winter (and why is that?), you should make sure the leaves have every chance to capture sunlight.
- So what that means for you is you should dust your leaves more, make sure there's no dust blocking light from reaching your plant. A moist towel will work, put on some relaxing music while you do that- plant care is self care ;)
3. Keep away from direct heat and cold drafts
- During winter, houseplants combat two different forces- your heater and the cold air from outside. Make sure there are no cold drafts from your window, hitting your plant. At the same time, avoid having direct heat drafts hitting your plant. Both are silent plant killers, be diligent on your end- it'll make the different between a healthy thriving plant and a half dead plant by spring.
4. Combat increased heat with a humidifier- not by misting.
- Your plants would appreciate a higher humidity level with heaters being active in an apartment. And many buy into the myth that spraying your plant will increase the humidity around it. While you'll look cute doing that every day, in reality, it does not do much in terms of increasing humidity in the long run. If you suspect your heater is drying out your apartment- introduce a humidifier instead of hand spraying.
5. Hold your fertilizers!
- As we've covered in previous points- your plants do not grow much during the winter and do not need any more plant food than it already has. Stop the fertilizing, your plants will not use it and it may end up doing more harm than good!
6. Expect leaf loss.
- As with any change in environment, for some plants it means shock, and that'll cause the plant to lose a few leaves while adapting to their new environment. A rapid increase/fluctuations in the temperature, the less amounts of light and other factors can trigger that shock in a plant. So don't panic if your plant loses a few leaves- it's totally normal!
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Now we've covered it! The 6 winter plant care tips you should keep in mind! We've done our research and our part in acknowledging this, it's your turn to make it happen! Reach out to us for any questions you might have! Stay warm and have fun!
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