Winter care tips for your indoor jungle
Oh baby it’s cold outside! Winter is the perfect time to stay indoors, snuggle under a blanket and truly enjoy your indoor garden. As the weather outside gets colder, the heating goes on and the weather inside gets warmer and drier, so some care will be needed to ensure your plant babies survive the season healthfully and happily.
I’m not very thirsty
Now is the time to reduce your watering schedule. Plants are in dormancy over winter, and the reduced growth also means a reduced capacity for water intake. Before grabbing the watering can, do a soil check and make sure your plant really needs it. Poke your finger gently into the soil. If the soil is still damp, don’t water. If the soil feels dry several centimetres below the surface, you’re good to go. You can reduce shock by using water that is slightly on the warmer side, by leaving a filled watering can out overnight, or adding a dash of hot from the tap. Don’t be surprised if some plants in cooler areas (like the bathroom) only need watering once every three weeks. If in doubt, don’t water and check again if a few days. Remember the golden rule:
“Under watering is always better than over watering!”
Not now, I’m sleeping
Winter is a resting period for plants. As they hibernate, their need for food is minimal, so now is the time to stop the fertilizer until new growth appears again in Spring. During this time, you can add some gentle nourishment via some soil food or seaweed solution, but reduce the application by a quarter to half the recommended dosage.
A little extra lovin’
With the windows shut and the heating up full, the air inside can get really dry and dusty. Most plants, but especially your humid loving tropicals, will not appreciate this at all, and may start showing signs of dry tips and edges. To combat this, mist regularly to increase the humidity (plants like Calatheas will love this daily!) and keep the leaves dust free by wiping gently with a damp cloth, or an occasional shower at watering time.
Redecorate
As the days get shorter and the sun gets lower, you may find you’ll need to rearrange your collection a little to take advantage of the light where possible. For the darker corners, consider adding some lamp light as a little boost - yes even a household fluorescent bulb will do wonders.
Brrr - it’s cold!
Tropical and delicate plants will be more susceptible to the fluctuations in temperature, especially at night when the heating is off. Remember that cold can transfer easily through windows at night, so make sure to pull your plants a little further back from the window to protect them from this. For plants that prefer warmer weather, you can wrap the inner pot in bubble wrap to increase warmth and create further insulation for the roots and soil. Grouping like minded plants closer together will also increase warmth and humidity, which they will love.
BRB
Despite our best efforts, sometimes nature has its way and plants (such as Caladium and Alocasia) will shrink back into full hibernation for the winter, shedding their leaves back to nothing but soil and a stump. If this is the case, pull back the watering almost completely - just a few sips every few weeks should be fine - and keep your plant in a cool, shadier area. Once spring hits and the weather warms up again, new growth should appear. At this point, you can move the plant back to it’s original spot and resume your regular care routine.