Gardening column: How to look after houseplants in winter

You’ve probably noticed that your houseplants slow down or stop growing about now, and so this month we’re giving an overview of why that happens and the changes you can make to your plant care regime to keep these hard-working plants in good shape through winter.

The essentials

Plants are earth’s original food source. They draw water and nutrients from the soil and,when there is sufficient light and heat, the chlorophyll in the plant’s leaves converts those raw ingredients into the nourishment that is essential for the plant to develop.

So whilst we might talk about providing a plant with food, we’re actually only providing the raw ingredients – the plant then has the hard work of turning these ingredients into the building blocks it needs to grow!

Keep it clean!

As light levels reduce after summer, it becomes increasingly important that the plant can benefit from any light that is available.

That’s why autumn is a great time to clean the leaves of your plant and remove any dust or cobwebs that might obstruct light.

There’s nothing mysterious about cleaning the leaves and,in most cases, a clean, damp cloth will do the trick.

Clean plants with a cloth (Image: Contributed)

Ideally, try to collect natural rainwater and use that to dampen the cloth.

If the leaves are particularly small or prickly, a small, clean, dry paintbrush is effective in reaching parts that you otherwise can’t get to.

Prickly plants can be cleaned with a soft paintbrush (Image: Contributed)

For larger plants, a shower may be the best solution. If the outside temperature is warm enough, simply place your plant outdoors when it’s raining. When it’s too cold to use nature’s shower, a bathroom shower with tepid water is an option.

Use a shower for larger plants (Image: Contributed)

Either way, try not to subject your plant to a sudden and dramatic change in temperature, as that will ‘shock’ it and could have an adverse effect.

Care in winter

As the plants have slowed or stopped their growth for winter, they will not require plant food until light and temperature levels rise again in spring.

They will require water but take care not to overwater; simply keeping the compost moist (rather than wet) is sufficient. If you have a source of rainwater, that’s better for your plants than tap water.

Houseplants (Image: Contributed)

When plants are in a centrally heated or very warm room, you might see the edges of the plant’s leaves going brown. That usually means there is insufficient water reaching the extremities of the leaves and regular misting should help to reduce or stop any further browning.

Plants often shed some of their older leaves in autumn and this is a natural process enabling the plant to focus its strength on the newer, healthier leaves. Simply allow the dead leaves to drop off in their own time and don’t be tempted to pull them off, as that could cause damage.

Next spring

This is simply autumn in reverse – light levels and temperatures start to rise and you’ll begin to see signs of growth again.

Just as you gradually eased off watering and feeding at the end of summer, you can begin to gradually increase these when you see the plant stirring back into active growth!

Need more help?

We hope that this is helpful in getting your houseplants winter-ready so that they can continue to help improve the quality of your indoor air.

If you need further information, check out our website at merryhatton.co.uk or pop in and speak to our experienced plant team – they’re always delighted to help our customers get the best from their plants!