Winter Chores for Your Houseplants

Learn how to keep your houseplants healthy this winter. Proper lighting, controlled watering, and increased humidity can make all the difference in helping your indoor plants thrive through the colder months.

Ensure Good Lighting

Winter days are short, and without sufficient light, houseplants can suffer. While they might look okay initially, plants in low light will use up their stored energy, causing them to eventually shed flowers, fruits, and leaves. Concerned about your houseplants getting enough light? Try adding full-spectrum lighting to your indoor garden. Available in bulbs and tubes, full-spectrum lights should be placed as close to the top of the plants as possible without burning the leaves. Aim for about 4 inches away from the top foliage.

Increase Humidity

Most houseplants come from tropical environments and don’t fare well in the dry indoor air of winter. Heaters exacerbate this dryness, leading to leaf tip burn, leaf loss, and slower growth. To counteract dry air:

• Place plants on humidity trays.
• Mist plants regularly.
• Group plants together to increase humidity naturally.

Check for Pests and Treat

In winter, common pests like mealybugs and scale can appear. Check plants weekly for pests, treating mealybugs with isopropyl alcohol or insecticidal soap and scale with neem oil. Rinse away dead pests to keep plants clean.

Watch Watering

Overwatering is a common cause of houseplant loss in winter. Soggy soil leads to fungal diseases, often noticeable by distorted new leaves, a squishy plant base, and smelly, black roots. Best practice: Only water when the top 1-2 inches of soil have dried out. Soak thoroughly when you do water, but allow soil to dry out between waterings.

Have Faith

With a little extra attention, your houseplants will not only survive winter but may even thrive.