How I prepared my plants for winter

So I know we’re deep in winter now (in the Northern hemisphere) but I’ve meaning to post about how I prepared my plants for winter and how I am caring for them in this cold weather.

I started to switch up my routine around October when the clocks went back. Firstly, for my outdoor plants, I moved the more fragile plants nearer to the balcony windows which provides cover from the wind and protects them more from the cold. I had debated about bringing some of them but they are doing fine outside and to be honest I don’t have any space for any more plants inside! I’ve pruned back the flowering plants, though a few of them are actually still flowering which is lovely to look out on (though they are not quite as pretty as in the summer!)

For my indoor plants, I have had to undertake a bit of trial and error as I have many more plants than I did this time last year.

Light: I’ve moved most of the plants nearer the windows, especially the ones that need more bright to medium light such as Alice the Alocasia and Mary the Monstera.

Water: I’ve reined in how much I water all my plants as they just don’t need it as much during the colder months. I’d say that I probably water most of them every 10 days or so.

Sensitive plants: My calatheas have been a little more difficult to work out – throughout October and November they did not seem to be doing well at all, they weren’t ‘praying’ and Callie’s leaves were looking quite limp. With Callie it appears to be that I had under-watered her as after speaking to the great shop that I bought her from, I gave her a good watering with filtered water and she is now doing much better. Rachel seemed to just need a bit more light so I’ve moved her even closer to the window.

Humidity: I’ve also bought a humidifier. I have been quite sceptical about them for a long time and didn’t think it was necessary but since getting deeper into my plant care world, I’ve been hearing more and more about the benefits. So I bought a relatively cheap one and will post about it once I’ve used it a few more times and seen any longer term benefits. However so far I think my calatheas have particularly enjoyed it!

Windows: Finally, I cleaned my windows thoroughly! Given the darker days, my plants need every last drop of light they can get and having grubby or smudged windows will impact that. In the same vein, I’ve been rotating my plants more to make sure all sides of the plant are getting the light. One thing I said I needed to do more but have slacked on is cleaning/dusting the leaves. I just keep on forgetting to do it but it’s another way to ensure the light is penetrating through.

I am going to have to repot some of my plants as I’ve discovered that some of my newer plants are rootbound (see future post!). The conventional wisdom is to only repot in warmer temperatures but the risks of leaving it too late are (for me) worse then repotting them in colder weather.

I hope that was useful and I’ll do another post in a few months’ time to let you know whether it all paid off!

How do you prepare your plants for winter?

Check out my other Plant Introduction Series:

Sally and Sandy Schefflera

Roberta the Rubber Plant

Rachel the Rattlesnake

Constance the Calathea Crocata

A Trio of Cute Cuttings