How to care for indoor pot plants

As the days get cooler, there is no reason to stop enjoying gardening. Actually, you can enjoy warmth and comfort by doing some gardening indoors.

As winter draws closer there are a couple of things you need to do to enjoy superb indoor plants.

POSITION
Firstly, move indoor plants to the brighter, warmer areas of the house. Winter days receive less daylight hours due to the lower angle of the sun in the sky. Indoor plants still require some light to grow properly, especially plants which generally enjoy plenty of filtered light. However, don't position indoor plants in direct sunlight as the leaves can still burn, even in winter. An ideal position is in a brightly lit room with large window areas, but not in direct sunlight. Keep the leaves away from direct contact with the window pane. Windows capture and hold the cold. Direct contact with the pane might burn the tips of the leaves. 

Keep plants away from heaters and cold draughts. If you are running the heater for the majority of the day, plants might need a light misting to help re-hydrate them or simply move them to another area of the house with less heating.

CLEAN UP
Secondly, wipe the leaves of the plants with a moist cloth to improve photosynthesis. This will improve plant health and air quality.

WATERING
Thirdly, you can cut back on watering to once a week, as water evaporation will decrease during the cooler months. Overwatering of indoor plants is probably the major cause of plant problems in winter, as the plants simply do not use as much water. Do the finger dryness test - only water the soil if the mix is completely dry. 

FERTILISE
And lastly, growth generally slows down during winter, but plants will still benefit from a slow fertiliser, such as Robust Controlled Release Fertiliser, so your plants are prepared for spring growth. Robust will give your plants an instant boost and continue to feed for 6 months, right through spring.

PEST WATCH & PLANT AILMENTS FOR INDOOR PLANTS
Maintain your vigilance for pests such as aphids and mealy bug. Control with Searles Bug Beater. Many ailments affect plants due to nutirent imbalance or variable watering regimes. Check out our Indoor plant problem solver and care chart. 

So enjoy the tranquillity of indoor plants during the cooler months, helping to highlight and beautify your lovely warm home.