Indoor Plants need care too!

Care of plants indoors during winter

Whether you realize it or not plants gather dust which makes it hard for them to get sunlight as well as absorb the carbon dioxide we breathe out to make more oxygen.  Get a sponge or wash cloth very damp with room temperature water and wipe each leaf; don’t scrub as this can damage your leaves.  Remember to get the underside of the leaf since pests choose that as a hiding place.  Once you wipe off the leaves you will see their natural shine again so leaf polish isn’t necessary, nor is it very good for the plant as it blocks the ability to absorb pollutants in the air. 

Second step is to choose which outdoor plants need to come inside.  Check each plant for pests before bringing them in.  Generally the leaves will have little holes if there are pests, but look under the leaves and on top of the soil for aphids, mites and mealy bugs.  If you have bugs no need to worry or to run out to get a pesticide, just add a little soap to the water because this will suffocate them.  You should also check for bugs on your indoor plants while you are dusting them.  While choosing outdoor plants to come inside look for signs of disease.  This can be anything from slow growth or wilting leaves to powdery mildew.  Healthy plants will grow quickly and be perky.  Besides the plants that have to come in for the winter, if you are just choosing plants from your local nursery you can get help from them or look for plants that flourish in full or partial shade and can handle the cooler drier weather.  Before heading to the nursery think about what you would like in your plant.  Do you want a flowering plant, a bulb, a leafy green, etc?  African Violets, Begonia, Cactus, Cyclamen, Forced Bulbs, Ivy, Rubber Plants, and some Palms are just a few that work well indoors.  Depending upon your plant choice they may need to be potted if they are not already. 

For the plants that are already potted you may want to prune them back fairly good since they will be indoors all winter and this will help them to grow better.  For the plants that need to be repotted you should get a good quality sterile potting soil to give them a fresh start.   Spread the roots a bit so they can breathe and pat down the soil once they are fully covered.  Use a little bit of liquid fertilizer when you water them the first time so the roots get nourished and relaxed in their new environment.  You may even want to repot your older plants just to get fresh soil into them because after a couple years the soil loses its nutrients.  Sometimes all it needs is just the top portion stirred up a bit with a little layer of new soil if it is not ready for a whole repot.  Because there is less heat and plants grow slower in winter you won’t have to water or fertilize as much.  Over watering, over fertilizing and poor drainage are the number one reasons indoor plants die.  If you are not sure how frequently to fertilize check with your local nursery, but fertilizer spikes work well as they dissolve slow and you won’t have to fertilize again for many weeks.  Have you ever tasted the water out of your tap?  Do you like the chlorine taste it has…neither do your plants.  Distilled water is much better than tap water, but rain water is the very best.  You could also leave a container of water out for a few days & the chlorine will dissolve.

Bringing outdoor plants inside for the winter can be a shock to their system if you just bring them in and leave them in one spot.  There is much less light inside, especially for a plant that is used to the sun.  It is best to slowly reduce its light so it gets use to it before you make it like one of your indoor plants.  Take a look at your windows and decide which areas get good sun during the day.  For the first day place your plant where there is the most sun.  You may have to move the plant a couple times in order to follow the sunlight in your house.  On the second day give it a little less sun and so on for several days.  Once you have done this the plant should be happy indoors for the winter as long as you place it in an appropriate spot.  If you see your plant growing towards the sun you may want to turn it and occasionally give it a day more sunshine.  As I said before plants are living things and temperatures affect it much like they do people.  Make sure you don’t set it too close to a window as the temperature can vary drastically from daytime to nighttime.  Also drafty areas such as door or close to vents are not good places for plants either.  Controlled temperatures are best and not too hot.  65 to 75 degrees will be a perfect temperature for your plants and won’t hike up your heating bill either; best of both worlds.  The heater makes rooms drier, so occasional weekly spritz from a spray bottle will be appreciated by most plants. 

 As a last note you should know that many house plants can be poisonous.  These are concerns to look at if you have pets, children or allergies.  Some very common indoor plants are poisonous.  A few on this list includes things like Mums, Cyclamen, Poinsettia, English Ivy and Azalea.  They all are beautiful and have many advantages to owning them, but you should be aware of the safety factor as well.  Don’t let this scare you away though because people like author, speaker and bookstore owner Amy Stewart cares for a garden full of poisonous plants.  Check out her book “Wicked Plants” to learn about some of the poisonous beauties you can own.  Amy will be speaking at our upcoming show April 7 – 10, 2011.  For more information on Amy visit www.amystewart.com