March is always a hopeful month for me. January and February can feel long and arduous (especially this year) but March promises the arrival of spring, warmth, and green things once more! While garden planning should be well under way by now, I thought this month I’d talk a bit about what you can do to care for your indoor plants as the seasons change.
Believe it or not, your houseplants are also interacting with the outside world despite their cozy indoor habitat. The sunlight, humidity and temperatures still affect them just as their outdoor counterparts. Here are a few things you can do to wake your sleepy plants up and have them thrive as the year marches on!
First, as the days get longer and warmer, it is important to water your plants more frequently. In the winter most plants, even indoor ones, go a little more dormant as the light decreases. When there’s more light, there’s more need to create food and they cannot create food without water! While watering more frequently is recommended, don’t overdo it. Keep an eye on your plants to see how they are responding to the waterings and adjust accordingly. Too much water at once will overwhelm them and cause them to struggle.
Check your plants to make sure they’re not receiving too much light as it returns. During the winter it is easy to move them closer to a window so they can receive as much waning light as possible. As the sunlight lasts longer, some plants may have their leaves scorched. I noticed this with a few of my plants lately and have to find a place to move them! Think about where you plant is and how much direct light it receives from the window it is closest to. Like gradually adding more water, reducing the amount of direct light might take some trial and error. Keep an eye on your plants to see how the extra sunlight is affecting them and move them as needed.
Much like extra light, with the warming temperatures your plants might feel stressed if the room they are in gets drastically different–either too hot or too cold. Most houseplants prefer temperatures to be between 65-85 degrees, with the sweet spot being around 75. I personally cannot handle indoor temperatures that high, but we do keep our house between 67-70 degrees year-round. Do a quick check to make sure any newly acquired or moved plants aren’t directly in front of an A/C vent and your plants will thank you!
Finally, give each plant a once-over and check for dead leaves and weak foliage. Pluck the dead leaves and prune as needed. Each plant has its own pruning needs, it is worth looking up which one you have and see best practices for them. This is also a good time to add some plant food to your watering cycle. Each brand and type of plant food is slightly different, but once you have some you can follow the directions on the bottle. As they are starting to wake from their semi-slumber, extra nutrients will help them succeed as you prune away the weaker bits.
There are a lot of other great tips for keeping your indoor plants happy and healthy as the season shifts, but these were a few that I have started to slowly incorporate into my weekly practices. I wish you big, healthy plants both indoors and out as we approach outdoorsy times once more!
