This week I’m making a rare move indoors to think about preparing my houseplants for Autumn.
With a garden full of jobs to do, it’s all too easy to forget about houseplants. Especially if you’ve followed my advice and bought easy to grow houseplants. As they may well have romped away with very little input from you.
But as we’re about to tip into Autumn, now is a really good time to give your houseplants a little attention and care.
1. Don’t Forget the Final Feeds
I typically give my houseplants a weekly feed in Spring and Summer. These days I use a feed from Plantsmith but you may have a favourite of your own. That’s fine – it’s more important to actually feed your houseplants than to get your hands on a particular brand. (Just want to quickly say here that as with all the products I mention in my blog, I don’t get a reward for mentioning them or linking to them; it’s a genuine recommendation). Anyway, back to the houseplants…
The reason why I feel feeding is important during these last few weeks of September is that in Autumn and Winter houseplants become pretty dormant. They grow less. Indeed the experts recommend you stop feeding most houseplants from October. There are obviously a few exceptions such as Poinsettia and Christmas Cactus. But your regular, everyday houseplants will not need feeding once we hit October. So as part of my regime for preparing my houseplants for Autumn, I make sure I give them those last few important feeds.
2. Watering
Like feeding, the watering of houseplants adjusts and I’d say that that adjustment can start now.
I think, as with a lot of gardening, there’s a huge amount of trial and error (often painful and expensive) before you get your houseplant watering regime right. After all it’s all too easy to over-water houseplants – killing them with kindness.
As a rule of thumb (or should I say finger) I stick a finger into the soil the plant is in. If the soil is damp below the surface I don’t water. If it’s dry I do. In reality, in preparing my houseplants for Autumn, my watering regime tends to drop back to once every two weeks from now until Spring. But I still do the finger test as the conditions can really vary. For instance, if we suddenly put the heating on my houseplants will start drying out faster – and they’ll need more misting. Also we have underfloor heating in one room, once it kicks in it can play havoc with my watering regime.
Whatever you do, and whatever the time of year, don’t have your plant sitting in water all the time. If you are using a decorative cover to disguise the pot the plant is actually in, check the cover after watering. If a load of water has collected in the base empty it out. I have to constantly remind myself that my houseplant isn’t a pet, it doesn’t needs a constant supply of water at its disposal!
To prevent myself falling foul of this rule, I actually have my houseplants mostly in outdoor style pots rather than resort to decorative containers. It means I have to stand the pots on trays while I water them – otherwise our carpets would be even worse than they are! But it ensures that once they’ve been watered and the spare water has drained through, I can remove the trays. So my plants are never standing in water.
While I’m talking watering, houseplants prefer rainwater to tap. Peace Lilies in particular don’t like tap water.
If all you have is tap water leave it out overnight in a bowl before using it. This will allow for the nasty old chemicals in the water to vanish. (Don’t ask me where they go but they somehow combine with molecules in the air to create something else which dissipates. I failed chemistry at school and I think we can all now see why!)
If you are using rainwater, bear in mind that as we move on from September that water will be getting colder and colder. Other than sitting in water, the one thing houseplants hate is temperature shocks. So I’d let the rainwater warm up in your house a bit before you use it.
3. Think About Light
I’m an avid walker and I’ve noticed over the past week or so how dramatically the light is fading. The mornings are darker and as I complete my evening walk I’m coming home stumbling in the dark.
Houseplants will be feeling these changes too. And much as I value the daylight, that light is probably even more important to my houseplants. After all, just because a houseplant is entering dormancy doesn’t mean it stops doing everything. It still needs to photosynthesise light. I’ve forgotten this at my cost in the past.
So now is a good moment for me to think about their positioning. That spot in our house that was ok in the height of Summer may be a real struggle for that poor houseplant over Autumn and Winter.
When preparing my houseplants for Autumn, I’m really focussed on how I’m going to maximise the light for them. Much as I hate housework, even I acknowledge that it’s worth cleaning windows to ensure the maximum light is coming in. I may also make space on windowsills for plants which live elsewhere at other times of the year. Or I may move more into our sunroom, as it gives the plants light from all sides which is really good.
One caveat regarding windowsills. These can become really chilly at night. So if I can be bothered, I’ll move my houseplants off windowsills at night, so that they’re a little warmer. Then pop them back into their windowsill position for the light of the day.
If this sounds like too much faff, I would sacrifice light over temperature. In other words, I think it’s better to give the houseplant a bit less light then inflict a draughty or freezing windowsill on it.
Also be careful with plants in doorways. What seems like a brilliant position might be a really draughty one – and that draught may be horribly cold once we get to Autumn. I’ve fallen foul of this a few times.
4. Repot
When preparing my houseplants for Autumn over the next week or so I’ll check that they need repotting. If they’re pot-bound or very top heavy, this is the time I’ll move them up a pot size.
Sometimes it’s a bit tricky to tell if a plant is pot-bound – i.e. the plant’s mass of roots have taken up most of the available space in the container.
But don’t panic, I’ve discovered two tell-tale signs which may help. Firstly, if I’ve been good and watered a plant properly and fed it regularly during the growing season, and yet it’s grown slowly or not at all, then the chances are that it is pot-bound.
Another sign is if its compost dries out quickly. Or of course, more obviously, you may see roots growing out through the drainage holes.
I’ve a Palm which, now I think about it, is growing far too slowly. It’s leaves are dry as I’ve not misted it enough but it is probably also pot-bound. I feel so guilty, I should have thought about it so much sooner. But I find it all too easy to be distracted by the garden during the Spring and Summer and neglect the poor old houseplants. So once I finish this blog I’m going to repot it as a top priority.
When it comes to repotting a houseplant, it’s important not to go mad. You just move the plant pot up one size. You are not being kind putting a plant into a much much larger pot.
Thankfully one plant which doesn’t need repotting is this Cactus which my youngest son, Henry bought for himself! There’s no way I’m tackling those needles. He’s on his own with that one!
5. Clean Leaves
Once I’ve dealt with my poor old, much less prickly Palm I’m going to give all my houseplants a good leaf clean. This is an important September job as it ensures the plants are able to capitalise on the reduced light that’s available to them. If a houseplant’s leaves are all dusty they can’t photosynthesise properly.
Snake Plants are particularly prone to gather dust, but in my experience most of my houseplants have this problem.
Though again I won’t dust the cacti below.
If you’ve got a large leaved plants you could even take them outside to hose down their leaves. But make sure you choose a nice mild day.
6. Bring Them In
I took a Peace Lily and a Weeping Fig outside for some of the Summer, as they were looking a bit tired. But I’ve just brought them back in before things get any colder. I wouldn’t leave it any longer as you may get caught out by a cold-snap. That plant you so lovingly rejuvenated by giving it a spell outdoors will be dead as a dodo! So, if like me you’ve taken some houseplants outside, I’d bring them in.
7. General Tidy
As part of preparing houseplants for Autumn I’m also giving them a general tidy up. This includes removing dead leaves and checking for pests such as Fungus Gnats, which won’t kill a plant but which just look so unattractive.
Letting compost dry out between watering helps combat these pesky Gnats, as they like laying their eggs in warm damp compost. So, if I spot them, I’ll take extra care with my watering. I’ll also put a layer of sand or gravel on the top of the compost to further inhibit them. If that doesn’t help I’ll resort to a natural spray.
So that’s it… the steps I’m taking to get my houseplants happy and ready for Autumn and Winter. Happy indoor gardening! x