How to care for your houseplants in autumn

With temperatures dropping, it’s time to prepare your houseplants for autumn and winter. Plants may find the changing temperatures troubling. The growth of plants also slows down over the colder months. Therefore, making a few adjustments to your plant care routine, such as reducing watering and feeding, and repositioning plants so they get more light, can help keep plants thriving. Here are a few tips and suggestions on how to care for your houseplants in autumn and winter: 

Move them closer to a light source: 

As the number of daylight hours continue to decrease as we head into the colder months, it’s important for plants to get sufficient light to stay well and healthy. Keep an eye out on plant leaves to remove any dust, and move plants closer to a light source like a window, so they can get the optimal amount of light. It might take some trial and error to find the best spot for your plants. 

Reduce watering: 

While plants may have dried up faster with the hot weather, plants are less thirsty moving into the colder months. The weather is becoming much cooler and plants are not producing too much new growth. Therefore, plants need less water over the colder months. Remember to dip your fingers in the soil to test if plants need water, and water only when the top two inches of the soil feels dry. Avoid over-watering. 

Reduce feeding plants: 

Plants slow down their growth over autumn and winter, in order to conserve their energy. Therefore, you can reduce feeding your plants as needed during this time. Do take time to do your research and get to know the requirements of each plant. Avoid unnecessarily feeding them when they don’t need it. When the nutrients in the fertiliser are not used up, plant roots can be damaged. 

Plants might like extra humidity: 

With the air turning dryer, you might think about moving your plants to a space where there is more moisture, like a kitchen or bathroom. Watch out for brown leaf tips, and you can also use a cool mist humidifier as necessary. You can also try grouping together those houseplants that have similar needs, which is called ‘bunching’. Similar plants might even create their own pockets of moisture, benefiting each plant.

Avoid sudden changes in temperatures: 

Switching on your heater? While it may be useful to regulate the temperature, don’t place plants too near a radiator as this can dry out their soil faster. If you do have your plants near a radiator, watch your soil carefully and provide extra water as needed. 

Avoid repotting, only do so if absolutely needed: 

Your plants may have grown over the hotter months, and you might think about moving them into a bigger pot. However, repotting stimulates new growth, and can be tricky doing so right before winter. Therefore, repot only if necessary and you feel that moving the plant into a larger pot can help them better survive the winter months. It’s easy to repot plants with our biodegradable and peat-free coir pots. Simply place your plant in our coir pot, adding coir potting mix as required. If you want to replant them on the ground later, you can place them along with the pot itself. There is no transplanting shock, as plant roots can grow through the coir pots as they grow, and the pot itself degrades into the soil over time. 

There are plenty of other advantages of using coir products, as coir also helps retain water and moisture well, which can be handy for houseplants. At CoirProducts, since our inception, we have had the largest portfolio of coir-based products in the UK, with all our products ethically produced and sourced, meeting the highest industry standards. We also have an array of unique coir bundles to choose from, whether you are a seasoned grower or someone new to gardening. We also have specially curated packs for indoor growing, like our coir pots special bundle for indoor growing, our coir pots and growpoles bundle for growing those creepers indoors, and our indoor monster pots bundle ideal for those larger plants. For all our products ordered via our online shop, it’s free delivery within mainland UK.