Bringing Your Plants in For Winter: A Step-By-Step Guide

Summer has officially passed and the cold temperatures are here to stay! As we switch to spending most of our time cozied up indoors, we can’t forget to bring our plants in for winter too! Most house plants are naturally tropical and prefer growing in warmer environments. Many can’t survive for long below temperatures of 45º – 50ºF (7º – 10ºC).

But cold weather doesn’t have to be a death sentence for your plant babies; in fact, winter can be a chance for your plants to truly thrive if provided with proper attention and a little extra TLC. Bringing your plants inside once the weather cools down will help prevent too many of their leaves from falling or the plants from dying completely!

Unsure of how to adapt your care, debug your plants, and prepare them for a smooth transition indoors? Check out our step-by-step guide below.

1. Grooming Your Indoor Plants for Winter

Leave those dead leaves outside! Trimming any dying branches and removing brown leaves can refresh the look of your plants, display them in the best way possible, and ensure that they’ll add to the aesthetic of your home. Make sure to check for bugs under leaves as well so that you don’t accidentally track pests with you.

2. Cleaning/ Dusting You Plants for Winter

Dust and dirt from the outside world can accumulate on the leaves of your plants. Not only is this visually unappealing, but it also interferes with how well your plants absorb light. You can clean your plants by simply wiping them down with a wet towel. For larger plants, consider a soak! Soaking your plants is a thorough way to clean them as well as kill any remaining bugs that you were unable to spot before. To soak your plants, add a tsp of mild liquid soap to every liter of water you have in a large bucket. Make sure you don’t use a detergent and that your soap doesn’t contain any degreasers! These can be harmful to your plants. If you want to err on the safe side, you can always purchase a plant-friendly, organic insecticidal soap instead. Submerge your plants in the mixture for 15-20 minutes, then rinse them off with regular water once they’ve finished soaking.

3. Repotting and Refreshing your Soil

Changing up your soil is important when bringing your plants indoors to make sure that you don’t bring any insect eggs inside. Consider removing the top 1-2 inches of soil, or replacing all of your soil completely! It’s also a good time to consider repotting plants into bigger pots to give them more room to grow or to match your interior décor. Our Wally Eco Wall Planters are made from 100% recycled plastic and come in a broad range of colors!

4. Finding an Indoor Location

Just as important as the prep-work is finding a good spot indoors! Protect your plants from cold, dry air by placing them away from vents and doors. Humidity is also important for plants and can be helped by clustering plants together or using a humidifier. Ensure proper lighting by placing your plants in direct or indirect lighting from your windows, adjusting for their specific needs. If there’s not enough light at home, you can easily remedy this issue by placing your houseplants under a grow light!

5. Adjusting Your Care for the Winter

Plants go dormant during winter and typically grow at a much slower pace (if at all!) during the colder months. This means that they require less water. If under a grow light lamp however, they’re much more likely to continue to grow! Observe how your plants behave once you bring them indoors and adjust your watering schedule accordingly. In addition, consider easing up on the fertilizer, or completely hold back on using fertilizer at all. Different plants have different requirements, so make sure to do a quick search online to figure out your plant’s specific needs.