Whether you’re a new or experienced plant parent, autumn marks a seasonal shift and ideal time to put some care into your plant babies. If you’re like me and you’re running a few weeks late to just about everything, it’s not too late to give your plants this seasonal TLC. Autumn is very forgiving. Autumn requires a lot less work and planning than spring time, and there aren’t strict growing season windows to meet. Most importantly, whatever time and care you can put into your plants in autumn makes spring that much easier.

This blog post will help you prepare the essentials of keeping your plants happy. So, let’s get to tidying up your babies with loving care just like tucking them in before a long winter’s rest!

Indoor Plant Maintenance

The key to indoor plant maintenance is preparing them to respond well to winter seasonal changes. Most houseplants slow down their growth or go into complete dormancy in winter. Their care needs will mirror this shift in the seasonal cycle. They will need less water and less nourishment.

Other changes involve shifting from a warm climate of summer to a cooler and more regulated climate of winter. For example, indoor winter time for plants often means cooler temperatures shifting with heat from furnaces, radiators, and fireplaces.

Once you have a few winter mistakes under your belt, you’ll get the hang of your plant baby needs and fragility levels. Here are the basics to get you ahead of the curve.

Necessary Transplants

Most plants are entering a dormancy phase of their cycles, so you shouldn’t expect a lot of growth over the next few months. But that’s not a rule; it’s a guideline. A few of my plants have gained quite a bit of new growth over winter, particularly once we moved into our new house with lots of good direct and indirect light. They were thrilled to develop new leaves and height – even over winter’s cold months. That’s why I like to anticipate two transplanting times during the year: spring and autumn.

I do my big transplanting in spring and supplementary transplanting in autumn. These are my transplant projects for this autumn:

Cutting back and propagating a large jade plant;
Consolidating bromeliad and snake plant pups;
Potting monstera propagations.

You can see that I’m not potting-up any plants that need more room in their pots. I’ll save that for spring. Instead, I’m tidying up cuttings, pups, and propagations that I know need some TLC to be really comfortable through the winter months.

Top-off the Topsoil

Through the course of the summer my houseplant babies devoured their nutrient-rich soil. I’m going around and adding a thin layer of topsoil in those pots that need it, to make sure their water and nutrient retention stays high over winter.

The last thing I need in the middle of winter is a root-bound plant with compacted soil that begins to dry up for thirst of water. An extra layer of topsoil will do wonders for watering maintenance.

Prune Only if Needed

Like a good haircut, pruning up any dead stuff or overgrowth will help your plants focus any winter growth in the right places. Since their resilience and responsiveness is slowing down, be careful not to over-prune. You don’t want to shock your plants or push them into having to repair themselves.

For example, I’m pruning the brown leaves from my monstera and lickety-split so they feel fresh. I’m also cleaning up the pups from my spider mama, since she’s so over-grown. These spider pups will be put into water to grow roots and mature in order to be transplanted into their own pots of soil in spring.

Arrange for Indoor Climate

It’s also always a good idea to anticipate indoor climate changes to set up your plants for success. The winter sun will minimize indoor light, so think about moving your most needy plants to south and west facing windows. Drafty windows, doors, and HVAC ducts can push cold air onto sensitive plants. Think about consolidating your plants together in warm places in your house. Also, internal heating can dry out any humidity left in the house. For those tropical plants, think about adding a humidifier to plant-centric rooms.

In our house, frozen windows have obliterated my succulents and spider plants. I pull all my plants in about six inches or more from windows to avert any accidental freezing. I also decided to add a humidifier to our main space, and I run it in the mornings on furnace-heating days to compensate for the moisture drained from the inside air.

Prepare for Dormancy

Slow growth means slow down on watering. Watering changes aren’t uniform. You’ll have to observe and respond to get into a new rhythm with each plant. Trust me, it’s worth taking the time to listen to each plant’s needs. It’s much harder (and sometimes impossible) to try to bring back a plant that has been over-watered, then under-watered, in wintertime.

Wean off fertilizer too. I like to check in during autumn TLC maintenance to give one last good fertilizing meal that will last through the coldest months.

We hope these tips and recommendations for autumn indoor and outdoor plant care will help you prepare for an awesome winter! Got questions? Leave them below in the comments.

Autumn Indoor Plant Care Basics