How to Keep Your Houseplants Healthy in the Winter

How to Keep Your Houseplants Healthy in the Winter

Every detail counts when you’re getting ready to sell your home. The house needs to look livable, but it can’t be so personalized that a prospective buy can’t imagine herself living there. It needs to be clean, but not completely empty. And you definitely can’t have dead plants making the place look junky. That certainly doesn’t mean you have to get rid of your houseplants, though. It simply means you have to keep them healthy though to last the winter while adding some life to your home.

Preparing for the Season

Give your plants a little TLC by trimming away dead or yellowed leaves. Put some clean water in a bottle and spritz the leaves to rinse away indoor dust and grime. Clearing away accumulating dust allows your plants to absorb more natural light.

Adjust the Watering Schedule

Plants naturally grow at a slower rate during the winter season, so they don’t need to be watered quite as often. You can test the need for water by sticking your finger into the dirt. If it is dry a full inch into the pot, give it a nice watering. If not, leave it alone.

Do your plants seem to dry out very often? If so, they might be ready for larger pots. Find a larger pot, trim away some of the dead roots, and cut away the taproots that grow around the edge of the pot. Doing so will encourage smaller roots to form, and they’re far more efficient at absorbing the needed water and nutrients.

Keep a Consistent Indoor Temperature

Indoor plants respond well to consistent temperatures. They do best when the temperature is between 65 and 70 degrees during the day and approximately 60 to 65 during the evening hours. Try to keep your plants away from your entryways and from drafty windows so they aren’t shocked by cool blasts of air. At the same time, you’ll want to keep them out of the path of direct heat sources.

Plants Love Light

You know how people get SAD syndrome during the winter months? Plants tend to get a bit sad when they don’t get light, too. Some of your plants are used to receiving great amounts of light during the warmer months but the position of the sun shifts during the winter. You may find you need to move your plants around so that the light-hungry ones get the natural rays they need.

A good first impression is important when selling a home and while it may seem inconsequential to you, seeing dead and dying plants in a house can be a major turn-off. After all, a potential homebuyer may wonder: if you can’t take care of your plants, what other parts of the home have been neglected?