February 16, 2023 at 11:15 a.m.
Fish Like a GIRL
A look at house plants in winter
Fish Like a GIRL
"Well, anything can be a house plant," I remember Mom saying. Dad jokingly called our living room "the jungle" when I was young. I think my mom could grow just about anything she set her mind to. I suppose she had her challenges and failures as well, but maybe we just had so many plants inside the untrained eye could not detect one that was no longer on one of the many plant stands.
When I saw a webinar from the University Extension come across my email entitled, "Indoor Plant Care During Winter," I figured that would be likely be a good place for me to start to figure out what I do wrong in the winter time that has caused a variety of plant issues in the past.
This winter I have only three plants in my house, which is strange. But with moving last fall and still working on little things in the house here and there, when it was time to put the garden to bed, I simply did that. The three plants I have in the house have been around for quite some time and each found the perfect home in their separate windows. I believe vines of all sorts are more difficult to kill, so when I started with these years ago, I felt confident I could keep them growing. I have cut pieces off and shared them with friends many times; and other times I've just thrown cuttings away, lest they take over the entire house.
But now to get to the winter plant care webinar. One of the things I know I have done wrong in the past that was addressed in the webinar was over watering. I have one plant right now that is growing like crazy for whatever reason. But, for the most part, plants slow down in the winter. They need a rest, according to Johanna Oosterwyk, the DC Smith Greenhouse Manger at UW-Madison. She was the presenter for the webinar.
Just as some people tend to stay indoors and rest and recuperate in the winter, plants, too, need a break from growing. They take that break in the winter. That said, they do not need near as much water as they would during the growing season. Too much water that is not used by the plant means the roots are too wet, which can cause molds and a host of other issues.
Although plants do not need as much water, humidity, Oosterwyk said, is the biggest challenge for house plants in the winter. Just as we can suffer from dry skin in the winter, plants, too, feel the effects of lack of humidity as soon as the heat is turned on in the winter. Warm, dry air pulls water from the leaves. Because the roots are absorbing less water in the winter, they are not providing the same amount of moisture back to the leaves.
There are several ways to provide or retain moisture for house plants, though. One is to use a protective cover or cloche. The cloche is not like a terrarium, which is totally sealed. It allows for air movement, but at the same time retains moisture the plant needs.
Another way to retain moisture is to group plants together. Now, in my mom's case when I was a kid, (and, I suppose, all through her life), that would have worked very well. And perhaps that is why she created "jungles," as my dad called them, in certain parts of the house. For me, at this point, though, that is not an option. But either of these two techniques is enough to create a microclimate that will help retain moisture.
Another option is to use a pebble tray. This is a tray approximately two inches deep that the potted plant sits on. The tray has water in it, but not enough water so that the pot is sitting in the water. The idea is to provide moisture to the plant leaves, but not to the media in which the plant is planted.
Oosterwyk also spoke about various pests that can be problematic for house plants. Especially when bringing in plants in the fall, pests or their larvae can hitchhike along and start to show up in the winter when plants are inside. Spider mites, she said, love low humidity, meaning winter is the time to watch out for them. Keeping humidity high, then, can keep mites away. Misting plants is one way to do this. There is also the option of putting plants in the shower to not only add moisture, but to wash away the spider mites.
White flies are one of the pests that can come in with plants in the fall. The flies themselves may not be present at the time of bringing the plants in, making them hard to detect. But as they become adults, they can be spotted on house plants. Oosterwyk said these are more difficult pests with which to deal. They often require a chemical treatment such as an insecticide to win the battle against them.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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