Let's Talk About Your Indoor Plants

Tropical foliage plants that we typically use in our homes come from very warm parts of the world that are much closer to the equator than we are. These areas experience longer days with shorter nights year round, creating optimum growing conditions for these types of plants. Here in northern latitudes as we get to late summer and into the fall, are days become shorter and nights become longer. These changing light conditions do not go unnoticed by your indoor plants. And these changes signal your plants to slow their growth or to take a break and stop growing altogether. This is why we always recommend cutting back on watering and refraining from fertilizing and repotting during the winter months. Excess water, fertilizer and repotting tends to encourage growth. And if you're plants don't want to grow, this could lead to troubles like root rot and weak, lanky growth.

Now that the days are getting noticeably longer and the nights are getting shorter, you're plants have definitely taken notice. Maybe you've noticed new leaves or stems forming on plants that have been hanging out not doing much for the past couple of months? This is a direct result of the increasing daylight hours.

Underwatering is easy to correct. Overwatering not so much.

As growth commences, your plants will need extra nutrients to be health and happy. We recommend Espoma Organic Indoor Plant Food for all houseplants. Not only does it contain the essential nutrients your plants need, it also contains living soil microorganisms, which will supercharge your soil.

If you have plants that need to move into larger pots, now is a great time to do it. Just remember to always up pot in small increments. We like the 2 inch rule. If your plant is in a 4 inch pot it moves to a 6 inch, 6 inch to 8 inch, 8 inch to 10 inch and so on. We recommend Coast of Maine Cape Neddick Houseplant Soil for most indoor plants.

Tropical foliage plants that we use indoors typically grow under the canopy of larger trees in humid jungle environments, where they enjoy getting rained and dripped on by water regularly. Indoors, especially in the winter months when the air is very dry, plants can get dusty and a little dingy. A good rinse is very refreshing for plants and can help to stimulate growth and keep pests, particularly spider mites, at bay. So get your plants in the sink or shower and give them a good bath.