6 Tips How to Take Care of Plants in Winter
1. Watering and Spraying in Winter
Plants should be placed in the back of a room or are exposed to hot air, the soil in their pots dries quickly, and they require watering more often. If they spend winter in a cooler place, such as a windowsill, the soil remains moist for a long time allowing those plants to be watered less frequently (use self-watering pots).
In order to avoid elongation and yellowing of leaves, plants should be left to rest in winter, halting their growth. They need to be watered less often, generally, only after the soil begins to dry out. However, it is necessary to do more spraying during this time, otherwise the tips of the leaves will begin to wither, which may eventually lead to the plant’s death. Also, the surface soil should be loosened more often so the air can penetrate to the roots. It’s no wonder that such a method is called "dry watering."
It is not recommended to spray some plant species, such as violets, because their leaves will begin to rot. They should be placed on a pallet with constantly wet pebbles or expanded clay.
Cacti and other succulents require almost no water in the winter. Decorative foliage plants still require moderate watering in winter as the top layer of soil will dry. In flowering plants, the sol should be kept slightly moist even in winter. Only very moisture-loving plants (azaleas, sweet flag, cyperus) require abundant watering all the year round.