Time to Slow Down: Preparing Your Houseplants for Their Winter Rest
The days are getting shorter, temperatures are cooling down, and fall has officially arrived. While we’re pulling out sweaters and settling into the season, something is changing inside our homes, too.
Our plants are slowing down.
Spring and summer are the primary growing seasons for many of our favorite houseplants. Longer days and brighter light encourage them to push out new leaves, develop stronger roots, and sometimes grow faster than we can keep up with.
But as we move into fall and winter, those conditions change.
Less daylight means less energy available for growth. You may notice fewer new leaves, longer stretches between new growth, and soil that stays moist longer than it did during the summer.
Don’t panic.
Your plant isn’t necessarily unhappy. It may simply be responding to the season.
Rest is part of the growing process, too.
One Last Feeding Before We Slow Things Down
If you’ve been regularly fertilizing your houseplants throughout spring and summer, now is a good time to start winding down your feeding routine.
For many plants, that may mean one final light feeding before giving the fertilizer a rest until growing conditions improve.
But here’s something important: watch your plant, not just the calendar.
Our homes are different. A plant sitting under a grow light for 12 hours a day may continue actively growing through winter, while the same variety sitting several feet from a window may slow considerably.
If your plant is still actively growing and receiving plenty of light, occasional light feeding may still be appropriate. If growth has slowed significantly, there’s usually no reason to keep pushing it with the same feeding schedule you used during summer.
Our goal isn’t to force growth. It’s to support the plant through the season it’s in.
Your Watering Schedule Needs to Change, Too 💧
This may be the most important adjustment you make this fall.
Put away the watering calendar.
A plant that needed water every seven days in July may take considerably longer to dry out in November or January.
With less light and slower growth, plants generally use water more slowly. Continuing your summer watering routine can leave soil wet for too long, increasing the risk of yellowing leaves, fungus gnats and root problems.
Before reaching for your watering can, check the soil.
Feel it. Lift the pot. Pay attention to your plant.
Let the plant tell you when it’s thirsty rather than deciding it’s watering day simply because it’s Tuesday.
Let There Be Light ☀️
Remember that beautiful spot where your plant thrived all summer?
Take another look at it.
The angle and intensity of sunlight change throughout the year. A location that provided wonderful bright, indirect light during summer may be considerably darker during winter.
Now is a great time to:
Move light-loving plants closer to an appropriate window.
Clean dusty leaves so they can make the most of available light.
Rotate plants periodically for more even exposure.
Consider adding a grow light if natural light becomes limited.
And be mindful of temperature. Keep tropical plants away from cold drafts, frequently opened doors, and direct blasts of hot, dry air from heating vents.
A Special Note for Our Monstera Parents 🌿
Monsteras may be tropical, but they notice seasonal changes inside our homes, too.
If your Monstera was giving you leaf after leaf this summer and suddenly seems to be doing absolutely nothing, don’t immediately assume something is wrong.
It may simply be slowing down.
And remember: slower growth above the soil doesn’t mean nothing is happening below it.
Your plant still has a living root system to maintain.
During fall and winter, try changing the question from:
“How do I make my Monstera grow?”
to:
“How do I keep my Monstera healthy while it grows more slowly?”
That’s a very different approach to plant care.
Pay attention to light, moisture, drainage and the plant’s actual growth instead of automatically following the same routine you used all summer.
If your Monstera continues receiving strong light and producing new growth, its needs may be different from one sitting in a darker winter location.
Healthy plant care isn’t about doing more.
It’s about learning what your plant needs—and sometimes what it doesn’t.
Before Your Plants Settle In for the Season 🍂
Give your collection a little fall checkup.
Inspect the leaves, stems and soil for pests—especially if any plants spent the summer outdoors.
Wipe dust from larger leaves, remove dead or damaged foliage, check drainage, and reconsider where each plant will receive its best winter light.
Then adjust your watering and feeding as growth slows.
This is also a wonderful time to simply enjoy your plants.
We spend so much of spring and summer watching for the next leaf, the next fenestration, the next baby plant, or the next inch of growth that sometimes we forget to appreciate what we’ve already grown.
Rest Is Part of the Growing Process, Too 🌱
Plants teach us something beautiful about seasons.
There is a season for growing, a season for blooming—and a season for slowing down.
Your plants don’t have to produce something new every week to be healthy.
Spring will come. The days will get longer. And before we know it, we’ll be pulling out the fertilizer, repotting supplies and propagation stations all over again.
Until then, give your plants what they need, let them move at their own pace, and enjoy the greenery you’ve worked so hard to grow.
Sometimes the best thing we can do for our plants is simply let them rest.
Have a thriving day! 🌿
Pot O’ Greens
Helping you grow happy, healthy houseplants—one leaf at a time.
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