5 Effective Tricks and Tips for Plant Care This Fall

Fall is an exciting time of year for the gardener. This season is the perfect time to start planning your garden. With the cooling temperatures and shorter days, it’s a great opportunity to get outside and do some gardening work. Whether you’re planting new trees or shrubs, pruning existing ones, or just cleaning up your yard, fall is definitely your best shot at making lasting changes in your garden landscape before winter sets in! 

So if this is your first autumn as an outdoor gardener or if you’ve been doing it for years but want to improve your skills, this blog post will share five effective tricks and tips for fall plant care so you can keep your plants healthy all year long. 

Bring Your Plants Indoors

Now that summer’s gone along with the heat and humidity, it’s time to bring those plants back indoors. You need to make sure that your houseplants are safe and sound inside before the temperature drops below 55°F (12.5°C) during the nighttime. But before doing that, check your plants for pest and disease infestations that they might have picked up. 

What you can do is shower the infested plant using your garden hose, and once it is dry, you can spray diluted neem oil or dishwashing liquid to get rid of pests. For diseases, you can cut the diseased part, such as a leaf so that the other leaves won’t be infected. Now, if your plant did not survive the season, then you can just let it go and check the other plants.

Water Plants Less Often

As the days get shorter and the nights become longer, you’ll notice that you won’t need to water less. Some plants might undergo dormancy when winter comes. Others may need less light and grow more slowly. For instance, when you have a snake plant, you’ll just need to water it every six weeks during the fall compared to when you water it in the summertime. Always check whether the potting mix is dry before watering your plants.

Keep the Lights Up

Just because your houseplants are inside doesn’t mean they don’t need light. Pay close attention to the amount of light your plants are getting. Since fall is accompanied by shorter days and a change in the angle of the sun, you may want to place your plants where there is enough sunlight, just like what they get during the summertime. Also, you can group your plants based on how much sunlight they need, such as succulents which you can place on the windowsill. 

Another thing that you can do is to rotate your plants once a week so all sides are covered and your houseplants won’t lean on one side to another. Now, if you’re in a place where there isn’t enough sunlight, you can use artificial light to keep your plants growing no matter what season it is.

Increase Indoor Humidity 

If you’re watering less, you may want to invest in a humidifier that can help increase the humidity levels inside your home. Most houseplants love a humid environment because they are tropical plants. 

Just remember to avoid extreme temperature changes. Don’t just put your plants in places that are too cold or too hot. Sudden changes in the temperature can cause stress to your plants, so it’s best to put them in a place where the temperature is stable.

Encourage Foliage Dieback

You may notice that your plants are starting to lose leaves when you bring them from the outdoors. Know that this is perfectly normal as they are acclimating to the changes in the light levels inside your home. This is because the less light present, the less energy they’ll have to sustain all their foliage. What you can do is to pull out some of the mature leaves so they can maximize their energy for their other leaves.

Conclusion

Taking care of your plants during the fall season can be quite confusing sometimes, especially if it’s your first time. Yes, it can be challenging, but with the right knowledge and creativity, you’ll surely be able to do it.

Houseplant Advisor provides home plant tips and how-to guides so you can give the best care to your indoor houseplants. Visit our website to get the latest updates on how you can care for your plants successfully!