← the journal/guide · 1 may 2026
winter care: your plants are asleep, stop feeding them
all of them — every plant you own
most houseplants slow down or stop growing in winter because there's far less light, so they need much less water and no fertilizer at all. water roughly half as often as in summer, only when the soil is properly dry, and move plants closer to windows to catch what little light there is. keep them away from radiators and cold drafts — those two kill more plants in winter than anything else.
- 1. symptom
your summer routine suddenly produces yellow leaves and soggy soil
nothing changed — same watering day, same amounts, same spots — and now the soil stays wet for two weeks, leaves go yellow from the bottom, and the whole shelf looks miserable. you didn't get worse at this. the season changed underneath you.
- 2. cause
less light = less drinking, and your routine didn't get the memo
a plant's water use is driven by light. in a dutch-grey december, your plant might get a tenth of the light it got in june, which means it drinks a fraction of what it did — but the watering can keeps coming on schedule. add a radiator roasting one side and a drafty window chilling the other, and you have the full winter casualty list: rot from below, crisp from the side, shock from the cold.
- 3. the fix
the winter downshift, four moves
one: water by checking, not by calendar — in winter the gap often stretches to two, three, even four weeks. let the soil dry out properly first. two: stop fertilizing entirely from roughly october to march; a plant that isn't growing can't use food, and unused fertilizer just burns roots. three: move plants closer to the windows — the spot that was 'bright enough' in july is a cave in january. four: audit for radiators and drafts. nothing tropical should sit above a heater or in the path of a leaky window seal.
dormancy isn't dying
the first winter, every slowdown looks like failure. no new leaves for three months? normal. a couple of old leaves dropping? normal. growth that pauses entirely? completely normal. a resting plant looks boring, not sick — the soil is dry-ish, the leaves are firm, nothing's yellowing in waves. resist the urge to fix the boredom with water or food. spring does the fixing.
the radiator problem nobody calculates
the cruelest winter trap: the windowsill is the brightest spot AND directly above the radiator. heat rising past the pot bakes the soil dry in days and crisps leaf edges, while the plant — barely photosynthesizing — can't replace the moisture it's losing. if your windowsill heats up, move the plant a meter to the side, or put a shelf board between radiator and pot. dry air from heating is also why winter is spider mite season: check the undersides of leaves while you're there.
what still needs attention
winter care isn't zero care. wipe dust off the leaves (less light means every photon counts), rotate pots so growth stays even, and keep checking the soil weekly even if you're not watering — checking is how you catch the one plant that does still drink. the only plants that ignore all of this: anything under a grow light, which doesn't know it's winter and carries on as usual.
people keep asking…
- how often should i water houseplants in winter?
- roughly half as often as in summer — for many plants that means every two to four weeks. check the soil instead of counting days: water only when the top few centimeters are properly dry and the pot feels light.
- should i fertilize my houseplants in winter?
- no. most houseplants pause growth in winter and can't use the nutrients, so fertilizer just accumulates as root-burning salts. stop feeding around october and start again in early spring when you see new growth.
- why is my plant dropping leaves in winter?
- usually one of three things: a draft or cold shock near a window, hot dry air from a radiator, or overwatering on a summer schedule. a few old leaves dropping is normal dormancy; leaves dropping in waves means check the spot and the soil.
- do houseplants go dormant in winter?
- most slow down dramatically rather than going fully dormant like outdoor plants — less light simply means less growth and less thirst. treat it as a rest period: more light if you can offer it, much less water, no food.
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