When temperatures drop, it’s time to winter your plants. But without some amateur gardeners, there are many current wintering errors. In fact, although there are good advice for the wintering of your plants, the fact remains that there are errors to avoid. winter your plants to prevent them from dieYou may follow the worst wintering advice.
To help you make the difference between the best and the worst advice, we discussed with plant experts who told us about all the wintering errors to avoid at all costs.
Meet the expert
- Valeria Nyman is a longtime planter and the chief product manager at Taim.ioA platform that helps people cultivate their own aromatic vegetables and herbs at home.
- Lotte Berendsen is a certified gardening expert for plantin, an application that helps gardeners identify plants and diagnose problems.
Excessive watering of plants in winter
Too much watering is probably the worst thing you can do for your plants.
“The instinct of keeping the soil wet throughout the year is very strong,” explains Valeria Nyman, a long -standing planter and product manager at Taim.io. “But most plants slow down their growth in winter and do not drink as much.
Wet roots in cold soil can also lead to the rotting of roots, which is one of the main causes of plant mortality. signs of excessive watering. Instead, water sparingly, and only when the first centimeter of earth is dry. For pots in pots, make sure that the pots are well drained in order to avoid the accumulation of too much water.
Too tight packaging of plants
When you winter your plants, you want to keep them warm. However, too tight packaging can cause problems for the plant.
“The gardeners swallow the plants as if it were a newborn baby. This traps humidity, which can freeze, and stifles the plant, ”explains Mr. Nyman.
She compares the plants that are too tight to a raincoat in a sauna: it is useless and uncomfortable for the plant. Instead, opt for breathable materials like jute canvas to create a windbreak or an antifreeze barrier.
“You don’t try to isolate the plant, you just protect it from the worst weather conditions,” she said.
Fertilize at the end of fall or winter
Another frequent error is to fertilize plants too early.
“It is tempting to think that plants need food throughout the year, but fertilizing them before they wake up that they are serving breakfast at 3 am,” said Nyman.
By fertilizing your plants at the end of fall or in winter, you disorient them and unused nutrients can damage the roots. Instead of making this error, stop fertilizing in the middle of the fall and let your plants rest, she said. Ms. Nyman explains that spring is the ideal time to get the buffet out, because this is when your plants are growing and can benefit from a good fertilizer.
Forget about the diseases and pests of the plants
Remember that aphids, tetranycs and fungal spores can also spend the winter. They can hang on to your plants when you enter them inside and wait to wreak havoc in your garden when the sun returns.
What to do instead? Clean the dead leaves and debris where the parasites hide, recommends Nyman. Inspect plants in search of common pests of the gardens before entering them inside for the winter and consider a soft biological spray as a precautionary measure against parasites.
Place the plants near cold windows
Even in winter, plants need abundant light. However, plants that have spent winter should not be placed near cold windows. Although you can think that it will give your plants as much light as possible, cold windows and full of air flows do more harm than good.
According to Lotte Berendsen, an expert in certified gardening for plantin, cold windows can cause temperature fluctuations.
“This is particularly true if your interior heating is underway and the temperatures inside your house are radically different from those outside,” explains Lotte Berendsen.
The solution? Give the plant a place where it is not disturbed by radiators or air currents.
Appootage in fall or winter
This error can cause transplantation shock in your plant. Plants do not actively grow in winter, and repotting can therefore be very stressful for the roots of your plant.
“Suddenly, your plant must devote all its resources to the roots, which leaves little or no energy for foliage,” explains Mr. Berendsen.
Repotting is therefore a serious error which can lead to the wilting, browning and falling leaves. Instead, wait for spring to repot. Unless the plant suffers from a disease or its roots do not allow it to wait until spring, leave it in its current pot for the moment, says Berendsen.