How to prepare your plants for autumn

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Four things need to change when autumn arrives: water less, move plants closer to the light, stop feeding until spring, and check for pests before the heating goes on. Do those in September and most houseplants will come through the winter without trouble. The reason is simple. Less daylight means slower growth, and a plant that is barely growing needs far less of everything. Most winter plant losses come from carrying on with a summer routine into October.

Water less, and check before you do

From late September, cut back to roughly half your summer watering. Instead of following a schedule, push a finger two centimetres into the soil and only water if it feels dry. Wet soil that stays wet in a cool room is the fastest route to root rot. Succulents and cacti need the biggest cutback. Once a month is usually enough from October onwards, and some can go through winter almost dry.

Move plants towards the light

Light levels indoors drop sharply between September and November. Move plants a metre or two closer to the window and turn them a quarter every couple of weeks so they don't lean. Two things to watch. Cold windowsills at night can damage leaves, so pull tender plants back in the evening if the glass gets cold. And clean the leaves, since a layer of dust noticeably reduces the light a plant can use when there is little to spare.

Stop feeding until spring

Fertiliser only helps a plant that is actively growing. Feeding in autumn leaves salts building up in the soil that the roots cannot take up. Stop from the end of September and start again in March.

Check for pests before the heating comes on

Warm, dry air from radiators is ideal for spider mites and scale, and they are far easier to deal with before they spread. Look under the leaves and where the leaf meets the stem. Wipe anything you find off with a damp cloth, and keep affected plants away from the others for a few weeks. Also move plants away from radiators. A plant sitting directly above one loses moisture much faster than it can replace it.

Terrariums need the least work of all

A closed terrarium handles autumn almost by itself, since the sealed glass keeps its own humidity no matter what the central heating does. All it usually needs is a spot with indirect light and the occasional trim if growth is pressing against the glass.

Autumn is also when indoor gardening starts up again, simply because there is less to do outside. A DIY terrarium kit is a sensible wet-weekend project, and for terrariums that have run a season or two, a refill kit and a few plant care tools will sort out anything that has got leggy. If your rooms lose most of their daylight in winter, artificial plants keep the green without the effort.

In short

Autumn plant care is mostly about doing less. Half the water, no feed, a brighter spot and one proper pest check in September will get almost everything through to spring.

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