Have you followed all our advice to protect your plants from the cold? Can you already sense that feeling of excitement that tells you spring is on the way? In that case it’s time to prepare your house plants for a change of season with the right end of winter treatments.
After months and months of “hibernation” indoors let’s discover the best steps to take to check up on the health of your plants before taking them out in the open air.
Changing the soil
Start from the basics, i.e. check the condition of the soil in the pot because this is what your indoor plants feed on which is why it is one of the things that influence how they grow more than anything else.
If the soil is quite recent but a hard, whitish coat has formed on the top (often caused by the limescale in the tap water used to water your plants) simply remove the hard crust with a spade and add new, fertile soil.
If the plant has been in the same pot for more than two years, it’s time to repot it. You can use the same pot again, unless the roots have grown so much that they need more space. In any case, it’s essential to throw away all the old soil and replace it with some new soil capable of feeding your plant and making it thrive.
Would you like a tip? Apply a sticker to the underside of the pot and write the date you changed the soil on it: this is a good way to keep everything under control from year to year!
Check for parasites
Having kept your plants indoors all winter to protect them from harsh temperatures does not always guarantee they are free from dreaded parasites.
If the air in your home is particularly dry it could become the ideal place for mites to thrive. Although invisible to the naked eye, their effects are very noticeable.
If your plant’s leaves are pale and it looks weak you will probably have to treat it with a mite killer.
Dust the leaves
After having concentrated on the health of your plants you can take care of their appearance by cleaning their leaves. In reality this is yet another way of keeping them in good health and it should be repeated several times a year but it becomes really essential at the end of the winter season to remove all the dust accumulated over the months.
Just take a soft, slightly-damp cloth and clean each leaf to restore its natural shine so that your plant can welcome spring in on the right… leaf!
