Indoor gardening during the winter months offers numerous benefits that can greatly enhance your living space and overall well-being. As the days grow shorter and colder, bringing greenery indoors can provide a refreshing splash of color, improve air quality, and boost your mood. Plants act as natural humidifiers, adding moisture to dry indoor environments.
Common houseplants like zz plants, Christmas cactus is a great plant forest floors, and jade plants on pebble trays with leafy plants and other winter houseplants give an appealing effect to indoor space, which is especially beneficial during the heating season, natural habitats bring good air circulation in dreary winter days.
Additionally, in total darkness, foliage plants like snake plants and winter houseplants can help filter out toxins, making your humid environment healthier with indoor plants. However, indoor gardening in winter requires some special care to ensure enough light levels, moisture levels, and cooler temperatures. By adjusting your plant care routine, you can enjoy a low-maintenance, vibrant indoor garden all winter long.
Best Indoor Plants for Winter Months
1. Cyclamen
To care for houseplants in winter you should avoid areas near radiators. For cyclamen ensure this cool spot is away from direct sunlight. Rooms with east or north-facing windows will be ideal. Too much sun and heat will mean your winter flowers will fade faster.
Cyclamen prefer bright, indirect light and need cool temperatures. An east window is often a good spot to keep a cyclamen, but in the winter in Wisconsin, a southern exposure may be better.
Cyclamen prefers to grow in organically rich, well-draining soil with a slightly acidic soil pH. Cyclamen should be watered thoroughly when the soil looks and feels dry on the surface. Avoid watering the crown or center of the plant, which may rot if it remains too wet.
2. Orchids
The temperature for these orchids is a minimum of 60°F at night and a maximum of 85°F during the day. If your house is about 65°F during the winter and 75°F during the summer, they will be very happy.
Orchids need bright, indirect light to thrive and enhance their flowering potential indoors and outdoors. Generally, at least 6 hours of sunlight is recommended for orchids. Orchid soil is made up of large particles, like bark chips. It’s generally a good idea to water your orchid every 7 to 11 days.
3. Christmas Cactus
During the winter months, these cacti appreciate a period of rest and lower temperatures. To overwinter your Christmas plant, you can place it in a cool room with temperatures around 50-60°F. It’s important to reduce watering during this time and only water when the soil feels dry.
Maintain an optimal climate of 65 degrees. Keep the soil evenly moist while your plant is blooming, misting it frequently. Place the cactus in an east-facing window for moderate light and some direct sunshine. Apply a high-potassium fertilizer every two weeks once buds form.
4. Poinsettia
Indoor temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees Fare ideal. Avoid placing poinsettias where the temperature fluctuates or may be drying, such as near cold drafts, heat ducts, fireplaces, fans, space heaters.
Supply 6 hours of bright, indirect bright light daily. Placement near a southern, western, or eastern window is great. It’s best to avoid direct sunlight, which can cause the colorful bracts to fade and the tips of the foliage to dry out.
poinsettias only need water every week or ten days. Whether you grow your poinsettias indoors or outdoors, it is a loose potting soil mixture that includes peat moss. It needs to be well-draining so that sitting water in the soil doesn’t cause root rot.
5. Kalanchoe (Flaming Katy)
Indoor kalanchoe plants like warm temperatures between 15°-18°C. Low temperatures below 4°C can damage or kill a kalanchoe within a few hours. Keep kalanchoes away from cold drafts and open windows during the winter.
Bright, indirect light – although it can tolerate some direct sunlight for short spurts. Flaming Katy thrives in a bright spot, making it an excellent addition to a sunny windowsill or a well-lit corner.
flaming Katy can store water very well; less is always more when it comes to watering. Only water the Kalanchoë blossfeldiana once the soil feels dry. Choose garden plots with soil that drains readily, preferably composed of sandy loam. Container-grown plants will benefit from a specialty succulent or cactus mix in pots with a drainage hole.
6. Anthuriums
Anthurium plants, are tropical houseplants that come from the exotic Hawaii. Anthurium houseplants produce very impressive red flowers in the shapes of a heart and dark green leaves.
Anthuriums prefer reduced sunlight over shade, but too much direct light can scorch the leaves. Inadequate light causes poor growth and few flowers. The ideal location for your plant provides six hours of bright, indirect sunlight daily. Water your Anthurium when 50-75% of the soil volume is dry.
Water until liquid flows through the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot and discard any water that has accumulated in the saucer. Overwatering causes yellow leaf tips and infrequent watering causes brown leaf tips. Your Anthurium loves a humid environment.Anthurium plants prefer a soil mix that’s well-draining and rich in organic matter.
7. Bromeliads
bromeliads do best in somewhat high humidity climates (50-75% humidity), and it is recommended that you mist them once to twice a week, no matter what level of higher humidity you experience in your home, and stop dry air from home.
Most bromeliads are the best winter houseplants, like plenty of light and warmth. They are tender, so they must grow indoors, either all year round or over winter, like many other tropical plants brought indoors, Bromeliads like nice, bright light but no prolonged periods of direct, hot sun.
In nature they grow under the canopies of other plants where it’s bright but direct sun is limited. Water is used every one to two weeks in the warmer months and every two to three weeks in the colder months. Bromeliads grown indoors thrive in fast-draining potting soil that holds moisture but drains well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, selecting the best indoor plants for winter not only enhances your living space but also provides numerous health benefits. Plants like the resilient Snake Plants, ZZ plant, the lush Peace Lily, and small tree plants with excess water needs are drought-tolerant and only grow light, and the vibrant Pothos thrive in low light conditions or less light and cooler temperatures, making them ideal for winter months with low maintenance, low humidity needs.
These plants not only purify the air but also bring a touch of greenery indoors, which can boost your mood and overall well-being. By choosing the right indoor plants, you can create a cozy and inviting atmosphere that prevents dry climates, transforming your home into a green oasis even in the coldest months.
