Winter Indoor Gardening: Proven Tips for Healthier Plants

By Sally McCabe, PHS Associate Director of Community Education 

Since the weather is keeping us indoors, let’s concentrate on making our surroundings a little brighter and greener. There are plenty of ways gardeners can bring the garden indoors in the winter, and Seasonal Affective Disorder is very much lessened by surrounding ourselves with growing things!  

What to Do with Holiday Plants: Keep or Discard? 

Time to either freshen them up or throw them away. If you’re a garden hoarder, save the vases and containers for next year, but get rid of the arranging foam. And unless you’re an expert, don’t try to hang bouquets to dry. I promise you will never use them!  

If you were lucky enough to receive an amaryllis kit-in-a-box, get that started immediately. Three to six weeks from now you’ll have crazy bloom. 

Quarantine Holiday Plants to Prevent Pests

While you inspect the new additions, examine each of your existing plants. Winter is tough on these babies, with decreased light and humidity indoors. Interview each one; dusting, washing leaves, and even sticking in the shower for a refresh. Isolate and treat any plants that have insects. Mealybugs, or soil gnats, which are especially common this time of year.  

Rotate Plants for Balanced Light Exposure

Plants tend to get one-sided after a while, and unless you are outside your window looking in, you’re missing the best part. I’m blessed enough to have a south-facing bay window in my office, but everybody isn’t so lucky. If natural light isn’t sufficient, especially during shorter days, using grow lights can help. Full-spectrum LED grow lights are a great option and can be used to extend daylight hours for plants. 

Brighten Your Indoor Garden with a Pop of Color

I’m partial to amaryllis, cheap orchids from the produce store, and blue bottles (not horticultural in the least, but they look great with sunlight shining through them.)  Don’t be afraid to jazz up your pots/repot into colorful containers if that’s what it takes to make things pop. 

Grouping Plants Based on Watering Needs

When you bring plants indoors, it's easy to group everything together. Now is a good time to reorganize everyone according to need—lots of water, no water, pots with no drainage, tall vs short, demanding vs low maintenance vs no maintenance.  If you can’t easily reach the plant, you’re never going to water it; so, invest some time in finding a watering can with a straw-type spout for watering hanging pots overhead. 

Enhance Light Exposure: Clean Your Windows and Lightbulbs Regularly

I was amazed at how dirty windows and lightbulbs can get, and how much that cuts down on light getting to leaves. Though plant growth slows down in the winter, photosynthesis still happens. This simple clean-up task can help ensure you’re making the most of your light, both natural and artificial.  

Protect Your Furry Friends by Choosing Non-Toxic Plants

If you don’t have spider plants for your cat to chew, consider sprouting some “cat grass.” You can buy kits at the pet store, but cheaper to just sprout some from garden seed, especially cover crops; Chia, oats, rye, even beansprouts provide a welcome addition to your cat’s diet and keeps them from munching on your amaryllis. 

And while you’re sprouting seeds for kitty, do some for yourself as well.  Microgreens are a great option for winter. We’re all jonesing for some fresh food from the garden, and thankfully, crops like broccoli, alfalfa, radishes, pea shoots, and mustard greens can grow quickly on windowsills or under lights. These are ready to eat in a matter of days and add a nice bite to practically any meal. Just remember to be religious about rinsing them daily, since they can get funky if they get anaerobic. 

Get Started with Some Seeds

Once you’re done dealing with the houseplants, it’s time to think about the great outdoors. While still staying indoors, of course. It’s catalog time, with the glossies tempting us to order WAAAAY more seeds than we can plant. Be judicious - order with a friend to share seeds, go to a seed exchange, and be sure to take chances with new types of seeds! Here’s a refresher (or introduction!) on how to start seeds.

Even with the weather being dreary and cold outside, there are plenty of ways that gardeners can bring the garden inside with them. From tending houseplants, to starting seeds, infusing color with Amaryllis and orchids, or getting a jump on spring and ordering seeds, now is a fantastic time to turn our attention indoors to brighten our homes with plants, and start planning for the new growing season.