It’s understandable to imagine your indoor plants are safe from Autumn, that they are shielded from Nature’s harsh side by the glass and concrete of your building. The reality is that Autumn’s onset impacts all plants, whether they are wild or domesticated. Here are 7 Helpful Tips for immunising your plants against the challenging season ahead:
1. Prepare for Change
Only certain plants can make it as indoor plants. They need to be tough enough to keep their looks and leaves all year round whilst living on tap-water and scant natural light. So they are robust. But not invincible. Ultimately, they are plants like any other and subject to the same natural cycles. Spring and summer are times of active growth. But, come September, the impetus to grow starts to fade. Indoor plants want to ease back into rest mode but many stressful changes are happening in their environment. Your ability to regulate light exposure, temperature levels and especially humidity will be key to their wellbeing.
2. Create Humidity
One chilly Autumn morning is all it takes for the office heaters to blaze back into action – and strike terror into most plants. Unlike us, plants do not enjoy a toasty feeling. Dry air saps their vitality, particularly if they are tropical in origin. Plants don’t only need watering via the roots, their stems and leaves need moisture too. To maintain an essential supply of humidity you can mist your plants daily with warm water sprays, place them near water features, group clusters of plants together to ‘cross-humidify’ or invest in plug-in or pebble tray humidifiers.
3. Let there be Light
Resting plants still need natural light. But daylight hours are shortening and sunlight angles are becoming more acute, limiting supply considerably. Plants that had favourable spots will feel it more than most but all will suffer some form of negative reaction to light-deprivation. You can help by temporarily relocating plants to brighter areas. And always remember to rotate your office plants weekly/fortnightly so both sides get a balanced diet of light.
4. Regulate Temperature
Hotter autumn offices can feel like deserts to some plants but you can help by boosting humidity as we have explained. A bigger potential danger comes from outside: Draughts. Exposure to icy cold air – whether seeping through window glass panes or blasting through an open window, door or corridor – can have devastating effects. If it’s not too much hassle, your plants will thank you for moving them out of danger zones.
5. Ration Water
A cost saving! Autumn’s arrival means your plants will be less thirsty. Water them less frequently with decreasing volumes of liquid. Cancel watering routines. Instead, use periodic soil checks to regulate watering and only give plants get a fresh drink when their soil feels on the dry side at 50mm below the surface. And be sure to use tepid water – Your plants won’t respond well to an icy cold shower straight from the blue tap.
6. Lock Up your Fertiliser
Office plants are entering their slow growth phase meaning they are better off not getting any fertiliser top-ups between now and spring. Some plant experts suggest that now is a good time to apply a final small dose of potassium-rich tomato fertiliser to get indoor plants through the winter.
7. Dust Off the Cobwebs
Like all immobile objects, indoor plants gather dust. Accumulated grime on leaf surfaces can be very detrimental, clogging pores and making it hard for plants to “breathe”. Now is the ideal time to arm yourself with a damp cloth and give them a gentle but thorough Spring-clean.
The Easy Alternative: Mummie Plants
Even after taking all these precautions, despite all the extra chores and changes in routine, chances are that your plants many fade a little and lose some vigour in the months ahead. However, there is one way to ensure your offices are energised with flourishing, vibrant green plant life all year round: Choose Mummie Plants.
Thanks to a unique natural preservation process Mummie Plants are 100% Autumn-resistant. Totally self-sufficient, they have no need for light, water, heat or fertiliser. If you are looking for a “plant for all seasons” then we are the people to talk to. Call us on 01 296 4540.
