Spring Cleaning Care Tips For Houseplants

You have spent the entire winter connecting with your potted greenery indoors. Your greeny friends have been the best company. But with spring here, it is time for spring cleaning the home to bring in a breath of fresh air.

Still, it is also a great time to give your houseplants TLC coming out of their winter dormancy. You must ensure they are tended to before giving them a break outdoors. Vital as it is to provide proper watering with the correct sun exposure.

There are a few other things to do to help your plant grow and thrive through the growing season. Luckily you have us to give you some spring cleaning care routine tips to help.

Spring Houseplant Care Tips

Spring is here, and we all agree it is the best time of the year. It means longer days, warmer temperatures, and happy plants. So yes, you always tend to your indoor or outdoor plants regularly, checking in on them in winter.

But as spring arrives, you must step up your game to prepare them to look their best for the favorite season ahead. As your indoor plants have no new growth in winter, it is time to check in on your green babies to help with growth success.

So, grab all your garden necessities and spend a few days preparing them for spring and the summer ahead. So, kick up your indoor plants care starting in early spring with our spring houseplant tips here.

Start With Spring Cleaning The Leaves

As you prepare to spring clean your home, your plant care routine is no exception. During winter, dust settles on your green babies’ foliage as on the furniture.

Cleaning your plant’s leaves will make them look better and helps improve new growth while removing dust. You can take them to the shower or sink and use tepid water to rinse the foliage off.

Or you can use a damp cloth to wipe the leaves down and remove the dust simultaneously. Please do not use harsh chemicals to leaf polish your plants to remove dust particles. These products will clog up the pores and harm your plants.

Time To Do Repot Your Plants and Provide Some Fresh Soil

Now is a perfect time for repotting houseplants. When you repot your indoor plants, it helps to stimulate new growth and provides the roots space to expand.

Yet, it does not mean you must repot all your plants during early spring. You only need to do this with the houseplants that need it.

You may find that some plants do not enjoy repotting and take a bit longer to recover from the transplant shock.

But if your plants have outgrown the pot, it is time to give them a fresh start to spring with a larger pot.

Here are some common signs that your plants need a larger pot:

• When roots grow out of the drainage hole or over the top of the soil.

• The pot looks like it will burst at the seams, and water runs through the soil without it soaking in.

• The plant’s roots grow in a circular pattern.

Repotting plants is also a great way to provide them with a fresh potting mix and check how the roots grow and if root rot is present. Pick a larger container with enough drainage holes for more space to grow.

STEPS TO REPOT HOUSEPLANTS

1. Water your plants well a day before repotting to make removing them from the pot easier.

2. Remove the plant by willing it out of the pot; if it is a larger plant, turn it on its side.

3. Loosen the root ball and shake off the excess soil.

4. Check the roots for any disease present and trim away the damaged roots.

5. Fill up the new pot with potting mix and moisten.

6. Refrain from watering your plant for a week to help them recover from transplant shock.

An Ideal Time to Feed Your Plants

Since your plants have come out of the winter dormancy and entering the active growth period, they need added nutrients. Therefore, it is best to start fertilizing your plants to keep them healthy.

You can do this gradually instead of giving them full strength; give them a half-strength liquid fertilizer dose. You slowly increase the dosage to full strength by summer. Another concern is harsh chemical fertilizers, which can burn the roots.

We recommend using the following:

• A general-purpose organic liquid like organic compost tea.

• You can use a slow-release fertilizer added to the soil as well.

• Or you can add organic material to the soil when transplanting your plant.

It is Time to Get Out The Shears to Prune

Now that you have given your plant dusting, fresh soil, and fertilizer, it also helps to prune away any leggy growth. In addition, you can prune away unhealthy branches and leaves, giving your plant a clean-up.

When pruning in spring helps encourage new growth, and removing dead leaves from branches to brown leaf tips helps. Trim off dead flower spikes to the base of your plant or pinch out the branch end using a pruner or bonsai shears.

Most houseplants enjoy pruning as it leads to healthy growth.

The Best Time to Propagate

To supercharge plant growth, most indoor plants can benefit from propagation. At this time during your spring cleaning, you may find your cuttings root more successful. There are a few ways you can propagate your plants; the best method depends on your plant species.

Acclimate Your Plants to be Outside

Most plants thrive indoors but can benefit from fresh air and sunlight outside. Still, do not place your plants outdoors, as you need to do this slowly.

We recommend moving outside gradually, as plant care is essential to prevent foliage burning. You can move them to a shady area on the patio and progressively move them into the light over a few weeks.

Please do not leave them standing outside overnight until the nighttime temperature remains consistent above 50F. Placing your houseplants in the protected shade for a few days and moving them to a spot for morning sun and shade in the afternoon helps.

Also, check on them daily; if you notice white, brown, or transparent leaves, they get too much sunlight.

Start Watering Your Indoor Plants More

One of the best perks for us and many plants in spring is having more light. But with more sunlight, your houseplants need more water frequently. In addition, the daylight hours increase from winter to spring, and warmer temperatures impact the plants watering needs.

Still, you do not want to overwater your houseplants with the seasons changing, leading to root rot. Instead, we recommend gradually increasing your watering. Keep an eye on the soil to see if it is dry, and if you see a leaf, curl water your plants as needed.

If you find the potting mix remains wet, lessen the water. If your plants stand in direct sunlight, you can add rocks on top of the soil to help retain moisture. Alternatively, you can move your houseplants to a spot receiving bright indirect light.

The best time in spring to summer to water plants is in the morning or early in the evening. At this time of the night, the temperature is more relaxed, and water does not evaporate quickly.

Do a Pest Inspection

Yes, bugs happen, and they can hitchhike from anywhere. Doing a routine pest inspection and catching them early makes your life easier. Quarantine your infested plants moving them away from your other houseplants. Depending on the pests, you can then remove the insects and use an organic treatment.

If Your Prefer Keeping Your Plants Indoors, Follow These Plant Care Tips

Suppose you cannot provide some refreshed air for your houseplants outside, open windows for the air to move inside. Another important thing is that the light becomes more intense during the growing season.

So, if you have had your plant under grow lights or near a window, it is time to move your plants further away from that spot. Doing this will help prevent sunburn leaving healthy leaves on your plant.

Another helpful thing is to rotate your houseplants to receive light from all sides.

Wrapping Up Spring Houseplant Care

Now that you have some of the best care tips to spring clean your houseplants, it is time to continue your maintenance. By following these easy steps, your houseplants thrive to remain with you for a long time.

We can all agree to have houseplants is not just about the greenery. They are like our babies needing a lot of tender loving care and adding color to any living space from winter to summer.