Tropicals head indoors for the winter

I brought in my tropical plants two weeks ago, and now they are not doing well. What is the problem? This question is one that I hear time and time again each fall. If you are asking the same question, perhaps some background information will help you figure out what is going on with your tropical plants.

Tropical plants growing outside during the summer are used to high light levels. Even light levels in filtered shade are more than one usually finds inside a home. Our homes have eaves that cut down on the amount of sunlight shining into windows. We also tend to cover windows with sheer curtains, again reducing sunlight. In addition sunlight intensity during the winter is less than sunlight intensity during the summer.

Sunlight substitute

If you want your plants to thrive during the winter, place a grow light over your tropical plants. Use a grow light that produces a spectrum similar to that of sunlight. Ask your supplier for a comparison of the bulb spectrum versus that of sunlight.

Place grow lights above your plant and as close to the plant as you can without burning it. One to two feet above your plant is not too close. If you move the grow light farther away from your plant, light intensity is drastically reduced.

Quite often we tend to place tropical plants in our home where they fit the decor, not necessarily where they will grow the best. Make sure that your plant stays out of drafts, cold or hot. You may have to change your decor to suit the plant, instead of suiting you.

Being the energy-conscious Americans we are, we tend to lower room temperatures in the winter to between 65 or 70 degrees. Our tropicals growing outside were used to temperatures of 80, 90, or maybe even 100. Cool temperatures shock tropicals when they are moved indoors.

Single-room occupancy

You may want to put all of your tropical plants in one room and keep the temperature of that room higher than the rest of your house. Remember, these plants are tropicals, which means that they come from the tropics where temperatures are warm year-round.

During the summer you fertilize your tropical plants on a biweekly or monthly frequency because they are growing rapidly. When you bring tropicals inside, their growth rate is slowed drastically. Therefore do not fertilize like you did when they were growing outside. Excess fertilizer produces succulent tissue instead of hardy tissue.

Be sure to fertilize once a month at the most. In addition, reduce the amount of fertilizer by 50 to 75 percent of the concentration that you use during the summer. This fertilizer regimen will provide a minimum amount of nutrition for your tropical plant.

Finally improper watering is usually the major cause of plant decline when tropicals are brought into the house. You are used to watering our tropical plants every day, or every other day during the summer when they are growing outside. When you bring them in, their demand for water is drastically reduced, so you have to adjust your watering habits. I dare say that most tropicals are harmed more by overwatering than by any other combination of poor growing conditions.

Overwatering warning

When watering, water with an excessive amount.

Make sure that every pore space in the soil is saturated with water. Then let excess water drain out of the growing pot. If you are growing your tropical in a pot with no holes, repot it as soon as possible in a pot with drainage holes.

Most gardeners keep their tropical plant in a black growers pot, and then place that pot inside of some decorative container such as a ceramic pot without a drainage hole or a basket lined with plastic. In either case, water your plant thoroughly. Then 20 minutes later pour any excess water out of the ceramic pot or the lined basket. You do not want your tropical to stand in water for extended periods of time. This leads to root rot.

After each thorough watering and removal of excess water, test the soil on a daily basis with your finger. As long as the soil is moist do not water. When you find that the top 1 to 3 inches of soil is dry, then water thoroughly as discussed above.

By making these cultural and environmental changes for your tropical plants you will find that they will continue to thrive instead of just survive when you bring them into your home during the winter months.

Send your gardening and landscape questions to Paul Schnare at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699 or by e-mail to news@semissourian.com.