Guest post by Tim Allen

No matter what you grow or how big (or small) your garden may be, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done as winter approaches to keep your plants safe. Weeds need to be plucked, bulbs need to be planted, shrubs and landscaping need to be wrapped up -- you know the routine.

But what about your indoor plants?

A lot of people feel like indoor crops are totally fine on their own through the colder months, but that may not actually be the case. Indoor crops of all types still require a lot of care, monitoring, and temperature regulation throughout the winter to keep them as healthy and productive as possible, especially when they’re forced to contend with a lack of sunlight and fresh air.

As a Michigan native, this has come up for me more often lately than it ever used to. My dad recently decided to become a gardener, in the way that many Midwestern dads decide to after a certain point, and given how rough the winter tends to be, we’ve had to be pretty inventive with ways of keeping his indoor plants alive all throughout his house.

If you live in a state where the winters tend to be harsh on plants both indoors and out, and you want to know how to keep your indoor plants even safer than before, here’s a couple things I’ve learned and tips I’ve found along the way.

Tips for Indoor Plants During Winter

Figure out where you can keep your plants

One of the first things to consider when bringing plants indoors is exactly where the heck you’re going to put them. A lot of people think you can just bring them straight into the living room and water them off and on until April rolls around, but if you really want a successful crop, you have to put a little more thought into it than that.

The biggest thing to focus on is understanding your plants’ needs. For example, if you’ve become something of a tomato farmer, you probably know that they need a pretty consistent 8 hours of sunlight. Do you have a room or a window that can reliably provide that, or will you have to start looking into some kind of indoor lighting system that can keep them alive and fruitful? Avoid areas too close to the window, as tempting as it may be to ensure sunlight, as windows tend to let in a lot of cold air that can begin to inhibit the growth of your plants.

Wherever your plants wind up, you’re going to need somewhere safe to keep them. Since a lot of your plants are going to continue to be watered over the winter months, and will need temperature control and regulation, you’ll probably want to invest in some shelves that can stand up to the sort of conditions your plants will face. We use rust-proof epoxy shelving from a local Michigan store called The Shelving Store, but anything that can resist rust and encourage air circulation should be fine. This can also help to curb any potential diseases from affecting your plants, as well as keeping the area around them as clean as possible (or at least easier to clean up, once the dirt inevitably spills).

Ventilate for temperature regulation

Similarly, a lot of plants require very specific temperatures with which to grow most successfully. This carries with it a lot of additional concerns, such as humidity control and temperature regulation, and your space may have to be designed accordingly.

Most places would tell you to use smart thermometers to regulate the temperature in whatever room your plants are in, but, well, not all of us have smart thermometer money, do we? An article by Gardening Know How suggests installing a ceiling fan or using a box fan to keep air moving, which may help regulate the temperature in your plants’ new room more consistently than if you kept trying to crank the thermostat up or down depending on what they need. Certain types of plants may require more intense ventilation or moisture management (try to avoid using calcium chloride, as the chemicals could affect your plants), but simple air movement should be enough for the majority of indoor spaces.

Ensure needed sunlight

Once the room is all set up, you may still have to contend with old Mother Nature affecting things from the outside. While many designated indoor plants tend not to require as much sunlight as others, anything you’ve transplanted from the garden will require sunlight similar to the conditions it encountered outdoors during the nicer months.

If you’ve had to move your plants indoors, a grow light might be the best option. Grow lights help you better control the amount of light your plants receive, while keeping them far enough away from the windows in your home to allow for better temperature regulation (as even the slightest draft can prove counterproductive to your growing efforts). While most grow lights will be labeled, for, uh, specific types of crops, they’re pretty effective for helping any plant that doesn’t get the sunlight it used to. To keep it local, I went through Grow Green MI to find a few lights, but anywhere that carries grow lights across the spectrum should have what you need.

Establish a cleaning and feeding routine

I’m not too proud to admit that this fact came as something of a surprise to me, but after you bring your plants in for the winter, you’ll actually need to feed them less.

While the air in your home during winter may be much drier, that doesn’t immediately equate to a greater need to water or feed your plants. (Again, I absolutely learned this the hard way, and hope to spare you the same difficulty.) Plants experience slower periods of growth during the winter months, no matter how warm it might be in your home, and as a result you can come a little closer to overfeeding or over-watering them than you might expect. The Spruce suggests that you check the soil an inch or so down, and go from there - if it still feels moist down that far, then your plant won’t need any more water for the time being.

Cleaning, however, is another matter entirely. In addition to the usual pruning routines, you may need to actually physically wipe down and clean your plants. Particularly during winter, when the heat is on full blast and the windows are rarely opened, dust can tend to build up on the leaves of your plants and lead to mildew, dead spots, or worse. Many eco-friendly cleaning supplies like baking soda can be used to keep your plants mildew free - this previous Green and Prosperous blog has more ideas if you need them.

Hopefully, any of these tips will help you keep your plants just as safe and happy indoors as they would’ve been outside, and once the nice weather rolls back around (whenever that might be), you can get right back to enjoying your garden.

Tim Allen is a freelance writer from just outside Michigan, with just enough backyard to try his hand at a few crops that can handle the weather. His writing experience ranges from business planning and educational space design to home electronics reviews and musings on video games. In his spare time he spends too much money on guitar effects he doesn't need, and he tends to his tabby cat Charlie who always tries to keep him company in the office.