As days lengthen, your houseplants receive more light. This increase in light will cause your house plants to break out of their winter dormancy and produce a new spurt of growth.
The increase in the amount of light your houseplant receives is due to two main factors:
1. The days become longer so your houseplant receives this light for more hours each day.
2. As the sun rises higher in the sky, the sunlight received becomes brighter. This increase in light intensity provides the houseplant with more light needed for growth.
At this time of the year, many houseplants begin a phase of growth and renewal. Growth will not only add to the plant's size, but will replace fallen leaves and other areas on the houseplant where dead growth has been pruned away.
To help our houseplant to renew itself, there are a few things we can do.
1. You should examine your houseplant and prune away any dead growth. This will provide room for the new growth to fill.
2. You should do any pruning needed to control the size of the houseplant or to reshape the plant to keep it attractive.
3. You should look at your houseplants to see if they have outgrown their old home and need to be repotted. Remember that some plants, like the spider plant, like to be pot bound. Also a houseplant that is moved to a larger pot will usually grow larger so it may need a larger area in which to grow. It's old location may no longer be suitable.
4. Your houseplants can also use a good cleaning at this time of year. Cleaning the dust from the leaves will not only make them look more attractive, but will also let more of the light to reach the leaves. More light means more growth and more renewal.
As the days lengthen and the light becomes brighter, your houseplants will need more of the raw materials it uses for growth. You will find that your houseplants will need more water than they did during the short winter days. Watch your plants and give them the extra water needed, but take care not to overwater.
This increase in the rate of growth also means a need for more nutrients. At this time of year you start to fertilize your houseplants to feed this renewal of growth. Take care not to overfertilize, a little goes a long way.
As the days lengthen we get to witness first hand, in our houseplants, nature renewing itself.
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