By coming cold seasons, most plants go dormant. what to do with succulents in winter to protect them? Do they go dormancy? Must I do special caring for succulents in winter? Keep reading.
Hi, I’m a horticultural consultant (my academic major is plant protection) and want to tell you pro tips for taking care of succulents in winter based on my experiences. It is a common challenge for most succulents’ fans. They often ask me:
- How to care for succulents in winter?
- How often should I water them in cold months?
- Can I repot succulents in fall and winter?
They want to know more about propagation, fertilization, light requirements, and other caring points for succulents in cold months.
Can you tell me why caring for succulents in winter is different from warm seasons? Do you think whether succulents will go dormant in our warm houses or continue their normal growth? To find the best strategy for caring for succulents in winter, first, allow me to answer this question.
Do Indoor Plants Go Dormant in the Winter?
Most houseplants including succulents are tropical plants that are originated from equatorial ecosystems without real cold seasons like winter. Tropical plants never go dormant in winter similar to other plants. Additionally, during the cold season, our house is warm and the indoor plants never experience the cold temperatures like outdoors.
Hence, indoor plants such as succulents never go dormant in winter, so, why we must change our caring for succulents in winter? you must know the cold temperature is not the only factor that causes dormancy in plants. other factors such as the length of the day and humidity levels have an impact on this issue.
Although my indoor succulents never experience cold temperatures in winter, the shorter days of winter give them signals that the conditions are turning hard and they must stop (or slow) growing and save their energy. Hence, I must design a different strategy for taking care of succulents in winter.
Please note that if you provide growing light for your indoor succulent and their environment is warm (conditions similar to a greenhouse), it’s not necessary to change your routine caring manner.
How to Care for Succulents in Winter?
In this part, I want to tell you pro tips based on my experiences to adjust the routine of caring for succulents. These points will ensure our succulents stay healthy and thrive despite the colder, darker conditions of winter months.
Tips for Watering Succulents in Winter
One of the frequent questions that people often ask me is “How often to water succulents in winter?” or “When to water succulents in winter?”. You must reduce watering during winter because their growth is slow and their water requirements decrease significantly. It is more important when you plant your succulents in pots without drainage holes.
But how often should I water my succulents in winter? I recommend watering only when the soil is completely dry. It is dependent on your house temperature and its humidity level. The distance between succulent pots and the heater plays an important role in this issue.
You also must be sure to water sparingly. Based on my experience, splashing water on leaves during watering will increase the foliage rot in winter. Hence, I often dry drops on leaves with a rag.
Tips for Repotting Succulents in Winter
Another frequent question about caring for succulents in winter is “Can I repot succulents in cold seasons?”. Based on my experience, you should repot succulents during the spring or summer, when they are in their active growth period.
Please note that during the cold seasons, dormant plants are asleep and you can easily repot them without any stress, but indoor succulents don’t go dormant in winter and only grow slowly. Hence, the stress of repotting may cause more challenges for them. However, if you spot the signs of root rot, tiny bugs, or any other damage on your plant that needs repotting, you have to do it.
Tips for Fertilizing Succulents in Winter
Fertilizing is a challenge for caring for succulents in winter. I recommend holding off on fertilizing during cold months because your succulents are not actively growing in the winter and you must pause your routine fertilizing until the growing season.
Can You Propagate Succulents in Winter?
Yes, you can. Succulents can propagate easily in warm rooms with proper humidity during the cold season. However, I gain the best results from succulent propagation in spring and early summer.
Should I Cover My Succulents in Winter?
My succulents grow indoors during the cold seasons, hence there isn’t any necessity to cover them, but if you keep them outdoors you must cover your succulents. However, it is dependent on your hardiness zone and type of succulents, for instance, sempervivum succulents can tolerate low temperatures till -30 F. By and large, I find the horticultural fleece perfect for covering succulents in winter.
Best Light for Succulents in Winter
As I told you above, during winter, the days turn shorter with less intense sunlight. So, the hours your plants receive natural light will decrease. Hence, one of the points for caring for succulents in winter is to maximize light exposure for them to provide as much light as possible. How?
I place my succulents near the brightest windows in my home (south-facing or east-facing windows are perfect). I discussed the different natural light types in your house depending on various windows when considering the bamboo light requirements. Reading it can be helpful to determine the type of natural light in your house for your indoor plants.
However, if natural light is insufficient in your house, I recommend using a grow light. It is more important when you spot some succulents still producing new growth in the winter. in this situation, you must provide adequate light for them to prevent etiolated growth (stretched out).
Shipping Succulents in Winter
I recommend avoiding Shipping Succulents in Winter, anyway, if you must do it, you must put them in closed boxes with heat packs (72-hour heat packs are good) and reduce the time of shipping to a maximum of 2-3 days.
Where to Put Succulents in Winter?
Finally, to determine the best place for putting succulents in winter, follow the below tips:
- Place them where they get enough light.
- Avoid putting them near cold windows, doors, or other sources of cold drafts.
- During the cold seasons, by turning on the winter heating, our indoor air will dry out. However, it is good for succulents, but if you spot signs of dehydration in your succulent, such as shrivelled or puckered leaves, try to increase the humidity. I showed you the best ways to increase the humidity in my other article “Lucky Bamboo Humidity”.
Conclusion
By coming to the cold seasons, indoor plants such as succulents reduced their growth and metabolic rate. So, we must adjust to caring for succulents in winter. I tried to share with you my experiences and knowledge to help your succulents navigate the winter months successfully. Please share your experiences with my readers below this page. you can also ask me your questions, and I will answer as soon as possible.
Elahe Rabiei
Hi, I’m Elaheh. My Academic major is plant protection, and houseplants are my expertise. As a houseplant lover, my house is full of indoor plants and it is my passion to take care of them. Hence, I’m here to share my knowledge and experience about growing healthy houseplants. I am also a plant protection advisor, so feel free to ask me any questions you may have.