Plant fertilisers in winter: Put them on hold!

To have healthy, well-growing indoor and outdoor plants, fertilising them are a mandate. However, there are also reasons enough why one should reduce the use or completely stop using plant fertilisers in winter. Not using fertilisers also contributes to a healthy growth of the plant during this season.

Why should you stop or reduce the use of plant fertilisers in winter?

There are three major markers which would lead you to understand when to stop using plant fertilisers in winter. Observe the water intake of the plants. This is also done to ensure that you don’t overwater the plants at any stage. When you notice that the plant is consuming less water than usual, that is a sign that you may need to halt your fertiliser usage. Moreover, when you notice that the plant isn’t growing well for a few weeks, including no new leaves or shoots, or growth has stopped or slowed, then re-thinking about fertiliser usage is important.

What’s the science behind stopping the use of plant fertiliser in winter?

While it is understood that not using fertilisers for a while actually benefits the plants. Below we look at the science that works behind this logic. First, due to low light and short days, plants tend to start growing slower in winters. And if you go on using fertiliser, which is used for plant growth, it becomes an area of conflict; where naturally the plant can’t grow enough but forcibly the growth elixir is being given to it. This leads to salt build-up in the soil which in turn damaged the plant. Second, even if you continue with the process, either the plant will suffer damage or its growth will be very weak and wobbly which is not desirable.

When to stop using fertilisers?

Before you stop using plant fertiliser in winter, remember that every plant is built differently and has different needs. For outdoor plants, you can stop around the late autumn and start fertilising around mid-spring when the next growth starts taking place. If you have a huge lawn, then the apt time to take a breather would be around late autumn, after you have had your lawn mowed. It can be resumed again in early spring. For indoor plants, October or November are the right months to hit the pause button and when in early spring you see the daylight lingering for long, is when you resume. For tropical plants, you need not completely stop using plant fertilisers in winter but the strength of the usage may be reduced to half.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.