The heat of summer is finally here! We know it's officially (by the calendar) spring but with global warming going kaboom every passing day, it feels more like summer. The dread of what this season might bring is real.
Some garden plants thrive as they soak up the summer sun. Plants like succulents and cacti are well-adapted to the heat, and summer flowers like sunflowers and pansies particularly adore the sun, too.
However, the story is different for plants kept indoors. They are not acclimated to the extremes of summer heat waves, so they will need a little extra attention during the scorching summers!
This blog will give you more insights on caring for potted plants indoors during these intolerable summer months. So, let's get into it with 10 summer plant care tips!
• Basic Summer Plant Care Tips to Get You Started
• How to Protect Plants in Summer: A Life-Saving Guide to Summer Care
Don’t worry, for every problem under the sun, nature has a solution and there's plenty that you can do to keep your garden thriving during scorching summer months.
Here are some of the most important summer plant care tips to get you started!
1. Promote higher humidity
Plants that like high humidity (tropical plants such as Fittonia, Monsteras, Calathea, and most Ferns) need to be frequently misted through periods of heat.
You can also fill your planter base plate with pebbles to ensure better humidity. Fill it with water and set your planter back in place.
You can let your plant be a standalone or group a bunch of your plants together and put a container of water in the middle, creating a humid microclimate for them. This will ensure better humidity for them all together.
If we're talking about how to prevent plants from drying out, ensuring proper humidity is the first tip!
2. Keep your plants hydrated
We can’t stress this enough - proper watering is the key to summer plant care. Though over-watering is the most sure-shot way to kill your houseplants, the summer heat causes water to evaporate from the soil much faster.
So, summer plant care means ensuring deep watering to allow the water to reach the plant's roots. Remember - let all excess water drain out of the pot's drainage holes.
Additionally, watering must be done very slowly if you want to do it right. If you pour a lot of water in a rush, the soil does not get time to absorb the water and it just drains through the drainage holes at the bottom if you water too little only the topsoil gets wet while the lower roots get dehydrated.
By watering slowly, you can make sure the water is actually absorbed by the plant roots.
Pro Tip: There is a simple hack, start with the first plant and say your plants need two glasses of water to get through the day, start by giving them one glass of water, one after the other, and then do the circuit again once you have watered the last plant. This gives the plants enough time to absorb the water.
3. Check if they need water... again!
One of the best tips for watering indoor plants in summer is this - check your plants for a second round of watering in the evening. Check for drooping leaves and dried-out soil with the trusty “finger test” – water when the soil feels dry at 1-2″ down for most tropical plants.
Another key indicator of fast-drying, compacted soil is when the soil pulls away from the sides of the pot. If there’s a gap between the soil and the side of the pot, it’s time to rehydrate! Just make sure that you water in the evenings when the heat is on the decline. If the sun is just setting or set already, then misting the dry leaves is a good option.
One of the best solutions we can give you to ensure that your plant never goes improperly watered again is our wondrous Sustee Watermeter! This device tells you exactly when your plants need water with its accurate water level indicator. The perfect solution for plant hydration!
To Remember: If you have your A/C on in the summer, remember that dry air can dry pots out just as quickly as the sun.
4. Shade your sensitive plants from excessive sun
Some of the best summer plants also need to be shaded and shielded from the harsh sun, if the heat gets too bad. So, if you're trying to understand how to protect plants from sun scorch, we've got two words - move them!
If your plants are on a south or west-facing balcony they are going to be more susceptible to leaf burn. Move them to corners that do not get a full day of direct sun and water them deeply every morning.
Try grouping plants and shade more delicate varieties like Ferns behind hardier and larger varieties.
5. If your plant is struggling, don't fertilize it!
The first response is to fertilize a plant when we see it struggling. However, if the struggle is due to heat damage then fertilizing isn't the best idea.
Though fertilizers are your friend, a stressed plant is not looking for extra nutrients and isn’t fit enough to use them, and doing so might stress your plant further. This is especially true during summertime.
6. Repotting during summer is a no-no
Always repot your indoor plants before the summer truly sets in. Proper repotting requires trimming some of the root mass (attempt only if you know how) and leaves also get damaged.
All this puts the plants at risk of shock and stress if it's done in peak summer. So, keep your repotting for cooler weather when your plants don’t have survival at the forefront.
7. Pruning in summers
While pruning is essential for optimal growth, pruning plants in the peak of summer puts them at the risk of stress and shock.
Also, in summertime, some leaves wilt and brown solely due to the heat. Taking that to be an indication of dying plants and trimming them is not exactly the best idea.
Wait for the summer to pass for a hard prune or prune them before summer (March and early April is a good time).
8. Read your plants and recognize any signs of stress
Reading the stress signals is essential to arrest the damage before it takes over your whole plant. The signs of stress in summer are mostly related to too much heat or too little water. They are:
- The tropical plants (especially the trailing ones) will wilt due to too much heat. They need to be sheltered more.
- Pale foliage is a sign of stress
- Rough brown and burnt leaves, yellow patches, or brown spots are all signs of sunburn.
- Flower and leaf drop are also a sign of plant stress.
9. Composting as part of basic summer plant care
Along with watering the plants, composting helps keep your plants hydrated and healthy. Carefully remove the top inch of your potting soil and replace it with a layer of compost for more hydrated soil.
Pro Tip: Covering the topsoil with good mulch or moss also helps retain moisture by lessening surface evaporation.
10. Shade your garden
If you have no corner where you can move your big or small plants away from the direct afternoon sun, then consider making a makeshift shade with green sunshades.
This will ensure that your sensitive plants have a safe space when the afternoon sun gets too hot.
Summers are a great time for plants to grow if they get enough moisture. Just remember the golden rule, more light means more photosynthesis which requires more water.
Also, there is a rapid loss of water from the leaf surface, stems, and soil surface due to heat. So, balance out the increased heat and light with the frequency and quantity of watering for a thriving summer garden!
Equipped with the knowledge of these 10 ways to protect plants during summertime, you're all set to grow the most beautiful, sun-kissed garden with ease! Go crazy and happy gardening!
