Every year we see the same thing at the studio. The plants brought in for a consultation between November and February almost all have the same problem — and it isn’t the one their owners imagine.
They think it’s the cold. The real culprit is watering.
What changes from October
The deciding factor isn’t temperature, it’s light. In Rabat, we go from around fourteen hours of daylight in June to fewer than ten in December. And winter light is also weaker, lower in the sky and often hazy.
A plant makes its energy from light. Less light means less photosynthesis, and so less growth. It doesn’t go fully dormant, but it slows right down.
And a plant that grows less uses less water. Much less. If your watering rhythm doesn’t change, the potting mix stays permanently wet, the roots are starved of air and rot sets in.
In winter, a plant that’s a little too dry is a thousand times better than one that’s overwatered. The first waits. The second rots.
Watering: the one thing that really matters
Forget schedules. “Once a week” means nothing: it depends on the plant, the pot, the room and the season.
The test is simple and never fails. Push a finger into the soil up to the second knuckle. If it’s moist, don’t water. If it’s dry, water. Nothing more.
In practice, a plant watered every five days in September will often be watered every ten to fifteen days in January. For succulents and cacti, the gap is even greater: many need nothing at all from December to February.
Signs of overwatering
- Yellow leaves that go soft before falling — rather than dry and brittle
- The base of the stem turning brown or soft
- Potting mix that smells musty or swampy
- Small black flies fluttering around the pot
- Soil still damp more than a week after watering
The last point is the most telling. Potting mix that never dries out is potting mix in which the roots are suffocating.
Fertiliser: stop
It’s counter-intuitive, but feeding a plant that isn’t growing doesn’t help it. The salts in the fertiliser build up in a potting mix the plant is no longer using, and end up burning the roots.
Stop all feeding from the end of October. You’ll start again in March, when the days lengthen and the first new shoots appear.
Two exceptions: plants that flower in winter, and those placed under horticultural grow lights that make up for the drop in light. In both cases, feeding at half strength is still worthwhile.
Position: move closer to the windows
The plant you moved away from the window in July to protect it from the scorching sun now needs to move closer again. Winter light doesn’t burn — it’s in short supply.
Thirty centimetres closer to or further from a window makes a huge difference to the amount of light received. Move your plants. Those at the back of the room come forward towards the light.
Two traps to avoid. Leaves pressed against cold glass at night — direct contact can mark them. And cold draughts from poorly insulated windows, which can make leaves drop within days.
Repotting: wait
Repotting means injuring roots and asking the plant to rebuild. It doesn’t have the resources to do that in November.
Unless it’s an emergency — confirmed rot, a broken pot, potting mix saturated with limescale — wait until March. The plant will then bounce back with the energy of spring.
The special case of Moroccan apartments
Winter in Rabat, Casablanca or Kenitra isn’t cold, but it is damp. And many apartments cool down at night without ever being heated.
This combination — humid air, cool temperatures, wet potting mix — is the one that most encourages root rot. All the more reason to space out your watering significantly.
Conversely, if you heat your home, you create dry air that many tropical plants struggle with. Leaf tips turn brown. Keep plants away from direct heat sources and group them together: together, they keep the air around them a little more humid.
Unsure about a plant? Bring it to the studio at 6 Rue Zemmour in Rabat. We’ll take a look together, no appointment needed.
