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Feed houseplants in winter

Updated: October 2026

It is a dark afternoon in December, the heating is on, and the bottle you used in July is still next to the watering can. Feeding houseplants in winter is the decision this page is for: whether that bottle stays shut from October to February. Mixing steps for the growing season stay on [how to feed houseplants](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/fertiliser-for-houseplants/sub/fertiliser-for-houseplants-how-to-use). This is the season decision, not a product ranking. It is not a trial of the nine bottles on the [houseplant fertiliser comparison](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/fertiliser-for-houseplants). The Products Compared editorial team wrote it on 21 October 2026 from those public pages. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

It is a dark afternoon in December, the heating is on, and the bottle you used in July is still next to the watering can.

Our top picks

Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml

Best overall

Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml
9.4/10about £3.99
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Baby Bio Baby Bio organic 175 ml

Preis-Tipp

Baby Bio Baby Bio organic 175 ml
9.2/10about £3.99
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Westland Westland Houseplant Feed 200 ml

Alternative

Westland Westland Houseplant Feed 200 ml
9.2/10about £6.98
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Why winter is different in a UK room
  2. 2.Where the advice splits
  3. 3.Plants that are still growing
  4. 4.If you have already fed too often

Why winter is different in a UK room

Day length is the constraint, not the thermostat. Thrive's winter houseplant page says less water, and pause fertiliser until active growth returns in spring. The RHS December note says to reduce watering and feeding as the days shorten. Grow Tropicals, a retailer explainer rather than a trial, describes leftover winter fertiliser building salt in the compost. Feeding will not replace moving a plant closer to the window. The buying guide still applies when you do buy.

Where the advice splits

Thrive says pause until the plant is growing again in spring. The RHS growing guide limits winter feeding to about once a month. You should not average them into every six weeks and call that official. Westland's own houseplant feed page still says every fourth watering in winter. That is a label line for that product. If you are still watering weekly over a radiator, every fourth watering is still frequent. Some Baby Bio shop copy has said ideally all year. An all-year slogan is not a December dose. The rule on this page is for ordinary leafy houseplants in a UK room.
Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml

Testsieger

Baby Bio Baby Bio Houseplant Food 175 ml
9.4/10about £3.99
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Plants that are still growing

A peace lily that is still opening a leaf in January is not the same as a dormant fern in a hallway. If you can see new leaves, you may think about feed. You do not restore the summer dose because one leaf appeared. The RHS once-a-month cap is the outer limit. If the label prints a winter line, use the winter line. Let the top of the compost dry further than it did in June, then decide if anything is growing.

If you have already fed too often

A white crust is salt left when water evaporated. Grow Tropicals describes that buildup from fertiliser the plant did not use in winter, and treats a plain-water flush, then a wait, as the repair. It does not state a cup count. Empty the saucer, and do not follow the flush with more feed the same day. Brown tips also come from dry air alone. If there is no crust and you have not fed since October, look at the radiator before you blame September's dose.

Common questions

Do I stop completely in December?
For a leafy plant that has stopped growing, Thrive says yes: pause until active growth in spring. The RHS is slightly looser, limiting winter feed to about once a month because light is too low for the plant to use it well. A complete stop is the safer reading for an ordinary houseplant in a dim room. Once a month is the cap if you feed at all, not a target you have to hit. Westland's every fourth watering is a label, not this default.
My plant is still making leaves under a bright window. Then what?
Then it is growing, so a pause is no longer the whole answer. Keep the dose thinner than summer. The RHS once-a-month limit is the outer bound to remember, and a reduced rate belongs here if the label allows it. A bright window is not permission to use 5–10 drops at every watering, which is a growing-season pattern. If new leaves stop, go back to the pause. Watch the plant for a week before you pour.
What does Westland say about winter?
Westland's houseplant feed page says every fourth watering in winter. That is less often than the every-second-watering line used for spring and summer on Westland's advice pages. It applies to that feed, if you hold it, and it still depends on how often you water. Weekly watering over a radiator makes every fourth watering quite soon. The amazon listing's bullets advertise a doser and do not replace that winter sentence. This page does not make Westland the winter winner.
Why do leaf tips go brown in winter after feeding?
Often the plant could not use the feed, and salts stayed in the compost while heating dried the air. Grow Tropicals, a retailer guide, links unused winter fertiliser to that buildup. Brown tips also come from dry air alone, with no feed involved. If you can see a white crust and you have been feeding on a summer schedule, the feed is the likely partner. If you have not fed for months, look at the radiator and the draught first.
What is the white crust?
It is salt on the compost surface, left when water evaporated. In winter it often means fertiliser the plant did not take up. Grow Tropicals describes that crust as a reason to flush with plain water and then wait before you feed again. It does not publish a cup count, so this page does not invent one. Water so the pot drains, empty the saucer, and leave the bottle alone. A thick crust in exhausted compost may need a repot when the plant can take it.

Related pages

Fertiliser for houseplants

Best houseplant food UK: mixed, measured or pour-on

Houseplant fertiliser buying guide: choose a format

Houseplant feed: concentrate or ready-to-use litre

How to feed houseplants: dose, moisture and season

Sources

Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the nine amazon.co.uk listings captured on 21 October 2026. Listing ratio fields are not treated as NPK. The organic word on one Baby Bio title is not a certifier. A maker analysis is the maker's statement, not an independent UK lab test.

  1. RHS, houseplants growing guide (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. RHS, feeding plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. Gardeners' World, how to feed house plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK, manufacturing and marketing fertilisers (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. Fertilisers Regulations 1991 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. HSE, about pesticides (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. Westland Houseplant Feed (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. Morrisons, Baby Bio house plant food 175 ml (retrieved 21 October 2026)