It's autumn again. The sun's rays far more mercifully spill over the last waves of color in the garden and suggest that we will soon part with the magic of summer color. The first signs of the end of the current growing season are already there. The delicate flowers in the beds are slowly starting to lose their rich colors.
The indoor plants that we brought out on the balcony in the spring are still fresh, thanks to the cool nights and moderate daytime temperatures. For them, the changes will occur a week or two later. Then their leaves will begin to fade and wither, and this will signal the approaching finale of the active growing season. If we manage to stimulate them in an appropriate way, they will also delight us next year with a lovely cloak of colors and attractive foliage.
Now is the time to start preparing for next spring, for the next period of colorful dyes and magical scents. What should we do before we bring the house flowers indoors?
First of all, we proceed to reduce the amount of water for watering, taking it into account with the needs of the plants. Temperatures are no longer so high, and during the transition to a dormant state, they do not need abundant watering. We gradually extend the interval between waterings so as to ensure minimal but sufficient amounts of moisture. For species with drying stems and leaves such as Caladium and Hyppeastrum, watering is stopped when the foliage dies. In other species, the surface soil layer is lightly sprinkled. The moisture supply mode for orchids is a little different. Some species such as Cymbidium, for example, watering depends on room temperature: at a constant temperature regime below 10ºС they are onceстайната 
every 10-12 days, for temperatures around 15ºС, watering is once a week, and above this limit - every 4-5 days. With dendrobiums, the winter period coincides with the rest period and the supply of moisture is reduced to a light misting of the substrate once a month. A significant number of bromeliads also need a surface misting of the soil to keep it from drying out. In other words, one must know the vagaries of plants well in order to successfully overwinter and delight with their lush decorativeness in the following year as well.
At the beginning of September, the feeding of the plants that "sleep" in the winter is stopped. During the period of rest, they do not need an "extra portion" of nutrients. Their only requirements are reduced to suitable temperature conditions and a certain amount of light.
Before providing them, we have to remove overbloomed flowers and dried leaves and twigs. They are a favorable environment for the development of various disease-causing microorganisms, and they significantly worsen their appearance. We should not forget that flowers with well-shaped crowns are an elegant addition to the interior, after moving them indoors.
Some plants necessarily need autumn pruning. These are the species with woody stems - Oleander, Hibiscus, Citrus, Kalanchoe and others. To skimp on this operation would lead to exhaustion, as their vegetative functions are lowered, and excess twigs will deplete limited energy resources. As a result, next year the flower will wither, the flowers will be of poor quality, small and few in number. Pruning will stimulate the formation of new and healthy branches in the spring, i.e. kitsch crown with impressive decorativeness. The other advantage of pruning is maintaining a crown consistent with our visions of plant development. For this purpose, the length of the twigs is shortened from 1/3 to 1/2. The rule is to cut immediately above a leaf, bud or branch. Trimming with a template is especially effective.
Before we bring the pots indoors, we must do a prophylactic spraying with an insecticide, despite the absence of pests.
For plants that lose their vegetative mass in the winter, the appropriate conditions for overwintering the tubers must be provided. Such are begonia, kaladium, kanna, etc.
For some indoor flowers, autumn is a period of awakening to new life, for example the cyclamen (Cyclamen). With these plants, an active watering regime is started - it is used with soft water at room temperature, in which the pot is soaked for an hour. The time is enough to absorb the necessary moisture.
Autumn is a good time to sift and feed the winter-blooming species. The first two feedings are with fertilizers rich in nitrogen (N). In the second month after the "awakening" of the flowers, substances rich in potassium are used, which stimulate the formation of flower buds.
Along with the general rules, the care of houseplants in the fall must take into account the individual needs of the particular variety. This will provide them with a comfortable environment for development and a perfect vision in the next growing season.
