What is dormancy in plants?

You may suddenly have found your plant not thriving like a few days before. The overall outlook of your plant might get gloomy, and the edges of the leaves might look wilted, showing the signs of dormancy mechanism in your plant. Don’t get perplexed if you have heard about the dormancy of plants. This article will be your tour to know about dormancy in plants.

Dormancy of plants may arise from a set of reasons like excessive heat or dry weather, freezing temperature, and water or nutrients deficiency or other environmental conditions. Dormancy in plants might not take them to death but hamper your regular view of your garden. You might also look for dormancy in seeds from our article to better understand dormancy-related issues in gardening.

What is Dormancy in Plants?

Dormancy in plants can be compared to our fatigue system. When we reach our limit and can’t move on, we take a nap to get charged up for the next day. Likewise, when plants can get the optimum environment to live in, they stop growing and conserve energy till favourable conditions returns. Unfavourable conditions like too much up-down in temperature, dry or cold weather, and shortage of water or necessary nutrients might trigger plants to go into dormancy in response. It’s a sort of protection mechanism that ensures the longevity of plants.

What is the common time for Dormancy in Plants?

Dormancy in plants may occur at any time of the year. As there is no specific reason behind it, there is no specific time for the dormancy process to appear besides unfavourable environmental conditions. However, winter might prove to be a little different. A common phenomenon exists for perennial plants to enter dormancy in the winter. In winter, plants take a gloomy look, leavers dry off. Taking preparations to fully bloom in spring as a part of their metabolic processes. Meanwhile the resting period, the plants pass through a delicate time where they need some extra care to help them live for an extended period of time.

What happens when plants enter Dormancy

Annual plants simply stop growing or blooming when they decide to go into dormancy. It’s like getting some rest before the next period of growth. Plants might start to consume less water and the soil may stay hydrated for longer times during the period of dormancy. Growth cessation, flowers falling apart, and leaves wilting are symptoms of the development of dormancy.

How to deal with Dormant Plants?

If you are looking for ways to support your plants on their bad days, then you will have a wide range of options open at your hand based on the form of dormancy.

• For water insufficiency: If your soil is dry and your plant is dormant, there is a huge chance that the shied may arise from a lack of water. If this happens so, you may simply raise the quantity and time of water you provide to your plant. If it’s a potted plant and has many drainage holes, you may simply put some off the holes to ensure that water stays in the pot. The soil might lose its ability to hold water owing to a lack of fertility. So, it’s better to put some fertiliser or nutrients in the soil. You may look in your nearest garden store for it or look on Amazon. Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant food is my personal favourite when it comes to these kinds of scenarios. (https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-1001233-Purpose-Plant-Food/dp/B000P6QYJK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1M0SQF2WQ1SDF&keywords=fertilizer&qid=1659205059&sprefix=fertilizer%2Caps%2C412&sr=8-2)
• Dry weather: In dry seasons, you may need to put up more water into the air to resemble the required humidity. You may keep some water in something near the plants so the heat will dry up the water and increase humidity in the air near your plant. You can use humidifier devices for your indoor plants. If none of them seems viable simply water your plants to keep the soil from drying out.
• Winter dormancy: To fight cooler temperatures or winter dormancy, you will need to take some steps altogether to help your plants sustain. First, curb your watering schedule, waterless at both amount and frequency. You can also prune off some old parts and wilted leaves. This will also help the plant after the dormancy period. Stop giving nutrients for a few days and if possible, change the soil or repot the plant. Changing the soil can prove to be useful during colder temperatures. Plants always love fresh soil. If the humidity goes too lower than average, a humidifier or any effort to elevate the humidity near the plant.
• Lack of nutrients: Lack of proper nutrition might also force a plant to get into dormancy. Adding more fertilizer or nutrients is the prime move a gardener should take in such cases. However, reporting the plant or changing the soil might add a boost to your effort to bring back your plant.

These are the ways you could support your dormant plant and help them recover from unfavourable conditions. You may also want to look into seed dormancy to get a better grasp on dormancy issues.