Q: I have a few houseplants that stay indoors all year. Last summer, I received a couple of gift baskets with plants in them. Last fall, I repotted the plants into larger separate pots. The plants grew well, and I brought them in for the winter. I live where it is very cold all winter. The new plants are not doing well at all. They are dropping a lot of leaves. The soil in the pots stays wet all the time. I haven’t found any pests. What can I do to save the plants? Should I fertilize them? There is a Schefflera, a Spathiphyllum, a small palm, a pothos vine, a kalanchoe, and a couple of others I don’t know the names of.
A: It can be very disappointing when you receive gift plants and they don’t do well under your care, especially if you are the plant person in your group.
