As the summer draws to a close, you should be preparing to welcome your porch plant babies back inside your house where they will be safe and warm in order to prevent the next too-cold nights. But how can you prevent bringing any unwelcome insects along with you and prevent scaring your plants with a sudden shift in environment? To guarantee a smooth transition while transporting your plants back to home, sweet home, refer to our tips below.
Your re-planted plants will require a perfect location that is free from drafty doors and vents, has lots of light, and is designated just for them. Here are some tips to help you prepare for better indoor conditions.
- Wipe the windows. If you want the most amount of light to reach your plants, clean any neighboring windows before putting them next to a window. Plants should be placed a few feet away from windows rather than right next to them in order to prevent sunburn on leaves. As a general rule, plants that prefer full light will prefer windows that face south, while those that prefer partial sun may be happier in windows that face east or west. Windows that face north offer the least amount of light and are typically insufficient on their own.
- Change the bulbs. By simply swapping your current bulbs for full-spectrum bulbs, which are readily available at any hardware shop, your ordinary interior lighting can be improved for plant health. If full-spectrum bulbs aren’t available, choose a daylight bulb with at least 60 watts instead.
- Purchase a grow lamp. A grow light, which always gives your plants the proper kind of light, is the best thing for plant enthusiasts to have peace of mind throughout the dark winter months. Although grow lights will truly give your plant the appropriate spectrum for sustained growth and maturity, daylight bulbs will keep your plants alive in the winter. If you have a designated plant corner, think about adding a grow light there so that your plants can congregate there for more humidity.
- Purchase a humidifier. Dry air will accompany the colder months, which will certainly upset your plants and your skin. Your plants will live longer if you run a humidifier in the space where they are as well as if you combine your plants together, which is a natural approach to increase the humidity surrounding them. You might even place glasses of water around your plants to encourage natural evaporation in a pinch!
Make sure there are no harmful bugs accompanying you that could spread to your other plants before bringing your plants anywhere near your front entrance. Pests like mealybugs and spider mites may quickly spread indoors and cause all sorts of problems for your houseplants.
- Look over your plants. Examine your plants’ foliage, the areas between the whorls of newly emerging growth, the corners of the stems, the soil’s surface, and even the area surrounding the planter with a magnifying lens or your unaided eye. If you discover any pests, you can modify your treatment to address the exact type of issue you are experiencing.
- Spray and wash. Why run the risk even if you don’t notice any pests? If you feel so inclined, spray them down with a preventative mixture like Neem oil after they are dry. This will serve as an insecticide and a miticide and will also serve as a temporary deterrent for incoming animals. Hose them down outside with water. For it to be effective if you’re utilizing it to address a confirmed pest issue, keep in mind that you should frequently reapply. For more details on pest control methods, see our other posts!
How may outside plants be brought indoors during the winter?
Some frequently asked questions about preparing your plants and containers to bring inside for the winter are answered by Laura from Garden Answer. She outlines her step-by-step guidelines for maintaining healthy, happy plants even while they are housed indoors.
Gather the items you want to save by walking about your garden. Consider your garden’s perennials, herbs, and succulents. With a little assistance, even window boxes, displays, and smaller pots may survive indoors.
Consider the containers they are in right now once you’ve gathered everything you wish to bring inside. Do they function inside your house? Will you remove something that requires a new container from your garden? You can obtain the necessary supplies by asking yourself these questions.
Having a single defined workspace makes things simpler. You won’t be able to move your materials throughout your garden and the mess will stay in one place.
A trowel, a shovel, snips, pruners, gloves, and containers are a some of the tools you might require. If the containers have been used before, be sure to sanitize them using a solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water to get rid of any hidden insects or infections. The proper type of soil will be your last requirement. African violets, orchids, succulents, cacti, and common houseplants all require different types of soil to grow successfully.
Make any esthetic cuts or prune any lanky branches. Trim any dead leaves and spent blossoms as well because that is how insects and diseases enter buildings.
Avoid bringing insects inside your house if possible. Make sure to inspect the soil’s surface as well as the tops and undersides of the leaves. Everything that is scurrying around inside ought to remain outside. This will ensure that later on no other indoor plants get the infection.
If you’re not repotting, equally remove the top inch or two of soil—whatever will come up without much effort—and replace it with brand-new dirt. This will assist in removing any bug eggs from the soil.
Repotting any containers now is a good idea if you want to complement your interior design or if they need to be larger. Additionally, this is the time to plant everything you have taken out of the garden. Use the proper soil for your plants, always. There is soil at Espoma for many kinds of plants.
Although it is not necessary to perform this before bringing your plants indoors, it is highly advised. Give your plants a good sip of water while they can still drain outside. It will aid in establishing them in their new containers and let the newly added top soil to release its nutrients.
Consider how much light each of these plants requires, then position them accordingly. Find a window with bright light that they will love residing in for a few months if they prefer full light. For the best chance of catching any spills, it is recommended to set a saucer beneath each of the pots.
Can outdoor plants be brought inside during the winter?
It’s time to bring many of your outdoor plants inside when frost is forecast. Only indoors will many delicate annuals, bulbs, herbs, and tropical plants make it through the winter. Here are some tips on which plants to bring indoors this fall and how to prepare potted plants for the winter.
When to Bring Plants Inside
True annuals and plants that we cultivate as annuals (which are regarded as sensitive perennials in southern regions) are unable to withstand the chilly winter months. But you don’t have to say goodbye to these plants forever! Even delicate plants that require a winter dormant period can be brought inside as “annuals” in many cases. Ideally, these should be brought inside before the temperature drops below 45 degrees at night (7C). Start bringing the plants inside for the winter when October approaches and nighttime lows dip approximately 50F (10C).
At temperatures below 40F (4C), and for some tropical plants even below 50, harm is likely to occur. To acclimatize them, you must take action well before any actual frost or ice.
Where to Put Plants
I still struggle to find space for everything, despite the fact that the greenhouse we have attached to the house receives plenty of sunlight and never gets colder than 45F. For my benefit, a lot of these plants would experience a dry season in their natural habitat and don’t mind resting under a bench. Particularly when the pots are large, the greenhouse quickly fills up.
Consider making a shelf or area where you may put plants that require high humidity together if you don’t have a greenhouse but have a lot of them. While some people mist their indoor plants, this only has a temporary beneficial effect. Putting a pebble tray under your plants is a better long-term solution. After adding a layer of gravel and lining the trays with waterproof material, add the pots on top. Do not dry out the gravel. You might wish to attach some ceiling hooks if you have hanging plants. Cleaning your windows both inside and outside will help guarantee that plants receive enough light throughout winter.
Which Plants To Bring Inside
You might need to decide what should be brought inside and what should be kept outside. Which flora stand out to you? Which ones cost the most to replace? Additionally, only keep healthy plants; throw away those that have disease or pest issues. Additionally, the lighting in your home is crucial. Even a west or south facing glassed area in winter only has the summer shaded area’s winter light intensity.
Plants that can be carried indoors can be divided into two categories:
- plants that need a time of winter hibernation.
- plants that can continue to thrive while dormant during the winter.
Some delicate bulbs need to spend some time “dormant” in a chilly environment where the temperature is still far above freezing. Numerous of these pricey bulbs are worth overwintering. Tender bulbs include, for instance:
- Caladiums
- A calla lily
- Cannas
- Dahlias
- Animal ears
- Gladiolus
- tubes of roses
Simply stop watering fragile bulbs in pots, remove the withering leaves, and tuck them away in a dark, cool place. Periodically check the soil moisture.
Dig up and trim back the leaves of fragile underground bulbs. By hand, remove as much dirt as you can from the bulb. For 7 to 14 days, leave them in a warm, dry location to dry. This gets rid of extra moisture. Separate them with shredded newspaper or dry peat moss and place them loosely in a cardboard box or open container. Get cozy somewhere chilly and gloomy. To get a head start on the season, pot them up in the spring about a month before you intend to set them outside.
How can you safely bring indoor plants from the outside during the winter?
During the summer, many people prefer to bring their indoor plants outside to enjoy the warmth and humidity. But how can you bring your plants inside again without bringing in pests?
Plants thrive throughout the summer months. However, when fall arrives and it’s time to bring your houseplants inside for the winter, things can get nasty. Indoor plants actually benefit from spending some time outdoors.
Knowing when to bring houseplants indoors and how to bring plants indoors without pests are two things that can help you prevent major issues with your plants later on.
It’s crucial to follow a few simple instructions to make the transition comfortable for both you and your plants, and to keep bugs and other indoor pests out of your home.
When should I move my plants inside for the winter? is one of the most often asked topics. Plan to begin bringing your indoor plants back several weeks before the fall’s cooler weather arrives.
Long-term exposure to cold temperatures may cause indoor plants to lose their leaves. Or even worse, it might destroy the plant. Furthermore, if they are left outside for too long when the weather begins to cool down in the fall, the transition of bringing outside plants indoors will come as more of a shock to them.
The best time to bring indoor plants inside for the winter is at least two weeks before the typical last frost date in your area.
We advise bringing indoor plants back in tiny batches if you have a lot of indoor plants that are flourishing outside.
It can be quite frustrating and draining for you to attempt a marathon weekend of debugging and plant relocation (not to mention taxing on your back!).
Additionally, before bringing a houseplant inside if you find it to be pot-bound, repot it into a bigger container. The mess will remain outside in this manner.
Before bringing potted plants back inside, debugging and cleaning them are essential steps to preventing houseplant pest issues.
When potted indoor plants are outside, aphids, mealybugs, and other sorts of houseplant insect pests are typically not an issue. However, if they are carried inside on your houseplants over the winter, they can soon grow into a serious infestation.
It sounds more difficult than it is to debug and clean potted plants before bringing them inside for the winter.
Before bringing your indoor plants back inside in the fall, there are a few easy actions you can do to make sure they are bug-free. (Warning: Only debug plants that are growing in pots with drainage holes using this technique.)
Materials required:
- large bucket or utility container
- moderate liquid soap
- substantial kitchen strainer
- scrub brush for flower pots
- aerosol can
- Hemp oil
- washing jug
- dated towels
Step 1: Pour soapy water into the tub. Add some mild liquid soap and a few squirts of water to a big tub or bucket. Make sure to avoid using any soaps that include detergents or degreasers in them. Sensitive plants may be harmed (or even killed) by them.
Step 2: Submerge the plants in water to soak them.
Put the entire plant, pot, and all, in the tub of water for 15 to 20 minutes to get rid of any bugs on houseplants. Any insects that are on the plant or in the soil will be killed by the soapy water.
Cleaning plant leaves that aren’t immersed is step three.
Use an organic insecticidal soap to clean the plant leaves that are poking out of the water if any of the leaves aren’t entirely submerged in the water.
Advice: Dead leaves, insects, and other debris will float to the top of the water when you submerge the plants. In order to keep your plants tidy when removing them, use a strainer to catch all the floating debris you can.
Step 4: Take out the plants and clean the containers.
Pull your plants out of the tub after soaking them, then scrub each pot with a scrub brush to make it clean.
Step 5: Thoroughly rinse the plant and its container.
After cleaning your plant and its container, thoroughly rinse them with the hose to remove all of the soap and dirt.
Step 6: Permit the water to fully drain.
Before bringing the cleaned plants back inside, let the pots’ whole contents drain before setting them aside.
Before soaking a new set of plants, remove all the dead leaves and other debris floating on top of the water in step 7.
Step 8: Reintroduce your plants indoors.
You can transfer your plants back inside now that they have been debugged and all of the extra water has been drained from the pot bottoms.
Allow the soil to dry completely before watering them again to avoid overwatering them after you have them back in their indoor home and prepared for the winter.
Naturally, killing all the insects is the biggest advantage of soaking houseplants in soapy water before bringing them back inside, but there are a few others as well.
The benefit of using this method for disinfecting and cleaning potted plants is that your indoor plants will now receive a thorough watering before you bring them inside again. This means that once your houseplants are inside, you won’t need to take the extra step of watering them all.
The dead leaves and other debris will all float to the surface, making it simple to discard, which is an additional advantage of soaking plants in water.
Additionally, your plants and their pots will appear immaculate, possibly cleaner than before. Having such spotless, wholesome-looking plants feels wonderful, and it’s excellent for the plants, too!
If you have huge houseplants that are too big for this procedure, try this modified version instead. Soaking houseplants in soapy water is helpful for small to medium sized potted plants.
The entire plant should be washed in soapy water (using the same mild liquid soap), and then thoroughly rinsed with a garden hose.
Spray neem oil on the entire plant after the leaves have been cleaned. (Since certain indoor plants are more sensitive than others, it’s important to test any type of spray on a few leaves before applying it to the entire plant.)