If your houseplants have spent the summer outdoors on a deck, patio, or porch, now is the time to start bringing them back inside. Herbs from the garden and flowering plants from window boxes can also make the move indoors to provide continued flavor and color throughout the colder months
Down to Earth Living offers the following tips for making the transition as smooth as possible and helping your plants adjust to their indoor environment.
Transition Plants Gradually
Moving plants too quickly from outdoor conditions to an indoor environment can cause stress, leading to wilting or dropped leaves.
Before bringing them inside, move plants to a shadier outdoor location for a few days to help them adjust to lower light levels. It’s also a good time to clean your windows, both inside and out, so your plants can receive as much natural light as possible once they’re indoors.
Check for Bugs Before Bringing Plants Indoors
Before moving plants inside, inspect them carefully for insects or signs of disease. Down to Earth recommends applying a systemic insecticide about 10 days before the move.
Trim away dead leaves and spent blooms, which can harbor pests or disease, and rinse plants thoroughly with a hose or use insecticidal soap to help remove insects.
For a severe infestation, the entire plant and pot can be submerged in a large tub of soapy water. Allow it to drain completely before bringing it indoors.
Repot and Prune Where Needed
If a plant has outgrown its container, move it into a pot that is at least two inches larger in diameter.
Plants that have become leggy can benefit from pruning. Remove the plant from its container and trim the top growth and roots in equal proportions. Clean the original pot thoroughly, add fresh potting soil, and replant.
Be sure to use the right type of soil for each plant. Succulents, cacti, African violets, and orchids all have different soil requirements than standard houseplants.
Help indoor plants adjust to colder months with good light, proper watering, and a little extra humidity.
Choose the Right Indoor Location
Once plants are indoors, place them in a well-lit area away from heating vents and cold drafts.
Be careful not to overwater. Allow the surface of the soil to dry to the touch before watering again. Succulents should only be watered after the soil has remained dry for several days.
To increase humidity around your plants, place the pot on a saucer filled with pebbles and water. This helps create a small area of higher humidity around the plant.
Keep Plants Clean Through the Winter
To help keep indoor plants healthy and reduce pest problems during the winter months, give them a gentle shower with lukewarm water about every six weeks. By spring, they will be ready to thrive outdoors once again.
About Down to Earth Living
Down to Earth Living Garden Center encourages customers to bring photos of their garden or backyard, along with images that reflect the look they want to achieve. The Down to Earth team can help with selecting plants, shrubs, containers, statuary, and other elements to help bring those ideas to life.
The garden center’s expanded indoor plant showroom is open year-round, and free repotting is available with the purchase of any plant or pot.
Now in its 56th year, Down to Earth Living serves Rockland, Bergen, and Orange counties as well as the Hudson Valley. Its 12.5-acre garden center features perennials, flowers, shrubs, and trees, with new plants arriving weekly. The 10,000-square-foot showroom includes contemporary, classic, traditional, and transitional teak, aluminum, and all-weather dining and deep-seated furniture.
Down to Earth Living is located a short distance from Bergen County at 1040 Route 45 in Pomona, New York. For more information, call 845-354-8500 or visit dteliving.com.
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