It’s official, summer is starting to whine down and we all know what that means, all your beautiful flowers and plants have a time limit. It's pretty tragic that you spend all summer making your garden or patio full of plant life and then fall happens and all your hard work dies off.
Many people bring their plants into the house only to have them die pretty quickly. So we are going to go over how to bring your patio plants into your house and not have them die of shock.
First step is the most important! Checking for bugs! While you will typically check for all the big creepy crawlies, those are not the only ones to look for. Aphids, mealybugs and spider mites are small insects that if left on your plant can and will infect all your plants in your home. It really isn't any fun with them around so make sure to really inspect your plant, maybe even take the hose to them. Some people have found good luck in neem oil as well to prevent and get rid of the little pests.
Before bringing them into the house, make sure that the foliage and roots on your plant is pruned.
Now you will have acclimate your plant to the house. If you bring it in and think your done, your plant might go into shock. It really isn't uncommon for plants to wilt or die from the drastic change. Once it hits around 50 degrees at night then it is time to start the transition. You want the transition period to be about two weeks. At night you bring them in and in the morning you put them back outside. Over the transition period start adding more and more time inside the house. This way they will get accustomed to the house and will have less of a change of shock, wilting or leaf loss. It might not seem all that different from inside the house to outside to you but your plant can tell. Humidity and light changes is what affects the plant the most and if it's too drastic it doesn't bode well for your plant.
After that then your plant should be happy in its new home! A good houseplant tips is to water the plant less, feel the soil to see if it's dry or not. Too much water will cause root rot and no one wants that. Second is when the sun is not out enough make sure your plant still gets some light. You can buy plant lights that will help keep them happy and healthy throughout winter.
Keeping your plants alive all winter is very rewarding because once the weather goes back to spring you can transition them outside again and your patio will be ready to go early in the warm months. Giving you more time to show off that hard work!
