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 Inspect your plants before bringing them
indoors
Before bringing plants back indoors, make sure to inspect them for
any insects and other pests. Insects such as aphids, whiteflies,
mealybugs, and scale, as well as spider mites, are some pests that
are commonly found on plants outdoors. If allowed indoors, their
populations can rapidly increase and spread to other plants.
One way you can try to get rid of any pests that may be present is
to spray them off your plants with a hose. If you go this route, it
may take several attempts to get rid of all of the pests. Pests that
are firmly attached to plants, such as scales, can be scraped off or
wiped off with a sponge.
If spraying with water doesn't work, insecticides such as pyrethrin,
insecticidal soaps, and neem can be used. Just make sure to read and
follow the label instructions. If your plants are infested, it may
be best to dispose of them and purchase new plants.
In addition to checking the foliage, make sure to check the growing
media. Insects such as earwigs and ants will often inhabit the
growing media in potted plants. If you have insects or other
critters inhabiting your soil, flush pots with water to drive them
out. You may need to repot the plant if ants are present in the
growing media.
Once you bring your plants indoors, keep them isolated from other
plants for several weeks. This will help prevent any pests you
missed from spreading to other plants you have indoors. After 3-4
weeks, if you don't notice any pests on the plants you brought
indoors, it should be safe to move them closer to your other plants.
Caring for plants once they're indoors
Plants will likely slow down their growth considerably when brought
indoors, so less water and fertilizer will be needed. For most
plants, you should allow the soil to dry slightly between watering
and stop fertilizing until the spring.
Light
Light levels indoors are much lower than outdoors, even compared to
shaded areas. This reduction in light intensity often results in
yellowing leaves and leaf drop. Eventually, plants will begin to
produce new leaves.
Once plants are moved indoors, put them next to the brightest,
sunniest window, which is typically south or west facing. If you
can't give your plants enough light, provide supplemental lighting.
Temperature
Another thing to consider when selecting somewhere to place your
plants is temperature. Try to avoid placing plants in areas where
they will be exposed to drafts or too close to heat vents. For the
most part, houseplants prefer daytime temperatures to be between 65°
and 75° and about 10° cooler at night. [to top of second
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Watering
If you're not sure if your plants need water, there are a couple of
ways you can check. First is with your finger. Stick your finger in
your potting media up to your second knuckle; if the media is still
moist, you probably don't need to water. Alternatively, you can lift
the pot; if it feels light, it may be time to water.
Plants can be watered by top or bottom watering. If top watering,
apply enough water so that some comes out of the drainage holes at
the bottom of the pot. Make sure to discard any water that collects
in the plant saucer. If your plants are really dry, you may need to
repeat this several times to thoroughly remoisten your potting mix.
To water from the bottom, fill your plant saucer or sink with a few
inches of water and let your plants soak. Once the potting mix on
the top of the pot is moist, the plant can be removed from the
water.
Occasionally the pots of houseplants are placed inside a more
decorative-looking pot that often does not have a drainage hole (we
often see this during the holidays). If you have pots like this,
make sure to check the outer decorative pot doesn't fill with water.
Humidity
Humidity levels in your home will be much lower than what your
plants were exposed to outdoors. Additionally, most houseplants come
from tropical areas and do best with higher humidity levels than we
typically see indoors during the winter (can be as low as 10-20%).
There are several ways you can try to increase the humidity around
your houseplants:
Kitchens and bathrooms often have higher humidity levels than other
rooms. If you have space and enough light, consider placing your
houseplants in these rooms.
Place plants close together. Plants lose water through
transpiration. If they are clustered together, this can create a
microclimate with higher humidity.
You can place your plants on a shallow tray with gravel and water.
As the water evaporates, it will increase the humidity in the area.
Make sure your pots are not sitting in water, though (keep the water
level below the top of the rocks).
You can use a humidifier to help increase the humidity near plants.
Misting plants is commonly recommended to help with humidity levels.
However, misting only increases the humidity levels for a short
period of time (minutes). For misting to be effective, you would
need to mist plants every few minutes.
Good Growing Tip of the Week: To help get your houseplants
acclimated to lower light levels indoors, you can move plants to a
shaded area in your landscape for a week. Then start moving them
indoors for a day or two and gradually increasing the amount of
time. [Ken Johnson,
Horticulture Agriculture Educator, University of Illinois Extension]
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