Safely Bringing Plants Indoors For The Winter
Bringing plants indoors for the winter is always a tough decision for me every year at the end of the summer season.
There are some plants I really like to “winter”, but I am always worried about bringing unwanted bugs inside our home.
I’ve been burnt before…I lost my beloved Hibiscus to aphids from the backyard!
I bought my Hibiscus as an indoor plant, but as soon as summer hit, with its warmer temperatures, I put it outside for the season. It loved it, and it bloomed, and bloomed, and bloomed.
Too bad I didn’t realize it got infested by aphids before I brought it back inside in the fall…
I fought aphids indoors for months with poor results, until my Hibiscus died, and other plants got affected by the same bug!
Now, I am extra careful when bringing plants indoors for the winter!
Whether it’s an annual plant you just bought for your yard, or an indoors plant you placed outside for the summer, it is critical you follow the proper steps, in order to safely bringing plants indoors for the winter.
Bringing plants indoors has two critical aspects;
- Knowing when to bring the plant inside
- How to bring the plant inside safely, without bugs
I will cover both aspects in details here below.
I can’t stretch enough the importance of following these wintering steps before bringing your plants indoors. It will save you headaches and heartbreaks in the winter!
I still have a picture of my beautiful Hibiscus. It eventually succumbed to the aphids that came in from the backyard. 💔
types of plants you can winter
There are many plants that can be wintered.
In broad terms, the best annuals to adapt well to the “home life” in winter, are those grown in colder climates, such as; Coleus, Geraniums, Begonias, and Impatiens.
Certain plants that people consider annuals in northern areas, are actually planted in yards as perennials in southern areas.
Some plants can be taken indoors, and grown as regular houseplants, others, need to go through a dormancy period in a cool and dark space, (garage or basement), during the colder months.
Knowing the specific plant’s needs is very important when bringing plants indoors for the winter.
plants that can be grown as houseplants
This list is just to give you an idea of what has been grown successfully indoors by many.
It doesn’t mean you can’t try something else!
- Rosemary, (on my list)
- Tarragon
- Geranium
- Sweet Potato Vine
- Boston Fern
- Coleus, (on my list)
- Hibiscus
- Begonias
- Impatiens
plants with bulbs, tubers, and corms
These plants need a dormancy period during the cold months, and can be wintered just as dried roots.
Cut all their foliage and stems, dig out the bulbs, or tubers, or corms, clean the dirt off, and let them dry out.
Store, in a paper wrapped fashion, in a cool, dark place, until ready to plant in spring.
- Cannas
- Lilies
- Dahlias
- Tulips
- Caladium
- Gladiolus
- Crocus
- Daffodils
This is my Coleus. Im am planning on bringing it indoors for the winter.
Not the whole thing! I am going to reduce its size to one plant only. It’s a matter of choosing the right one!
When to bring the plants inside
When bringing plants indoors, it’s important to plan the process before the first frost hits your area.
Plan to bring your plants inside a few weeks before cooler weather is forecasted, as you need a transition period to repot, debug, quarantine, (yes, I said quarantine…sounds familiar these days??), and get your plants used to the indoor conditions.
Generally, two weeks before your average first frost day, is good enough.
I go three weeks before, because I live in a northern region, and the plants I am planning on bringing inside are susceptible to cold temperatures, (Coleus don’t like anything below 10C/50F).
Basically, anything you plan to bring indoors, should be moved before temperatures reach 7C/45F.
You’ll need at least two weeks to debug, acclimatize, and quarantine the plant you want to bring indoors.
You’ll need to debug your plant, even if you don’t see any bugs, (more details to follow), quarantine it in a sheltered area for acclimatization, and observe it to make sure all the bugs are gone.
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5 steps to bringing plants indoors successfully and without bugs
The following repotting, (if needed), debugging and acclimatize & quarantine steps are critical to safely bringing plants indoors for the winter.
I highly recommend you go through the debugging process even if you don’t see any pests on your plants. Pests can be sneaky and my go undetected.
1. cut back & repot
If the plant you want to bring inside is planted in the ground, or in a large container, like my Coleus shown here above, you need to repot it in a new container.
If the plant is large, you need to scale it back to at least a third of its original size.
Repot your plant in a well draining pot with fresh soil, suitable for your plant’s needs.
During this process, it’s important you inspect your plant for signs of pests or diseases, both in the soil and roots, as well as in the leaves and stems. Make sure you look at both sides of the leaves closely, as many bugs hide behind the scenes, and go unnoticed on the back side of leaves!!!
My plant here doesn’t seem to be doing that well, so I inspected all of its parts, roots, stems and leaves very closely. I found the culprit; spider mites! Now, to the debugging process!!
2. debug process outdoors
Debugging is not a difficult, nor time consuming task as it may seems, (well, to be honest with you, it really depends on how many plants you are planning on bringing indoors!).
The time you spend debugging your plants outside, will save you from spending even more time dealing with bugs when they get into your house, and all your other indoor plants!
Aphids, and other pests such as Spider Mites, Mealy Bugs, Scale, and Whiteflies, aren’t a big issue on plants spending the summer outdoors. However, they can bring in a major infestation when moved indoors in the fall.
Here is a close look at my Spider Mites infested plant. Can you see that tiny web between the stem and the purple backside of the leaf? That’s a pest that needs to be gone before this plant goes back in the house!
supplies you need to debug
You won’t need a long list of supplies to debug your plants.
Most likely, you’ll already have the majority of them;
- Mild dish soap
- Safe Insecticide
- Large bucket or tub
I’ve highlighted the word MILD, because it’s important you use products that don’t contain any toxic ingredients. Mild dish soap can be found anywhere, from local grocery stores, to hardware stores and big box stores, as well as online.
Insecticides can also be found in similar stores and online.
This is the mild dish soap I used.
This is the insecticide I use for different types of bugs.
fill a bucket full of lukewarm water and mild dish soap
Once you have all your supplies, find a spot outside where you can work on your debugging process.
Fill a large bucket, or tub, full of lukewarm water. (I used the hose water because it was sitting under the hot sun all afternoon).
As you fill the bucket with water, pour a few drops of mild dish soap in it.
My bucket is pretty small, but good enough for the plant I needed to debug. You can use buckets as large as you need. You can even submerge more that one plant at a time if you have enough room for them.
submerge your plant in the water solution
Once your bucket is full, submerge the entire pot of your plant, without worrying about soil leakage.
All the rotten leaves and debris accumulated on the top soil, (if you haven’t repotted your plant in fresh soil), will float. You’ll have the opportunity to strain it off with a strainer, or simply pick it with your hands.
Allow your plant to be submerged in water fro about 15-20 minutes.
VERY IMPORTANT! 👉🏻 Do not submerge plants that prefer dry soil like the bulbs, tubers, and corms described here above, or succulents and cacti!!! Skip directly to the Acclimatize & Quarantine Step!
spray your plant's foliage with insecticide
While your plant is soaking in its debugging “bubble bath”, it’s time to tackle the stems and leaves that did not get submerged.
You have two options here;
- You can either use the same solution of lukewarm water and a few drops of mild dish soap, and pour it into a spray bottle, or,
- You can use a safe, store bought insecticide, like I do.
Spray all the leaves, front and back, lifting each leaf if necessary. Spray all the stems and any part of the plant that is not soaked in the water solution.
This will slowly neutralize pests living on your plant’s stems and foliage.
take your plant out of the bucket and let it drain
After 15-20 minutes, and after collecting all the dead leaves, or any other debris, take your plant out of the bucket and let it drain well.
After this step is complete, it’s time to start acclimatize and quarantine!
3. acclimatization and quarantine
You can’t think of bringing plants indoors without acclimatization and quarantine.
Even though I don’t recommend it, you can skip repotting and cutting back, you can skip debugging, but you cannot skip acclimatization and quarantine.
These processes are synchronous, they undergo at the same time, in the same place. It won’t take you extra time to do both.
Since the quarantine is done while the plant is getting acclimatized to move indoors, it is critical you pick the right location for this mandatory step.
acclimatization
Acclimatization is the process in which the plant adjusts to changes in temperature, light and humidity conditions.
In-fact, a sudden change in light and humidity levels can shock your plant! It can cause foliage drop, and even death.
There are different ways to acclimatize a plant to a different environment.
In my opinion, the most effective way, is to place it in a neutral space, which is in between the outdoors conditions and the indoors conditions.
In order to get my plant out of the cold drafts that come in the fall, I move it to a bright spot in my garage. In here, the temperature is higher that outside, but not quite as warm as inside the house.
At the same time, the plant is not susceptible to the drastic fluctuations in temperature between day and night, and is protected from wind and precipitations.
Remember to keep watering your plant during this transition period!
I let me plant acclimatize in here for two to three weeks, while it’s under quarantine at the same time.
Some people simply choose to leave their plant outside during the day, and move it inside at night, and slowly increase the amount of time the plant spends inside…
It could work, but there is no quarantine involved in here, and that’s risky to me!
quarantine
By now, we all know what quarantine means.
It’s no different for plants.
Basically, the plant you are acclimatizing to bring indoors, will need to be observed for the next two to three weeks, to make sure they are not carrying any bugs from the outside, even though you haven’t seen any bugs before.
You need to watch for bugs, especially when you had to debug it before. Bugs may take a couple, (or more), applications of insecticide before they subside, and eventually disappear.
If that’s the case, and you find bugs on leaves and stems, keep spraying your plant every three days, during the two to three weeks of acclimatization and quarantine period, until all bugs are gone!
Only then, your plant will be ready to move inside your house, and join your indoor plants.
4. bring your plant indoors
It’s important that, even before bringing plants indoors, you plan the right spot for them.
You need to keep in mind that these plants are used to a lot of natural light outdoors in the summer, and a certain level of humidity.
Make sure you carve a bright spot in your home for your plant. Ideally, a South facing window with other plants. The closer to other plants, the higher the humidity levels will be.
5. winter care and maintenance
Now that your bug free outdoor plant is inside for the winter, maintenance doesn’t suddenly end!
As mentioned before, these plants will require lots of light and the right humidity levels to adapt to your home.
Once you’ve placed it in a bright spot, with lots of indirect light, you need to make sure your plant has the right levels of humidity it needs to thrive.
There are different ways to do that; from clustering your plant with others, to placing it in a bright spot of your bathroom, to using a plant humidifier.
The most effective way for me to keep decent levels of humidity on certain plants, is to placing a tray, filled with pebbles and a bit of water, under the pot and regularly misting their leaves twice a week. (Read more about lack of humidity issues on plants and how to remediate it in the 7 most common houseplants issues article).
Another aspect to keep in mid with these plants, is that they won’t require the same amount of water indoors, as they did outdoors. First of all, they won’t be exposed to the same hours of hot, direct, or indirect sun. Secondly, plants slow their growth during the colder season, and don’t require the same amount of water, unless your environment is really dry.
Last, but not least, always keep an eye open for bugs! If you find any, treat them with the appropriate product for the specific pest that is afflicting them.
Ultimately, the best way to care for your plant once it’s well acclimatized indoors, is to research its particular species needs online, as every plant, has different needs.
bringing your plant back outdoors in spring
And finally, when spring comes again next year, you can reverse the process to bring your plant back outside.
Start with a couple of weeks of sheltered, and protected neutral area, before putting it out in the open air and full sunlight!
Only this time, acclimatization happens without quarantine and debugging!
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Thank you answered my question perfectly.