It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green – Bringing Plants Inside
Deciding what comes indoors over the winter
By Melanie Shifflett
Deciding what comes indoors over the winter
By Melanie Shifflett
Things are finally cooling down outside, but we aren’t the only ones who are noticing; our plants are getting chilly! While we may have to say farewell to some of our green friends for winter, for many of them there is still hope!
For your plants to live their best life, it starts with making the best choices. Unfortunately, not all plants are able to survive indoors since we can’t always provide the required sunlight, heat, or humidity. While we want to bring them all indoors, it’s also impractical. Therefore, we will have to choose our favorites and feel happy that the others can go into compost to reincarnate as new plants in their next lives.
I know we all root for the underdog and one, tiny, green leaf that is hanging on by a thread makes us want to hold out. But if our plants can’t survive in the best conditions outside, their chances inside are close to zero when moved indoors.
While this may seem obvious, it is too often that we forget to check our plants for pests before rehoming them inside. Being indoors, there are no natural predators to rid your home of bugs so they can easily spread throughout. Yes, we know your cat is great at catching flies but that doesn’t apply here.
While it may not be in full bloom indoors, coddle your plant friends until they are ready to go back outside for spring. When we are snowed in, it will be nice to have something pretty to look at!
Once you have decided which plants have made the cut, take your time acclimating them to the indoors. Keeping some near open or cracked windows also ensures the temperature outside and inside are the same so it’s not such a dramatic change.
When deciding which plants you will keep, don’t forget to research what your animals are allergic to. There are several that can irritate their skin or bellies so that may help your decision of what stays or goes!
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