Denny's Soapbox

What’s Inside Can go Outside

There is no such plant as a house plant. All plants were designed by Mother Nature to grow outside, some where. The tri-state is not a tropical area but tropical plants do add beauty to the inside of our home with some plants tolerating the lack of indoor sun more than others. They all love being outside during the summer. To be successful, there are certain rules to follow.

Rule #1

Do not place your tropical plants outdoors until all danger of cool to cold weather has passed in late spring. Bring your tropical plants back inside when the fall outdoor temperatures match your indoor temperature, usually around the end of September.

Rule #2

Place your tropicals in shady locations around the outdoors of your home. Even though most tropical plants grow in full sun in their native areas, tropicals placed outdoors in the summer sun will not have that same exposure indoors during late fall, winter, and most of the spring. Yes, tropicals will grow more when they are placed outside in the sun. But what happens when you bring them inside in the fall? The plants start dropping a lot of leaves as they acclimate from outdoor sun to indoor shade. No, gro-lights will not help. The only difference between gro-lights and standard indoor lights is about ten bucks a bulb.

Exception to Rule #2

More and more homeowners are choosing tropicals for summer yard color. Some of the most popular varieties are tropical Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, and Mandevilla. These blooming tropicals all bloom best in sunny locations in the landscape. If you want to bring them in to save them for displaying outdoors next year, place them in shade during mid-August to help these tropicals acclimate to indoor light and bring them indoors by the end of September.

Rule #3

When your tropicals are outdoors during the summer, check the moisture level in each container. As soon as the soil on top of the pot feels dry, give your plant a good drink. If your container has a saucer underneath, pour away any excess water that collects after you water. Tropicals, like your regular outside plants, want to be on the dry side between waterings. Remember, the soil in the containers dries out quicker when outdoors than they do when they are inside the home, check daily.

Rule #4

Most bugs live outside. Some may find your outdoor tropicals. Before you bring you tropical back inside in the early fall, check for bugs. Whether you find any or not, take your hose with a nozzle and wash all the leaves. Any bugs that are hiding should be knocked off the plant by the water spray. Additional protection can be given to the plant by spraying organic neem oil and water to the top and bottom of the leaves. This spray mix will not only take care of any bugs still attached to the plant, but it will make all your leaves very shiny.

Rule #5

When displaying your tropicals outside during the summer, do not remove them from their pots and place in your garden soil. If you want your tropicals to appear as if they’re planted, dig holes and place the tropicals in the hole, pot and all. That way there is no root shock when you bring your tropicals back inside in early fall.