To keep homeward-bound plants healthy, follow the five steps on the next pages. But before making plans to bring your houseplants indoors, keep these basic guidelines in mind.
How to Get Started
What to Bring In: Just about any houseplant can manage the indoor-outdoor shuffle if handled with care. An exotic plant, like an African gardenia, may require kid-glove treatment (consult your local nursery), but parlor palms, ferns, begonias, flowering maples, and other popular choices can flourish indoors.What to Leave Behind: Don’t bother bringing in plants that don’t look healthy.
A few bugs can be dealt with, but if the plant has more yellow leaves than green ones, it’s unlikely to improve with the stress of a transition inside.Location Matters: Where you live will determine how early you need to start acclimating plants to the indoors. Some can withstand a light frost, but to be safe, it’s best to bring plants in when night temperatures
dip into the 40s on a regular basis. Shorter days (and diminished sunlight) also affect the health of a plant.
If you’re in a southern climate, plants should be taken indoors before the end of October — even if temperatures have not yet dropped into the 40s. A good rule of thumb: Bring houseplants in before daylight saving time goes into effect. If you live in the Northeast, where fall comes earlier, the transition may need to be
made sooner.To Repot or Not: It’s best to repot in the spring, when plants have resumed growing. However,
you shouldn’t put off repotting that long if your plants are severely root-bound (characterized by a dense weave of roots pressing against the pot). To check the roots, turn the pot upside down while supporting the plant with one hand
on the surface of the soil. Ease the plant out of the pot. (It may be necessary to give the bottom of the pot a few firm taps.) If a thick casing of roots appears to have replaced the soil, you need to move the plant into a larger pot. For information on how to care for potted plants, see Give Plants Room to Grow.
