How to prepare your houseplants for the big move, ensure their beauty during winter, and bolster their strength for next spring's trip back outdoors
Ngoc Minh Ngo
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Step 3: Treat for Pests
Apply a natural bug repellent. Even after you flush the plants with water, aphids, earwigs, ants, spider mites, and mealybugs could still be present. To help get rid of them, mix two tablespoons of neem oil (a natural insecticide) and two teaspoons of a mild dishwashing liquid with one gallon of
water. (Try Dyna-Grow Pure Neem Oil; $14, www.logees.com.) Pour the mixture into
a clean spray bottle and thoroughly coat
the stems and the tops and the undersides
of the leaves several times during the two
to three weeks leading up to the move.
Follow up with a commercial insecticide. About five days before relocating your
plants, apply a soil insecticide (such as Bonide Systemic Houseplant Insect Control; about $7 at garden centers) to kill bugs
and larvae hidden in the soil.
