Its time to bring the houseplants inside – Hamilton Journal News

Spraying down the plants can help get rid of any pests that may be lurking. CONTRIBUTED

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

In addition, I also spray the foliage (soft spray dont blow it away!) in order to knock potential pests from the foliage. This will help with spider mites and aphids, but not scale.

Check the foliage thoroughly. If leaves are infested, hand pick and remove the leaves. If there is scale on the stem, either use an insecticide or take a cotton swab and dip in alcohol and wipe off. This takes time but will clean up the stems.

You can also use an insecticidal soap on the foliage (read the label to make sure its safe for the plant) to kill any insects that might be hiding. Make sure the pests are also listed on the label.

If you have a major problem with soil insects, as mentioned above, you can re-pot the plant, using new potting soil. Or, identify the specific pest, use an insecticide labeled for the pest and the plant, and allow it to dry before bringing indoors. Not all pesticides are labeled for indoors.

As always, READ the LABEL!

The other thing to keep in mind is that these plants are slowing down in growth. Shorter day lengths, cooler nights lead to slower growth. Therefore, they wont be using nutrients or water as much as they do during the summer.

Cut back on watering and dont fertilize until sometime in the late winter unless they need fertilizer.

Light inside will be lower than what plants had outdoors, even if they were in the shade. Therefore, expect some grumbling from the plants. They may drop foliage or look a little puny until they adapt to the indoor environment.

Some recommend to slowly expose them to the indoor environment by taking them to a very high light window for a week or 10 days and then moving them to a lower light. This helps them to get used to the lighting.

I, on the other hand, subject them immediately to their new digs. They dont always like this and drop leaves and droop for a while, but eventually they get used to it.

Unfortunately for my plants, I dont baby them. If they arent tough enough to take my slight abuse, they wont make it!

Pamela Corle-Bennett is the state master gardener volunteer coordinator and horticulture educator for Ohio State University Extension. Contact her by email at bennett.27@osu.edu.

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Its time to bring the houseplants inside - Hamilton Journal News