Lawn Care Company Advice For Moving Plants Indoors

Landworks is a full-service lawn care company serving Kansas City and all of Johnson County, KS. To keep plants alive that are not cut out for midwest winters, you must bring them inside. But there are some important guidelines you should know before you do.

Plants need to be brought inside before the nighttime temperatures go below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures below 40 degrees will cause significant damage to most tropical plants, and a few suffer even below 50 degrees.

First, prepare the indoor space where your plants will spend the winter. Clean windows inside and out to ensure that plants will get adequate light. If some of your plants will need repotting, make sure you have potting soil (not garden soil), containers, and the supplies you need on hand. Landworks Lawn Care Company can help with advice and replanting techniques if you need help.

Inspect plants for insects and diseases and treat them as necessary before bringing plants back inside. Soaking the pot in a tub of lukewarm water for about 15 minutes will force insects out of the soil.  If snails, earthworms, or other insects are burrowed in the soil, you might want to repot the plants, placing a piece of wire screening over the drainage hole to keep them out next year. Landworks lawn care company can keep your lawn landscaped and pest-free to make this transition easier. Don’t forget to give your plants a boost of fertilizer according to the directions on the product label after repotting.

Conditions differ widely between the inside and outside of your home, so a gradual reintroduction to the indoors is best. Sudden changes in temperature, light, and humidity can be traumatic to plants, resulting in yellowed leaves, wilting, and even death. 

To prevent shock when you bring houseplants back indoors, expose plants to gradually reduced lighting. If they have been in bright light and you move them into much lower light, expect that some leaves may fall off. New ones should form as the plants readapt to the lower light. If they’ve been in full sun outside, it is best to put them in similar light indoors, like a south-facing window or under plant lights on a timer for 16 hours a day.            

Finally, be careful not to overwater. The soil surface should be completely dry to the touch before watering again. If in doubt, don’t water. Water succulents less often, when the soil is dry for several days.  Do not water if it’s very cloudy or rainy weather, because there will not be sufficient light indoors to dry the plants out.          

To learn more about Landworks Lawn Care Company and how they can help with all of your landscaping needs, click here.