Outside In – Bringing Plants Inside for Winter

Starting in mid-August every year, e-mail begins hitting my mailbox concerning bringing plants indoors for winter.

Some of you may not be concerned because your plants are indoors all year long, others move their plants inside and outside seasonally.

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I opt for leaving plants indoors year-round if possible. The exception for me is some orchids like Phalaenopsis, bromeliads, and a few “test subjects”.

The plant care questions I receive concern two areas:

  • Overwintering mandevilla
  • How long can my plants stay outside? For those that move their plants indoors for winter and outdoors for the summer.

Let’s hit on them both.

Over Wintering Mandevilla and Other Flowering Plants

Mandevilla is a beautiful vining plant, with pink flowers that have become popular during the spring. Many people have enjoyed their plant(s) during the spring/summer season and just don’t want to “lose” their plant to “old man winter.” Overwintering Mandevilla bushes here!

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Photo Credit: Instagram @samcooperrealtor

How Long Can My Plants Stay Outside?

This area is a little more tricky, and you’ll need to make the call. I cannot give you a date on “how long” you can leave your dracaena plant outdoors, just some guidelines.

Each group of houseplants will be somewhat different, and varieties within that group will vary also. Here’s what I would advise.

The date isn’t important as the weather conditions are.

South Florida usually has two distinct times that have always been my preference for growing. These are the months of October/November and March /April.

During those months, the day temperatures are still warm, at a temperature of 70-80 degrees. We normally see a drop in night temperatures of 10-15 degrees. This forces the plants to slow down and produce very sturdy growth, not the soft summer growth that sometimes I feel is “over lush.”

Once the temperatures start hitting a very consistent 60-degree night, growth on most tropicals just stops. The plant may be able to handle lower temperatures, but don’t expect much growth, if any.

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So far, we have only talked about temperature, but there are other factors to take into consideration.

Wind

Just because the temperatures hit 60, a nice breezy evening can make the plant “feel” much colder than it is. The wind will dry the plant and leaves out, and it’s possible you may begin to see some damage.



Once the evening temperatures begin hitting the 60’s regularly, I would look at moving your plants indoors. A one-night or a few hours cold blast – and boom – you have a damaged plant.

Before Moving Plants Indoors

Before moving plants inside do a little maintenance

Over a period of time, even if you’re not using fertilizer, you may experience a salt buildup in the soil. Leaching will help remove those salts from the soil. Fill the pot with water and keep filling until you have run an extra 1/3 of a pot full of water through the plant. Let the plant and soil drain off before moving the plant inside.

The soil may be moist but not wet. This is very important.

Let the soil drain completely before putting the plant back inside. Do Not let the plant sit in water. Now that you’re moving the plant indoors, it must begin the process of acclimation to lower light levels. Depending on the plant you can expect some leaf drops – Ficus are Famous for this – and some new leaves from a more stable temperature.

For those of you who bring your plants inside and out every year, my hat’s off to you. Although I enjoy the temperature changes and the results the plants show in producing sturdy growth inside, I prefer a normal and consistent environment.

Plant Buying Tip:

During the winter months take a look at Dracaena marginata, it will take cooler temperatures indoors, is a little cheaper, and more available than Dracaena ‘Massangeana.’

How about you? Do you bring plants inside for the winter?