Tag: container plants

Preparing Container Plants for Winter

Now that September is here, it’s time again to start preparing our gardens for winter; this includes moving outdoor container plants indoors for the chilly season. While preparing to bring in the container plant, it is critical to make sure your plants are not bringing in any unvisited guests. Outdoors can carry pests and diseases that spread through indoor plants faster than outdoor plants, so don’t convince yourself that you’ll quarantine the plant will treat the problem.  The good news is that plants can be easily treatd for pests with natural home remedies.

The simplest way to fill a basin or water with a natural, non-detergent liquid soap, then take the potted plant and fully immerse it into the soapy water.  You can leave the plant sitting in the water for up to 3 hours, the soapy solution should force any bugs living out of the soil.  Don’t worry this solutions is actually quite good for the plants roots and will the roots nicely hydrated.

Now all you have left is to clean the lefts and flowers; using the same soap solution, mist the plants (you can purchase a new spray bottle from the local dollar or grocery store, but recycling an old spray bottle will just fine too).

Now that you have treated your container plants, you are safe to bring them indoors without fear of bringing any pests as well.

 

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Protect Your Plants from the Elements this Winter

Winter Garden [Day 11/365]
Protect your plants from the harsh weather this winter with these tips!

Have you prepared your home for the winter? What about everything outside your home? Have you taken any precautions to protect your plants from the harsh winter climate? If you’d like some great tips on how to protect your plants from the elements this winter, check out these tips, courtesy of The Augusta Chronicle.

•    Move your container plants inside your home, garage, shed, or greenhouse. This works for all container plants, with the exception of ferns. Do not move your ferns inside unless the temperature is going to drop to the 20’s or below, and if that happens, move them into your garage.

•    If you’re going to leave your container plants outdoors, you can protect them by pushing them together and covering the sides with mulch or a blanket in order to decrease their loss of heat. This is more effective than covering the entire plant with a blanket.

•    Keep your plants well-hydrated all year long, especially right before the temperature drops in the wintertime. Hydrating your plants will make them stronger and healthier, which will aid them in being able to tolerate the cold a lot better than they would if they were dehydrated.

Image courtesy of indigo_jones via Flickr