How I Transition My Plants from the Outdoors to Indoors

HomeOutdoor

Sep. 15

With the cooler weather finally upon us, and a plethora of new plants that you had outside that you want to bring inside, you may be wondering how exactly to go about it. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just bringing them inside one day & leaving them inside until next summer. No, house plants are so stubborn & sensitive — as we all like to joke, plants in the wild are capable of surviving natural disasters, but houseplants will die if you give them tap water instead of distilled (not actually, but you get the idea!). So, you’re looking at your rather expensive tropical plants that you purchased this summer and want to know how to transition them inside — well, I am here to help with three simple steps!

Step 1: Watch the Weather Forecast

The general rule you want to follow on knowing when it’s time to bring your plant babies inside is when it consistently starts dropping down to 10°C overnight. When this starts happening, you know it’s time for your plants to come inside with you.

Step 2: Start Transitioning Early Enough

Like I mentioned, you can’t just bring your plants in when it’s 10°C out and expect them to be okay — they’re very sensitive to temperature change, so much so, that you need to start about 2 weeks prior, hence why I said to keep an eye on the forecast. When you’re starting to notice that it’s consistently sitting around 10-15°C overnight, I’d start considering making the transition. Start by bringing your plants in overnight, and putting them back outside in the morning.

Step 3: Be Patient — It Takes Time!

And lastly, it’s time to consider how long these transitions take. Usually, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing the transition of bringing your plants inside at night, and back outside in the morning for around 2 weeks — yes, you read that correctly; 2 weeks. I know it feels like a tedious process, but your plants need to time to adjust to the change in temperature, humidity & lighting!

So, there it is — this is how I transition my outdoor tropical plants indoors for the colder months, including everyone’s favourite — winter. Just remember that plants also don’t require as much water in the winter, so don’t overwater your plant babies!