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Grow with KARE: Bringing outdoor plants inside

These can be regular houseplants, but also any tropicals you bought for the summer that you’d like to try and keep alive until next season.

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — If you have plants outside that need to come in this winter, now is the time to start the process of bringing them in... before temperatures really drop! 

These can be regular houseplants, but also any tropicals you bought for the summer that you’d like to try and keep alive until next season...like a hibiscus or jasmine plant!

There are two steps to have done before overnight lows drop into the 40s.

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The first is making sure you aren’t bringing bugs inside. Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/4 to 1/2 full, depending on the size of your pot. Add a good squirt of Castile soap or another biodegradable, unscented soap and swish to combine. Submerge the entire pot of your plant and soak for 30 minutes. Spray leaves with an identical solution of soapy water, concentrating on the underside of the leaves.

If your pot is too big to submerge simply pour the soapy water solution into the soil, making sure to saturate it.

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That takes care of step one. Step two is to gradually reduce the amount of sunshine the plant gets to acclimate it to life indoors.

For a full sun plant, bring it into part shade for a few days, then full shade for another few days before finally bringing it inside. Even shade plants can benefit from as gradual a transition as you can give. This will help minimize the amount of leaves dropping, although that will likely happen to a certain extent, regardless.

Once inside, sun-loving plants should be placed in a south-facing window or the area of your house that gets the most light. Shade plants should still be placed in bright, indirect light, like a north facing window.

Try to avoid placing the plants near drafty window or heat vents. 

Good luck!

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