Houseplants Outside

Houseplants 

I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the practice of moving houseplants outside for the season. The first chapter of my book starts with lighting and this blog is going to start there too.

What does moving a houseplant outside have to do with lighting, you ask? Well to put is simply, the shade outside is sunnier that the sunniest window of your house. So, if you have a plant in a sunny window and you take it outside, placing it in the sun, the leaves will burn. The leaves are not use to the strong sunlight and the tissue will dry out quickly along with any tender new growth.

It is fun to use a tropical in a garden to add that special touch to a landscape but you need to do it in steps. For those of you who know landscape gardening, you know how important it is to "harden off" annuals that were grown in a greenhouse before you plant them in the garden. This is not only because they are not use to the shift in temperature that will happen in the garden but also because of the light. Moving your houseplants is no different.

First find a protected area in your yard. It needs to be shady and if it is still early in the season, it should be protected from the elements. If you plant is placed near the house, it will be protected from the sun and unexpected frost. The heat of the house will also keep the temperature even. Watering becomes an issue as damp soil will insulate the roots from extreme temperatures. The plant is getting more sun and may dry out quicker than usual. Do not move from this protection for at least one week.

After this you can slowly move you plants out into the yard. For plants that are being moved into a sunny spot this process should take a minimum of two weeks. You can then either plant you houseplant in the garden or keep it in its pot for another pop of color in the garden. A nice use of houseplants is in containers with flowering annuals.

If you decide to keep your plant in the pot, you will have to watch the watering because it will dry out faster than your garden. Taking you plant out of the pot will make it easier to water but harder to bring back into the house in the fall. Roots will have spread and will have to be cut to get it back into the pot. An easier compromise is to put the houseplant into a grow pot and bury it into the garden. This will help to keep the plant from drying out too fast and make it easier to dig in the fall.

Well that is enough for today. Later in the year we will talk about bringing your treasured gems back into the house for the winter. Until next week...enjoy!