Temperatures are warming up and there is no more chance of frost for the year- you may be wanting to bring your plants outdoors for the summer! There are many benefits of letting your plants enjoy the outdoors, but there are also a few things you should do to make sure it is a smooth transition.
When you move your plants from indoors to outdoors, benefits include more natural sunlight, wind to help with healthy plant growth, and rain, which is free water, and, as a bonus, helps give the leaves a good cleaning!
Here are some steps to follow to ensure your plants transition well from indoors to outdoors:
- Temperature- make sure that there is no more chance of frost when bringing your plants outside for the summer. For best results, make sure that nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50-55 degrees.
- Light - be sure to check that the light your plant is receiving is not too strong. Many indoor plants would prefer a shady spot outdoors since outdoor light is much stronger than light through a window. Morning sun from eastern exposure is going to be less intense than midday and afternoon sun from southern and western exposure. North facing locations will be mostly shady all day.
Philodendron outdoors in a shady spot under a tree, receiving dappled light all day
If you have a plant that likes direct light, such as a banana tree, you may need to slowly adjust it to direct light so it does not burn. You can do this by starting in a shady spot, then increasing the number of hours per day it is exposed to direct light. If you see any burning on your plant be sure to move it back to a shadier spot.
- Water - be sure to keep an eye on weather conditions to see how much water your plants will be receiving due to rain. This is important to make sure they do not receive too much or too little water.. Your plants may require more water when outdoors because of increased light. It is also important that your pots have drainage so that they are not sitting in puddles after a good rain.
- Pests - keep an eye on your plants to see if any new infestations pop up. Bugs like spiders, centipedes, and ladybugs are not harmful. Leave them be! However, you should keep an eye out for spider mites, thrips, aphids, and other pests commonly found outdoors.
If you keep a close eye on your plants they can be very happy outdoors! There are additional tasks you should complete before bringing a plant back inside for the fall/winter. Keep an eye out for a future article!
Money tree outside on a north facing porch which will provide shady, indirect light all day.
Jade plant outside on an east facing porch. It will receive direct morning light and indirect light the rest of the day.