Episode 189: moving houseplants outside for a summer holiday
Transcript
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Want to give your houseplants a staycation outside? Here are my top tips on what you can put outside, what to watch for and what to do if you don’t have any outside space. Plus I answer a question about moss poles and we hear from listener Sophie from Wales.
Check out these notes as you listen…
Check the weather forecast before you put plants outside 24/7. Only put them out full time when the minimum nighttime temperature is about 54-61F, roughly 12-15C.
Harden off plants before they get fully turfed outside. This means gradually acclimatising them to the conditions outdoors by increasing their exposure over time. Pick a mild day when there’s not a lot of wind or bright sunshine: start plants off in the shade and gradually move them into lighter areas over a period of days. If you have to put plants straight in their final spot, you can cover them with horticultural fleece or an old net curtain. If you don’t do this leaves can burn - they may turn black or straw coloured.
Don’t put teeny tiny pots outside: they are prone to drying out really quickly and they are also likely to topple over in the slightest breeze.
Remove plants from their cache pots and saucers/drip trays as these will collect rainwater and you may end up with a waterlogged plant.
Watch out for earthworms which will set up home in your pots. Plant pests such as aphids will also target plants: they tend to favour the tender new growth. That said, the higher humidity outside can help to ease a case of spider mite or scale.
While plants are outside, take the opportunity to spray the plant down to help dislodge pests and also rinse through the substrate to remove excess mineral salts.
Watch out for vine weevils! Their c-shaped creamy grubs arrive when the adults lay eggs on the soil. The larvae will eat the roots of your houseplants and the adults make notch-shaped cuts in the leaves. You can find them in the substrate and squish them, or you can use a biological control: a species of microscopic nematode worm. More on vine weevils from the RHS here.
Use the chance to reassess your houseplant collection. If you are enjoying the extra space that comes from moving some plants inside, consider whether it’s time to give your collection a cull!
Placing plants close to a brick wall or concrete wall can help them stay warm at night as stone and brick tend to absorb heat by day and give it out at nighttime.
Make sure you bring plants in well before the first frosts. This is another good mention to assess your plants: give them a check over for pests above ground on the leaves and in the soil. Pay special attention to the backs of leaves (for white grainy stuff that indicates spider mites), tender new growth (which is loved by aphids) and nooks and crannies (the usual location of mealy bugs. Check out all my pest control episodes here.
If you don’t have outside space, throw open your windows if you can on mild days so your plants get some air flow around the foliage. You can take plants to the bathroom and place in the shower tray or bath to hose them down, running lots of water through the soil and letting it drain away. If you have very hard water, try to get hold of some rainwater or distilled water to use instead, so you can avoid chalky marks on the leaves as they dry.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Janet wants to know the skinny on moss poles. I find the coir -covered ones pretty useless: they are impossible to moisten properly and plants don’t like to cling to them. Moss poles which are made from plastic or metal netting filled with sphagnum moss tend to work better as roots can cling to them and they can increase moisture around plants. As I have said before in the show, if you make your own you can add a ‘dew pot’ to the top of the moss pole to slowly release water.
If you buy sphagnum moss, try to make sure it comes from as sustainable a source as possible, or you can grow your own. if your moss pole doesn’t have a spike, you can use a dowel to hold it in place that goes through the side of a plastic pot, hot glue it to the base of the pot, or use cable ties to secure it by tying them through the holes in the base of the pot. If you have a spike, none of these options will work, so these are best if you have a really big pot that you can plunge the pole into. On the whole I find flat-based poles are easy to deal with.
Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue!
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, Chiefs by Jahzzar. and Whistle by BenJamin Banger (@benjaminbanger on Insta; website benjaminbanger.com).. The ad music was Dill Pickles and by the Heftone Banjo Orchestra. All tracks licensed under Creative Commons.