Grooming houseplants for winter!  Have I gone completely insane?  It's 85 degrees outside with a relative humidity which seems like 115% if that were possible.  Well folks, blink your eyes and little gremlins will be at your doorstep chanting "Trick or Treat".  Now let's get back to these houseplants.  We will address why we put plants out for the summer, how to clean them up for the winter, some repotting techniques, and humidity issues.

    During the winter many of the larger plants around the house long for natural sunlight and the exterior elements offered only by summer's climate.  The tropical plants have withstood all of the limited light they can possibly tolerate.  In the spring, the weather banishes frost, brings warm winds, and yields gentle spring rains just in the nick of time.  We carefully move the plants outside in May after we're sure frost will not return.  The evicted plants experience a renaissance of growth throughout the summer because of exposure to natural sunlight.  They are also exposed to all of the insects and diseases of nature, some of which are harmful in large quantities.  September is the time to clean up your houseplants before you bring them back into the house in mid October.

    Plants should be sprayed with a solid stream of water and/or washed with warm, soapy water to remove insects and their eggs.  These insects can range from obvious to microscopic, but they will make themselves at home in a constant 70 degree environment.  Under such constant conditions, insects such as spider mites can reproduce every 5 to 7 days.  Wash the plants thoroughly to eliminate these problems and, if necessary, use a mild insecticide such as pyrethrum to spray the plants while they are still outside.  You won't import problems and hopefully you will avoid a messy scene in the bathtub later in the fall.

    Most plants can be repotted any time, but fall is a good time.  Houseplants can outgrow their pot or their soil can become over saturated with salts residues from chemical fertilizers.  The salts may be "leached" out by thoroughly watering the plants several times in one session with the hope of washing the salts through the soil and out of the drain holes.  Another method of reducing salts is to replace some of the plant's soil during the repotting process, thus physically removing salts.  A "tell tale" sign of salt accumulation is the development of a white crust on the surface of the soil.

    The other season to repot is because the plant's root system has become too large for the pot in which it is growing.  Obtain a pot which is the next available size up from the plant's previous pot size.  Line the bottom with a quality potting soil having good drainage properties.  We recommend Baccto products such as their High Porosity Professional Planting Mix. Remove the plant from the previous pot and gently loosen the exterior roots of the root ball so they will grow into the new pot.  Place the plant in the new pot, fill the sides with the new soil, tap gently, water, fill again, and water again.  The reason you progressively move up in pot size is to keep your plants growing.  If you jumped from a pot 8 inches in diameter to a pot 16 inches in diameter, the plant would turn all of its energies to filling the pot with roots, thus rendering little or no top growth for many months.

    Lastly, pay attention to humidity changes and avoid heat sources such as vents or wood stoves.  Your houseplants may need misting to compensate for the dry heat of your home.