Are Your Tropicals Beginning to Shiver?
Ahhh, September in Nebraska a month of transitional weather and time to think about those tropicals on your porch and patio. If you’re like me you probably moved many of your tropicals outside for a summer sabatical and a good healthy dose of fresh air. Plants benefit from this experience and will usually reward you with some vigorous growth and great color. Plants not only benefit from the longer hours of light, but from better air circulation and an occasional rain shower. Rain water is so much better than municipal tap water for plants. The salts and other chemicals (flouride, boron and chloramine) build up in potting mediums and can either slowly kill off a palm or cause brown leaf tipping on almost any interior plant. If you haven’t repotted your plants in a few years you may want to consider doing this prior to moving them back inside. However, use only an appropriate peat based potting medium and good drainage material in the bottom. Also do not “overpot” your plant. Just because you are repotting doesn’t necessarily mean the plant needs a bigger pot. Pots that are too large are actually more detrimental to plant health than a tight fit. Usually, if a plant has outgrown a pot it is only necessary to move it up one pot size. But back to my original question, “Are your tropicals beginning to shiver?” You may not realize it, but leaving tropicals out until the first frost alert is harmful to most tropicals. When low temps are less than 10 degrees from your normal indoor low thermostdadt setting bring those plants inside. Leaving them outside longer than this makes the transition from outside to indoors too stressful and results in a plant that is more prone to pathogens and leaf loss. We also suggest on a warm day prior to moving your plants back inside take a hose and nozzle and clean the plant throughly (underside of leaves especially) to remove any pathogens. It is helpful to spray the tropical with a solution of Neem and silicone based ProTect. Adding a systemic insecticide to the potting medium may also head off future whitefly and mealybug problems, especially if you are over-wintering hibiscus and ficus in a dry home or office environment. If this all seems like a lot of work it really isn’t. Think of the enjoyment you’ll get looking at a lush green plant as the snow flies outside your window in a few months. Green plants in interior living spaces improve air quality and our sense of well-being. Gotta love that green! www.theplanthouseomaha.com
