It’s that time of year… time to bring your plants inside. The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and it’s time to bring all the plants you moved outside for the summer back indoors.
Only one small problem. How do you move the plants back into the cozy warmth of the house, without bringing all the dang bugs with them?!
I promise, it’s not as hard as you think.
There are two easy things you can do to bring your plants inside and limit the chances of bringing bugs in with them:
- Spray the whole plant down with a natural insecticide.
Mix one tablespoon of castille soap with one litre of water, and pop it into a spray bottle. Spray the whole plant with the mixture: the tops of leaves, bottoms of leaves and even the stem. Wipe the plant down gently and let excess water drain out.
- Spray leaves and stems with neem oil.
Once the plant has drained, lightly coat the leaves and stems of the plant with neem oil. This will help smother any remaining bugs or larvae that the soap may have missed.
After that, go ahead and shift the plants inside. I tend to keep all the former outdoor guys in their own space for the first couple weeks just to keep an eye on them and make sure I haven’t missed any bugs or issues. And then I just move them back into their winter homes and let them soak up the sunlight!
