Whether you're introducing new houseplants into your home or reintroducing them back inside after they've soaked up some lovely outdoor air and sunshine, here are tips for keeping pests out and plants thriving year round!
When temps begin dropping into the 40's at night and the days grow colder and shorter, it's time to bring your green babies back indoors. We shared a blog post this Spring with tips for bringing your houseplants outdoors, so let's go over best practices for bringing them back inside after they've soaked up all that lovely warmth and sunshine.
Find a new green friend? Jump to Steps 2-5 for the perfect way to introduce new plants (not pests) to your home!
1. Timing
Your tropical types need to come back inside first as they are the most sensitive to cold, followed by your succulents and then cactus varieties. Basically, the reverse order as we suggested in our blog post 3 Tips for Bringing Houseplants Outdoors
We suggest bringing tropicals inside when the weather dips into the mid to low 50's (50º fahrenheit/10º celsius) at night. You can bring everyone in at the same time to make things more efficient, but most of your succulents and cactus are a bit hardier and can handle temps into the mid 40's, about 45º/7º is generally a safe bet.
2. Trim and Soil Scrape
Gather up your plants outside and begin removing any dead or leaves, trim or prune anything that isn't contributing to the growth of your plant.
Next, remove the top layer of soil! Why? That's where any uninvited guests may be hanging out or have laid their eggs, like thrips or fungus gnats. Trust us, any time you can avoid bringing pests indoors will save yourself hours of plant care in the future!
To remove the soil, simply scrape off the top two inches with a small shovel, large knife or spoon and discard.
3. Clean Plant and Pot
Enjoy a little aromatherapy while you spray those leaves, stems, and topsoil and pot! With Sacred Leaf Tonic, you will be cleaning and nourishing the leaves and treating pests while preventing future infestations, plus, our tonic smells amazing too! No more strong Neem smell!
Our tonics work wonders to treat and repel a variety of pests. It's a holistic approach to plant care we offer these beautiful products for your plant care routine to safely and effectively boost the overall immunity of your houseplants and garden.
4. Sacred Soil Bath time!
Now that you've scraped off the top few inches of soil, go ahead and replace with fresh soil and while you're at it. Then, enjoy a bath with your plants!
Here's a step by step to create a foaming bath.
Sacred Soil Bath (one gallon application)
You will need: Sacred Soil Tonic + H2O + Jar or jug with lid
-Pour 10-20ml (2-4 teaspoons) of Sacred Soil Tonic into jar
-Add 3/4 of the water, this allows empty space inside for the mixture to have space to be properly agitated and extra foamy!
-Close lid and shake hard for 30-45 seconds until foamy
-Add remaining water to fulfill the proper ratio of 10ml (2 tsps) for a one gallon maintenance application or 20ml (4 tsps) for active pest infestation application
-Pour *slowly* and enjoy the sound of saponin-rich botanicals sinking into your soil nourishing your plants from the inside out!
*We recommend feeding while plants are receiving plenty of light, it’s best to offer these baths during the growing season or while growing under lights.
*Note: We use the higher dosage when dealing with pests and the lower for general nourishment
Using Sacred Soil Tonic not only feeds the soil with rich, immune boosting botanicals, it also rids your plants of any unseen or lingering pests like root aphids or fungus gnat larvae that may go undetected.
Be sure to get all sides of the leaves, undersides and bottom of each pot and/or saucer too. Mealybugs love to hide under there!
5. Find a brightly lit location or place under lights
Now that your plants are cleaned, sprayed and enjoyed a bath, find them a good location to continue getting at least 4-6 hours of direct and indirect sunlight or place under a grow light.
*Quick reminder, our natural plant care tonics are most effective when used as ongoing treatment to prevent pests and nourish plants. During the darker months, when you are growing in natural light your plants aren't getting the same intense sun as during the spring and summer seasons. This means they don't need to be fertilized as often as they aren't using up the extra energy while undergoing photosynthesis.
You can freely use Sacred Leaf Tonic as a leaf shine and pest preventive year round!
Hope that helps to guide you into the best growing journey.
With love,
Karina and Team SE