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Indoor plants are wonderful decorative features and provide cleaner, fresher air inside your home. As the temperatures warm up and homeowners are spending more time outside, some gardeners wonder if their potted plants deserve some additional sunshine, too. Moving them outside will encourage blooming and stronger growth; however, this must be done carefully to protect the health of the plants. Use this guide to ensure proper relocation, develop a new care routine, and prevent shock. 

How to Acclimate Indoor Plants to the Outdoors

Transitioning indoor plants outside is a process, and it shouldn't be done all at once. The climate inside your home is drastically different from the outside, and the change can put too much stress on the plants if they aren’t acclimated to the new conditions. 

Start by setting the pots outside in a shaded area for a couple of hours at a time. Too much direct sunlight at once is the biggest contributor to shock. Every day, increase the time spent outside, and move the pots to a location that provides a little more light—unless they favor low-light conditions. Eventually, you'll be able to leave them out all day.

How to Care for Your House Plants While They’re Outside

plantsAfter you've acclimated the foliage, you'll have to change up your care routine to account for all of the outside factors that will impact their health. Increased light and wind conditions will encourage faster growth and require the plants to be watered and fertilized more frequently. If you choose to re-pot during this time, you can decrease how often you water the growth; however, those being kept in the same pots are more susceptible to root bound—a condition when the roots come through the surface soil—and will need more water to avoid drying out. 

Also, take care to protect your plants from harsh weather conditions. Strong winds and downpours can damage leaves and blooms, dry out or drown roots, and drain the dirt out of the container. Move them inside or out of the way of these threats. Additionally, if you live in a region where the nighttime temperature drops below 55 degrees, move all tropical plants back inside when the sun starts to set.

 

If you are in search of flowers or succulents to add to your front or backyard, visit Northgate Greenhouses in Cincinnati, OH. For over a decade, this locally owned and operated greenhouse has provided the most sustainable and healthiest plants from leading breeders. Their three-acre facility consists of 17 greenhouse buildings that are fully covered and filled with perennials, annuals, herbs, vegetables, and a variety of indoor and terrarium plants. Call (513) 729-1134 or visit their website to learn more about the range of gardening products they carry. 

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