How To Bring Your Houseplants Outside For Summer Without Killing Them

Did you know that moving your houseplants outside for the summer can improve their health and appearance? The natural light, increased light intensity and the natural cleanings they get from the rain all contributes in aiding in the health/growth of your plants. Heres some tips on how to move your indoor plants outside so they thrive, not die.

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Slowly Acclimate Them to Their New Environment

If you bring your plants outside in one go, they will probably get scorched and die due to the drastic change in the environment. You will know if your plant has gotten sunburn if it has a bleached looking spot or brown striping.

To prevent this from happening, you want to slowly acclimate your plants to their new temporary home outside. You can do this by picking a shady spot in your yard and placing the plant there for an hour or two to get them used to the outside environment. Plan to do this for about two weeks before you want to bring the plants outside, but you should be sure the outside environmental conditions are optimal for your plants!! The best time to start bringing your plants outside is during the month of May, so start acclimating in mid April if the weather near you is nice enough!

Firstly, make sure the temperature outside is warm enough for you to bring your plants out. Most plants will be fine outside once temperatures are steadily over 50℉.  Next, pick a spot in your backyard that is pretty shady so you protect the plant from being sunburned, but make sure the spot fits the needs of your plant. After that you can just bask in the beauty of your houseplants and watch them grow in the fresh air!

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How To Care For Houseplants Outside

Going from the controlled, air conditioned environment of your home to the natural environment of your backyard, with varying temperatures and environmental conditions, is a lot for any plant. In order to keep them happy and healthy, the change in environment should correspond with a change in your care schedule. This is mostly when it comes to watering and fertilizing. The increased intensity of the sun outside means your plant will need more water and fertilizer to keep up with all the photosynthesis happening in those leaves! It is best to fertilize regularly, about twice a month would be a good idea!

Although, the change in care depends on the weather in your area. Higher temperatures, light intensity and wind speeds will mean that you need to increase the rate of watering as this will lead them to dry out faster.  Also if the air isn't very humid, you will need to increase your watering schedule as well. If you're in an environment with higher humidity and more rainfall, you will not need to water as much as the latter. Make sure you pay attention to the weather outside as well as the moisture level of the soil when determining your care schedule for your plants!

Also, if it is storming outside be sure to move your plants to a protected area in your yard, or you can put them on a cart and wheel them into the house for the night!

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When To Bring Them Inside