Bringing your tropical plants in for the winter

Don’t wait until the last minute!

Start looking at the long range temperatures starting in September. When the night time temps start to consistently dip into the low 50’s, upper 40’s, consider getting your tropicals ready to bring in.

If your tropicals are planted in the ground now is the time to dig up and put in pots. This gives them the time to acclimate to their to home in a pot, plus most tropicals do not like cold feet. The pot will heat up and be warmer than the Colorado soil. Treat your pots with a systemic insecticide early so you won’t be bringing in any unwanted guests. Outside there are a lot of beneficial insects that take care of the bad ones but once you bring them in know that they won’t be there to help you. Be Proactive!!

Know the lighting in your house and plan where their winter homes will be. Know that tropicals like their feet warm so that there isn’t a cold draft.

Be aware of your watering habits. When they were outside you were bathing them and watering them all the time. Bringing them inside most people throw a glass of water at them every now and then create a drought type situation, further stressing an already stressed plant. Careful of overwatering but also be aware of under watering. It doesn’t hurt to use a root stimulator at this time either. Make sure that when you bring them in to have some sort of air circulation to prevent a fungal problem.

Check your plants weekly for accumulating dust on the leaves and mist them on a regular basis. This will keep the spider mites down with a higher humidity.

You will definitely have a fungus gnat problem pop up.

Fungus Gnats or fruit flies come from the conditions in the soil. They do not harm the plant they are just a nuisance. They breed and feed on the bacteria just below the soils surface. Both male and female adult can fly but the female chooses to run around the top and lay more eggs. Setting up a sticky trap will catch to male…very few females. The adult will live for about a week. The larvae lives just below the surface feeding on the bacteria. They will be in a caterpillar or worm stage. The best and safest way I have found to rid fungus gnats is to use an organic pesticide called Baccillus thuringiensis. The bacterium will kill the larvae breaking the cycle. You will find this bacteria in most organic products for garden caterpillars or mosquito controls for ponds.