Michael Holigan: When winter arrives, it's time to move the outdoor plants in. But if you're like me, you've probably killed a few every season. We've got a specialist to help prevent that with us today; Russ Peters. Good to have you here Russ.
Russ Peters: Thank you, Michael.
M.H.: Hey, tell me what's the first thing you need to think about when you bring the plants inside?
R.P.: One of the first things, Michael, is to make sure you have a saucer or container up underneath the plants so that water will pass through and not stain the carpet or the wood.
M.H.: Yeah, I've had a problem with that. We're on a hard wood floor right here, and we brought a plant in and I ruined part of the floor. It's still wavy over there. What temperature change do we start to bring the plants in and when can we take them back out?
R.P.: Typically when our evenings are consistently at 50 degrees or below. Again, when our evening temperatures are 50 degrees and above, those plants will be safe to take out for the growing season in the summer.
M.H.: So really, 50 degrees is always going to be our rule of thumb, when they come in and when they go back out?
R.P.: Yes, that is true.
M.H.: How often do you water, as compared to when it was outdoors?
R.P.: Typically, we will water once a week and then periodically mist those plants with a hand mister.
M.H.: And what does that do for the plant?
R.P.: That helps increase the humidity around the leaf area because our gas heat and our electric heat's very, very drying in the winter time.
M.H.: Okay. Can you bring a humidifier into a room if you have a number of plants in there? Will that help at all?
R.P.: That would be a very good idea.
M.H.: What are the most durable plants, for someone like myself, who kills a lot of plants? What's best?
R.P.: The toughest ones, Michael, are probably the Fiddle Leaf Fig, the Areca Palm, Closet Plant, Dracaena Marginada, all four of those are quite durable.
M.H.: How about as far as placement? Now, they were all outside. Now that we're bringing them inside do they go on east windows, west windows, north, south, how do you know where in the house to set the plant?
R.P.: Well, during the winter time our north facing, northeast and northwest windows are going to afford us lower levels of light, so we can bring plants in such as this baciphyllum and dracaena marjanata the will take the lower levels of light during this time of year. Our south facing windows will afford us much more light where we can bring the palms in and other plants such as Fiddle Leaf Fig.
M.H.: Okay. How about our hanging plants? What do we do with those?
R.P.: Interestingly enough, Michael, we can bring those hanging plants in, take the hangers off and set them on top of either a large column pedestal or even a small plant stand.
M.H.: Russ, what do you do if you have pets? A lot of people have cats and dogs. How do you keep them from tearing up the plants?
R.P.: Well, Michael, cats can be a real problem. They'll tend to want to dig in the plant and even go to the bathroom in those plants. One way to deter them is to place pine cones around the top of the container or even try a little bit of cayenne pepper.
M.H.: And that will keep the cat out?
R.P.: Yes it will.
M.H.: And you really don't need any natural fertilizer on your house plants during the winter.
R.P.: Yes.
M.H.: Okay. Do you need to add some other fertilizer during the winter?
R.P.: Yes, Michael, probably every 45 to 60 days a high quality, water soluble fertilizer will do.
M.H.: Russ, thanks.
Episode 016 1995 - 96 Season
| Speed Building 1 | Garage Door Peephole | Speed Building 2 | Protective Painting | Bringing Plants Indoors | Speed Building 3 | Loan Process | LIST |
To order a Video Tape, call 1-800-TO-BUILD and ask for Episode #016.