When to bring outdoor plants indoors

Some plants like to split their time between outdoors and indoors. Plants like lemon trees will love being outside in the summer, but the cold winter can kill them. Make sure to bring them in when their holiday is over.

Simply, some plants don’t cope very well in low temperatures. While most outdoor plants can cope with harsh winters, some really suffer. They may not die, but they can be badly damaged.

Bringing them inside lets them stay warm and continue to grow, until spring comes again.

If your plant needs to come inside for winter it will say so on its page. 

Citrus trees, like Vivi the lemon tree, don’t like harsh winters. Reggie the bird of paradise plant can happily live out in a warm summer, but won’t cope with the cold.

There isn’t a specific day that plants should come inside. You should bring them inside before the nights turn really cold, so consider it around early autumn.

Outdoor plants will like a lot of light, so keep them somewhere bright, e.g. next to a window. 

Treat them as you would your other houseplants, watering when the top two inches of soil feel dry.

No, and you really don’t need to. Most outdoor plants will be fine outdoors and the dry atmosphere indoors wouldn’t suit them at all. 

There are very few plants that need to come inside for winter. Check your plant’s page to see what it needs. If you live somewhere that gets winter temperatures well below freezing, you might want to wrap some of your less tough potted outdoor plants in horticultural fleece for winter.

Around mid-spring. Roughly speaking, they can go back out to enjoy the sun when the weather is warm enough that it’s pleasant to be outside in a light jacket. 

Late frosts can sneak up on you, so don’t put them out too early. Better late than too early.