Out of Winter Storage - Fresh Spring Air for Potted Plants

Out of Winter Storage - Fresh Spring Air for Potted Plants
When the sun reappears more often, temperatures climb, and fresh spring air arrives, it's not just gardeners who want to get back outside. Your potted plants are also eager to be brought out of their winter quarters.

But before these delicate "winter vacationers" can enjoy the fresh air again, your potted plants should be inspected. Only those that get a check-up can start spring and the new gardening season fit and healthy.

Every year the same question arises: when can the potted plants finally go back outside? After all, they've stopped growing in their winter quarters and might have shed a leaf or two.

True Bay Laurel, Oleander, Palms, and Olives are quite hardy and can be among the first to get fresh air again. These potted plants can move back to the terrace or balcony as early as April. Even if night frosts still occur, these plants are quite resilient.

It's a different story for Mandevilla, Angel's Trumpet, Hibiscus, Citrus trees, and Bougainvillea. These frost-sensitive plants should ideally remain in their winter quarters until mid-May. By then, the "Ice Saints" period will be over, and no more night frosts are expected. If you simply can't wait, you can bring these potted plants outside on sunny and warm days, returning them indoors as soon as temperatures drop again.

Anyone who has stepped from a darkened living room into bright sunlight in the summer knows how intensely the sun can glare. Just as your eyes need to adjust to the sun, so do your potted plants when they leave their winter quarters.

The plants first need to get used to the sun. Even if they usually love a full-sun location, they should spend the first period in the shade to acclimate to the sun's radiation. After months of low or artificial light, potted plants are very susceptible to sunburn.

However, if snow and frost are still forecast, the potted plants should be covered in time or brought back indoors.

Conditions in winter quarters are often not optimal for potted plants. There's too little or hardly any light, plants are packed too closely, temperatures fluctuate, or it's simply too warm. All of these factors lead to potted plants developing etiolated shoots (also known as "leggy" growth) because they're not getting enough light. These almost white shoots are particularly susceptible to aphids.

So, before your potted plants get fresh air, these etiolated shoots, along with any aphids, should be trimmed off. The new growth will then be much stronger, and the plant will stay healthy.