Before You Bring Your Bromeliads Indoors

Author: Celeste Booth3 Comments

Care and Culture, Growing Indoors, Growing Outdoors

Some climates allow for your bromeliads to be outdoors during the summer months, but are too cold to withstand the winter months. In these cases, you may choose to overwinter your bromeliad plants indoors. Before you bring them inside, follow these steps to ensure you are not bringing insects or sick plants into a new environment.

Before You Bring Your Plants Indoors:

• Examine Roots – Look for stowaway earthworms, earwigs, pillbugs, ants, and other unwanted critters. If you cannot pull the plants from the containers to make a visual check, soaking the roots (still in containers) in a tub filled with a weak insecticidal soap solution for 2 hours is a good idea.
• Carefully Inspect Leaves And Stems – Look for evidence of mites, aphids, mealybugs, and other small insects. If the plant tolerates insecticidal soap, you can treat the plants before bringing them indoors.
• Check Pot Rim And Soil Surface – Look for white salt deposits inside the rim of the pot and on the soil’s surface. If the container and plant need it, do a thorough flushing to rid it of excess salt buildup before bringing it inside (check out my post titled Flushing Out Excess Salts).
• Clean Up – Wipe or scrub the outside of the pots to remove dirt and stains. In addition, wash out drainage trays.

Additional Care Tips:

Once your bromeliads are indoors, be sure to place them in an area with sufficient light and humidity (depending on the genus of your bromeliad, care preferences may differ). Make sure they are in a well-draining potting mixture to prevent root rot, and are checked regularly the first week or two after you move them indoors to see how quickly they are drying out and need to be watered. After this initial checking, you will fall into a regular watering rhythm with your plants that may have been different to what were used to while they were outdoors. Need care tips for a certain genus? Check our Resources page for care guides.

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