The city gardener: Houseplant vacations 

Most houseplants thrive being placed outdoors for the summer, but keep their individual care requirements in mind.  Photo by Supplied

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In early June, I send my houseplants on summer vacation. Okay, maybe “staycation” is more accurate, since really, I just put them outside on my back porch. I find it gives them a boost in growth and vigour that will take them right through the winter to come. 

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But with the big windstorm in southern Ontario last week, I worried that being exposed directly to our Canadian elements, even in summer, could be hazardous for my much-loved plant collection. So I called up houseplant guru Tara Soloway and asked her for advice. 

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“Definitely, with our short Canadian summers, many houseplants get a real boost from the extra sun and fresh air outside,” says Tara, whose company, Plantd Life, specializes in biophilia and indoor plant design and installation. “After all, plants were born to grow outside, not in a living room! 

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“It’s particularly great for sun lovers, like crotons or flowering plants. I’ve even had potted fruit trees that bore fruit after being outside.”  

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However, she cautions that a back porch, deck or balcony is a very different environment than a sunny window, so it’s critical to keep certain principles in mind. 

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Remember that houseplants, like some people, do not react to sudden change well. Don’t just shlepp all your plants outside on the first warm day and leave them there till September. Instead, acclimatize them over several days: two hours the first day, four hours the next, and so on. 

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From your plants’ perspective, the biggest change between your living room and the outdoors is the amount of light. Even if it usually enjoys direct light from a south-facing window, says Tara, the real thing is another proposition.  

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Before you put your plants outside, monitor how much sun a chosen spot gets over the course of a day. It may be lovely and dappled in the morning but broiling by 3 PM. And just a few hours in unprotected sun can give a plant a bad sunburn. 

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Watering needs will change quite a bit as well. All that sun, warmth and fresh air dries them out quickly, so you’ll probably be watering more frequently. Hanging plants — and this applies equally to flowering baskets from the corner grocery store — might need watering daily, especially when the temperature soars. Check regularly, using a water meter, and water as needed. (Summer rain, though helpful, usually isn’t enough.) 

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Strong winds can also be hard on coddled indoor plants, and sky-high condo balconies can get surprisingly windy even when the air is calm at ground level. At the very least, winds can be drying for soil and leaf surfaces.  

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But very strong winds can do some real damage: torn leaves, broken branches, or they can blow a plant over or even break its stem or trunk. Keep the plant in a sheltered part of the garden or porch or anchor it to something sturdy, and bring it indoors on very windy days. 

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In a garden or other outdoor environment, houseplants are vulnerable to all the same pests as garden plants — from aphids and spider mites to earwigs, slugs, and worse. Inspect your plants daily and keep the Safer’s soap or other pest control methods at the ready. 

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Finally, Tara points out, not all plants thrive in every kind of outdoor environment. “Just like the way you grow them inside, take your cues from where they grow naturally. Ferns come from the rainforest, so they love shady, wet environments, while cactuses love dry soil and full sun.  

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“If you keep that in mind, they should do just fine.” 

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