Bringing in the Plants

It is that time of year again.  After spending the spring and summer enjoying the outside, it is time to bring in the houseplants.  Ideally it is best to do it when the inside and nighttime temperatures match, so that the plants do not experience a shocking change in temperature.  According to that advice, I am a bit late, but by my usual schedule, I am early.  Usually I see the weather on TV and realize we are going to have a frost that night and I have to get them in ASAP, bugs and all.  This year, I planned ahead.  A couple of weeks ago I put insecticide granuals in the pots to kill insects in the soil and a couple of days ago I cleaned the big of the dirt off of the pots and trays.  Today Jim cleaned them off properly, and in an orderly, unrushed fashion, we placed them inside. There were a few hitchhikers in the foliage, so after taking them for a ride back outside, Jim hit the plants with some environmentally safe spray to get any we missed.  Insects are fine outside, but not inside.  Now for a long winter, at least for the plants.  Since I do not have many decent places to put them, I consider myself doing well if plants survive the winter inside well enough to be taken back out to recover in the spring.