Growing indoor-outdoor plants: palms and orchids

Palms and orchids are good examples of plants that thrive when they're put outside in the summer months. Here's what these two plants need and how to take care of them.

• Many of the plants you keep indoors in winter grow best when they spend the summer outdoors, where light is more abundant and there is usually a difference of at least 4°C between day and nighttime temperatures.
• Changes in day length enhance the growth of indoor-outdoor plants, too.

Good indoor-outdoor plant choices include aloes, bromeliads, cacti, orchids and palms. Here are some tips for growing two of these versatile plants.

Pots for palms should be deep, because strong palm roots push down through the soil and can lift the tree out of a shallow pot once they hit the bottom.

• Repot palms only every two years, because the brittle roots are often damaged during repotting.
• Between repottings, freshen the soil of potted palms by digging out the top five centimetres (two inches) of soil and replacing it with fresh potting mix.
• Brown tips on palm leaves are often caused by fluoride or other chemicals in water.
• Collect rainwater to use on affected palms or use bottled distilled water.
• Use sharp scissors to snip off the brown tips.

Before bringing palms back indoors in fall

• Check the leaves carefully for signs of scales—small brown bumps on stems or leaf undersides.
• Remove them by hand with a soft cloth dipped into soapy water. Go back the next day and use a toothpick to pick off any survivors.

Hard to grow?

Orchids are commonly perceived as delicate and demanding, but they really need only two things—some time outdoors in summer to soak up plenty of filtered light, warmth and humidity, and a 10 to 15°C difference between day and nighttime temperatures when they're indoors in winter.

• Provide them with high humidity by keeping them on a tray of damp pebbles.
• Expensive orchids are not necessarily better than strains that have been around for years and proven their ability to thrive when grown in pots.
• Moth orchids are easy for beginners and are usually quite affordable.
• Start small, with one or two orchids, because orchid growing is addictive.
• Orchids rest between bloom cycles, so it's best to buy plants that are just beginning to show buds. Blooms often last four to six weeks, but after that, it may be months or years before the plant blooms again.