Randi: I'm in the same position as you--southern Arizona , where the temps get up to 120 in the summer months. I have soooo many plants that I want to put outside, but the heat just kills them immediately. I have one cactus in a pot and a bed of aloes and Kalanchoe in a small bed under the eaves. That's it.

last summer, I put some sweet potato vines out that I grew indoors. For the first week or so, they flourished, loving the sun-- though they were in shadiest part of the garden under an umbrella and a trellis. Then, one 124 degree day came, I forgot to water, and they were goners.

even the succulents I've put out in the past have suffered in the shade. I wish I could find a work around for this, because I think many of my plants would be happier outside.

The only thing I can think of is to raise something like coleus from seed outdoors. That way, it will be acclimated early on....dunno.

Holy ____ (insert expletive or expression of choice!) I'm sure that extremely extreme condition is very different from any other parts of the world. If I found myself in a place that hot, my only goal in life would be getting the heck out, if I was capable of coherent thoughts at all! I'm a little crispy, baked, sauteéd now, and just reading your post may have cooked poor Albert, up in Z2b. Albert, are you OK?

I'm still musing over what I have wrought.

litterbuggy: Just make sure to give any plants you move outdoors plenty of time to adjust. Most of the plants in my backyard get dappled sunlight throughout the day from the overhead tree branches. They get direct sunlight, but it's broken up into patches of sun and shade, so no single area gets exposed to too much of either. With the warmer weather, just make sure to keep them well watered, too. They can get rather thirsty photosynthesizing all of that indirect sunlight.

Fascinating, the range of climates represented in this discussion. From about the coldest to the hottest extremes a human can tolerate inhabiting, some humans. I wouldn't want to trade with you, Albert, or Lauren.

Lol, Tiffany, you just described my summer here. The goal is to not go out after 8am. It is actually true that you can get delirious pretty quickly if you stay out just for a while in the sun, especially if you are non-native like me and don't drink water was constantly.

I put a zebra plant out once in the rain, just to let it get a bit of rainwater. I looked out the window ten minutes later. It had completely collapsed.

Every now and then I take a pic for my parents just to show them how hot it is. I took this the other day after things cooled down.

Ironically, I burnt my elbow on the door handle while taking it.

So, I live in wonder and envy at your beautiful outdoor plants. That's why I love seeing them so much.

Strange that your tire pressure monitor light would be on when it's that hot! It's usually the other way around.

The main deterrent for me is the pest exposure the plants get outside, and what may often come back inside with them. Also it is awful easy for plants that have been indoors for months to burn up when moved outdoors, after it has warmed up enough to do this - the same conditions involving house-like temperatures are those which have periods of strong sunshine.

What pests have your plants gotten from going outside?

When I put my coffee plant outside 3 years ago it got holes in its leaves, chewed in the middle and on the sides. I have no idea from what pest. It has been inside for 2 years (I did move it up a pot size and fertilized this year) and it now has buds. Most of my plants I take out are fine (birds, I think, do nibble on my graptoverias though); I don't know why the coffee plant was a victim--a pest in need of a caffeine fix?

"Fascinating, the range of climates represented in this discussion. From about the coldest to the hottest extremes a human can tolerate inhabiting, some humans."

Which is exactly why it is so ridiculous when someone posts a question (especially on forums dedicated to the cultivation of plants OUTSIDE). and posts a question on why their plant isn't doing well and asks, WHY? People forget that this is an international forum with BIG differences in terms of growing conditions.

Dave: I don't know what's up my tire pressure. I think I heard someone say that you can lose pressure in extra hot weather. I dunno....the light is always on.

subtropix: yes, it took me a while to figure out how much we don't account for climate on the forum....I was trying to do things others were doing and not realizing that I'd have to adapt practices based on differing climates.

ive lived so many places. One thing I love is observing the different plants that grow in different places. Entire cities are defined by the plants that grow best in their climate. Sounds obvious, but it isn't something one thinks about much. Savannah has willows, Florida has palm trees, Arizona has cacti, Philadelphia has....well, mainly graffiti, but still...

Lauren, you'd lose pressure in cold weather and gain pressure in hot weather. Could be a faulty sensor. I'd manually check the pressure though for safety reasons.

Anyway, sorry, tire pressure is not plant related, I won't side track anymore haha.

So I just stood in the porch door to compare the brightness inside and out, and sure enough it's much brighter outside even at 3:30 pm. everyone's out on the porch this afternoon even though is a freakish 65 degrees today, and they'll have to come back in before it drops into the 50s tonight. By Thursday I'll be able to leave them out all night, though I'll still bring some in for company.

As for climate, I'd never survive here without A/C, and our hottest periods only go up to 105! I'll have to watch my outside plants carefully, especially because at that point the daytime humidity can be as low as 10%. Whenever I fly to NY to visit the family I can actually feel my skin responding to the humidity when I go outside, especially in the summer.

BTW, a mechanic told me that the tire pressure light goes on if a pressure sensor in a tire has failed. Cars come with pressure sensors in the tires, but fortunately you don't need to spend the money for new ones when you replace the tires, so now I just check the pressure myself.

Litterbuggy,

yes, if a sensor fails, the light will come on.

The sensor is either strapped to the wheel at the 12 o clock possition from the valve stem or part of the valve stem.

in states that do inspections, a failed sensor setting off a low pressure light on the dash would fail your inspection.

Also, if you were losing pressure, you wouldn't know before it was too late.

Its worth it to get them all working.

Sorry again for side tracking, I know a good amount about vehicles and don't want to see anyone have any issues.

I guess we're an outlier, but although Utah requires safety inspections they don't check the pressure sensors--at least the tire guy said they're not required and that a failed one is not a big deal, so I'm just back to checking my own every month or so like I did for lo those many years. Now a bunch of state legislators want to abolish safety inspections altogether. That will make me feel real safe around all those big battered old pickups and SUVs in town, now, won't it?

Sorry, we should probably take our pressure discussion off of here--it is a plant forum, after all!

When I lived in Phoenix I grew many "house"plants outside year' round. I had shadecloth stretched on plastic pipe over my apartment courtyard. I had so many more houseplants in general there. In Portland it is so cloudy for so many months, that many rot eventually. I have fewer plants in my house than ever in my life. I have a greenhouse but I move them out to the deck and then back in and not to and from the house.

Wow, thank you all for the sensor advice! I am going to get it checked now. Honestly, I drive about 8 miles per month if that. So, I just kept putting it off. but now I'm going to get it seen to.

The drive to the auto dealer will increase my monthly mileage too!

i think the driving on gravel here may have something to do with it too. That just can't be good for tires....

I have to say I have learned so much on this site. My plan was to do some repotting of plants this week as that is the suggestion as the best time to do it from Al. And then to put some outside. But alas our nighttime temps are only in the high 40s to low 50s for the next 10 days. I guess I could take them out in the day time (up to the mid 80s but mostly high 70s) and bring them in at night. I just fear a dip that low from house temps cold be hard an them.

@buyorsell888 -- Your rot issue sounds like more of a media problem. Are you using a different media from what you use in Phoenix? I could see where it might be very important to do so. Considering how hot and dry Phoenix is, a more moisture retentive media would be beneficial. In Oregon, a grittier mix would be more beneficial. Then, too, there is the question of the type(s) of plants you were growing. (Cacti & succs would be great choices for AZ, but not so much for Oregon.

@Massey -- Surprised it is still that cool there. Whether your plants would mind the temp drop would depend on the types of plants. Drops into the 50s should not be a prob for most, I would think.

Massey, this week is the first time that nighttime temps here in salt lake will start above 60, so I've been bringing them in at night, although I keep my apartment so cold in the winter that they would probably have been okay firm top 50.

What kind of plants do you have? I think some species may tolerate temps down to 50, while others would need to be brought in at night if it got that cold.

I have mostly pothos, philos, a few spiders plants and some succulents. The succulents are light starved as I did not have supplemental lights over winter and we just don't get much sun up here in NW Montana in winter. I will probably put some outside this week, under cover and may bring them in at night depending on how I feel.

New back to houseplants after several years, but was gobsmacked as to why anyone would be putting these inside and outside all the time. I have literally thousands of plants outside, compared to a mere dozen or so inside. To me the indoor plants are supposed to be INDOORS, to enhance our indoor living space. I know they generally prefer outdoors, if the climate is right, but aren't we growing them inside because we want them inside? Who wants a windowsill jammed full of plants blocking all the light during winter, then nothing inside in the summer? Let me get my kevlar vest on before the shooting starts...

robin98 - I know for me living in NW Montana I spend more time outside in the warm weather. I like to have plants out there to enjoy. Just like I enjoy them inside during winter when it is - 20 outside and 3 feet of snow.

Hey massey516, I hear what you're saying, but for me, zone 9b, there are so many plants outside already that putting a few indoor tropical types outside in summer would be pointless. They would get lost in the masses, bullied by the other tougher plants for being so precious, then keel over after the first windy day. And, for me, the point really is to have a few splashes of greenery inside. But hats off to you for getting them to live. Did a road trip in December from San Fran to New Orleans via Utah etc (awesome, by the way), so can appreciate how cold you guys get!

robin98 - I guess this shows how being in different parts of the nation can cause people to do different things. I do have a lot of plants sitting on windowsills in the winter because the other option is not have many plants at all. I really enjoy them, especially in our long winter when I look outside and see miles and miles of snow and ice interspersed with some evergreen trees. I love to outdoor garden, vegetables and flowers. Don't drink, don't smoke, gardening is my "therapy" and relaxation. In winter that needs to happen inside, hence my many houseplants sitting on every available windowsill.

So maybe someone in the south that can keep "houseplants" outside in the ground, can really see how they are in the natural environment, can not worry about them getting enough light in winter, can't really judge someone that can only enjoy plants in the winter if they are crowded on a windowsill.

Here are some pics I was taking of 2 plants and you can see they are on a windowsill and the snow in the background. I love where I live, it is beautiful, but not good for outside gardening so I do it inside..on a windowsill.

My family is originally from Alaska, "Land of the Midnight Sun." I was too little back then, but my grandmother always had houseplants all over her home. As for growing plants outside, she always had beautiful gardens, even if the warm months were very short, compared to living down here in the South. She is were I inherited my greenthumb.

I find that having my plants out from spring-fall encourages me to get outside in the mornings and evenings to enjoy taking care of them and the outside air.

In the winter, I just spend my time with my plants and lights. It's still relaxing but not the same (ice and snow outside).

Robin - it's just that as individuals we look at things from different perspectives. A very good example is: if your focus is on convenience, you're almost certainly going to use a soil you can buy in a bag/bail. If your focus is on maximizing opportunity for your plants to realize as much of their potential as possible, you might be someone who is more particular about what medium their plants' roots are in. When soil science is the topic and the convenience oriented enters a debate with those whose focus is on maximizing vitality/ growth rate/ appearance/ ......, there is frequently strong disagreement because of the variant perspectives. This is the same type of topic, though I hope my pointing out how much difference variant perspectives makes gives us pause enough to see it's silly to argue unless it's from the same perspective. That doesn't mean there are a lot of pros & cons re either perspective, only that our choice of perspectives is neither right nor wrong.

If I look at growing from the perspective that plants are indoor decorations, what you said makes perfect sense. If I consider the perspective from which others view growing, it might also make perfect sense. My focus, for example is on bonsai. This literally requires me to cut off all winter growth and move my plants outdoors in the summer ..... and I grow under lights. Even though the plants remain healthy indoors under lights, the growth produced doesn't meet the standards I've set for leaf size and leaf/branch density (ramification). I don't care a whit about trees or plants to decorate the house, though we do have a lot of art in our home representing trees and nature in general.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, please. I'm not being critical or saying my suggestion/perspective is better than yours. Our priorities are simply different. We already agree that moving plants outdoors while Mother Nature is being cooperative offers much greater potential in areas like growth rate, vitality, a robust metabolism, ....... .

In the end, I sacrifice the potentiality of displaying my plants indoors (like on plant tables, window sills, on the floor next to windows, .....) at any time of the year w/no lament, choosing instead to grow them in the obscurity of a basement setting under lights in winter and outdoors in summer; this, because and as noted, the mentioned practices don't allow me to maintain plants at a level of vitality/appearance that meets the standards I've set. In order to make the topic a debate, we'd have to look at things from the same perspective, but then the debate disappears. ;-)

I think we've done a pretty good job of exploring the +/- aspects of moving plants in and out with the seasons when nature allows. Those following the thread can use the info upthread to decide what's appropriate.

From the department of redundancy department: Please forgive any redundancy in any repetitious points being made anywhere in this offering, please. I kept getting interrupted by company/phone while writing and it took 3 attempts to finish my thoughts, some of which I reiteratively framed more than once because I kept getting interrupted by company and phone interruptions as I wrote. This caused me to become a little redundant and repeat myself by saying the same thing more than once; so, please let slide any redundancy or repetition anywhere you find it anywhere in my offering when you see where I said the same thing in repetitive fashion, crossing the threshold of the door of redundancy and twice-made points. That's about all I have to say and I'm finished now, so I'll close and end my post.

Al

"I find that having my plants out from spring-fall encourages me to get
outside in the mornings and evenings to enjoy taking care of them and
the outside air."

I'm an early riser, so I often get up early, wash my face, throw on yesterday's clothes, grab a cup of coffee, and wander into the back yard and stroll around the bonsai grow benches while making mental notes about who needs weeding (yes, bonsai pots need to be weeded from time to time because of the air-blown weed demons who float in on the breeze), pruning, fertilizing, special attention. It doesn't matter that I completely forget about the mental notes I took until I make my next perusal of what's on the benches, it's just nice to be out enjoying the cool calm of the morning and all the critters busy about getting their day underway.

There is a bird bath near the grow benches that I clean with water under pressure (from the hose) and refill. Last night, while watering bonsai, I was filling the BB when a red-breasted nuthatch landed on a pine tree right next to me. I knew he wanted to bathe, so I turned the hose down to a fast drip and let the drops fall in the BB water. He flew to the edge and bathed for maybe 1-1/2 minutes under the dripping water before flying away. That's cool stuff. I've also had hummingbirds come to me when using a Foggit nozzle during repots and fly over and over through the mist the nozzle creates. I've done it with chickadees, too, letting them bath under the water break or Foggit nozzle spray. All the above are some of the little pleasures life offers, and are there for the taking if we make a path to where they're found.

Massey, regarding your light starved cacti/succs ....Do you water them over the winter? Over the winter, my cacti/succs sit on windowsills only getting whatever sparse, weak sun a Michigan winter provides. If I were to allow them to grow during that time, I would definitely have issues come summer with etiolation. The solution is to suspend watering (and, if you can do so, keep temps cool). Mine only get a sip or two once every 3 or 4 weeks (sometimes not even that often). Just enough to prevent shriveling. As result, they don't grow and don't etiolate.

@Robin: I see what you're saying, Robin, but as Massey pointed out we have very different conditions. With the exception of evergreens, there is no winter greenery to be found outside -- and our winters can be fairly long. (Here winter white can last 4-6months, and I imagine for those like Massey in zone 4, even longer.) In addition to the snow and cold outside, here sunny winter days are rare and what sun we do get is quite weak. While many plants will survive on our windowsills during that time, most will not thrive. Putting them outside for the summer, gives them a chance to "recharge".

And as has been said, having them (or at least some of them) outside, provides extra motivation to pop outside for some fresh air while checking on them.

There is yet another benefit. Indoors, spider mites can be an issue for many of us northerners. The warm dry air which results from running a furnace contributes to spider mite infestations. From what I have read, it is not so much that they like warm dry conditions as it is that their natural predators and pathogens can't handle those conditions. Any issues a plant has had with spider mites for me indoors, clears up quickly after putting them outside.

Hi Everybody! Good points raised. An excellent one being that putting plants outside prompts people to get outside, with all the benefits that that brings. For me the prompt is usually animals needing to be fed, or sometimes an area of the garden that needs watering before it's too sunny. And I always feel better for it - maybe I detoured via the strawberries and found some great ones before the birds did, or walked around the back and saw some new flowers opening up, or took the time to watch a fantastic sunset.

I do understand the impact of different climates. Sounds like some people with long harsh winters would have little in their gardens come summertime if they didn't overwinter plants inside, and also would have little to look at during these long harsh winters if they didn't bring their plants inside. Plus it sounds like these climates mean your houseplants are in real need of decent sunshine after just hanging in there over winter.

But I still want my houseplants inside! And it's not convenience, I certainly spend enough time gazing at them that I could take them inside and outside several times daily during that time if I wanted. I think I just want to have my cake and eat it too : plants inside and out. No doubt it limits some of what I can achieve - I'm sure my Sansevieria would be twice the size if I hadn't done all the awful rookie mistakes I did, but that's a whole nother story....

So it sounds like there are answers practical, aesthetic and mental well-being wise to the OPs question. Intertwined of course - if the practicalities mean your plant grows badly and looks awful that's hardly uplifting is it? ;)

And then there are those like me who live in a little apartment with precious little sunlight where the nights are often too cold for my houseplants even when the days are to your for me. The only way my light-starved plants could recover last winter from years of neglect was to add several plant-appropriate LEDs, and once I had more than an hour or two of direct sunlight in the windows I started moving them from my light setup to the windowsills for the first part of the day and back to the artificial light the rest of the day, and still do much the same thing when it's too cool to leave them out all night.

It would take an awfully big house for me to have dozens of plants, which is fine because I'm not a collector and am much more interested in green tree-like things than the typical houseplants many people like. Like Massey, all I want is enough plants to remind me of the natural world when I'm at home, so things like scheffleras and ficus benjaminas and the like will probably be my mainstay at least for a while.

I do try to avoid criticizing other people's preferences, even when they seem crazy to me. Over on the cacti and succulents forum there are a lot of folks with hundreds of tiny pots, each with a different variety of tiny little plants, and they're constantly delighted by their collections. That kind of thing would drive me completely insane, but the satisfaction they get from caring for their plants is exactly the same as mine.

litterbuggy...well said!

litterbuggy - do you mean the nights inside your apartment are often too cold for your houseplants? How do you get on with that? I see you supplement your lighting, but what about heating? Or have you figured out what your plants can cope with?

I ask because we have a room with decent light that I would love to have plants in, but it will always be colder as it is the original older part of the house, with poorer insulation and heating. In winter (now, for us) with radiators on it sits around 65 F during the day, but overnight can drop to about 50 F (10 C) Would your benjaminas cope with that?

BTW wishing you a lovely lush jungle room with not a cactus in sight ;)

"...sits around 65 F during the day, but overnight can drop to about 50 F (10 C)..."

Temperature-wise, there are plants that would do very nicely there provided your RH could be maintained at a decent level, and light was sufficient. Cyclamen, most Heliamphora, and many types of cloud forest orchids actually desire such temps. Twould also be a decent place to overwinter some cacti, or possibly Sarracenia and Dionea (though they might better appreciate the highs not breaking the upper 50s F).

Paul - thank you, that's encouraging. I will have a look at what you've listed and see what I think :)

@Paul, I moved back to Oregon over thirty years ago. Lived in this house over twenty. It simply does not provide good conditions for houseplants but I have hundreds of plants, just mostly outdoors or in my greenhouse. Nary a cactus....I do have Bougainvillea, hibiscus, cannas and other tropicals in the greenhouse.

Massey, I'm amazed you could make sense of my typo-filled post!

Robin, I keep my apartment cold in the winter (around 55-60) unless my neighbors turn up their heat, which warms the walls and floors near the heating pipes and makes it uncomfortable unless I blow cold air in from outside.

My benjaminas seem unfazed even if they end up sitting next to an open window or in a chilly breeze from a window fan. Most people seem to think ficuses (including benjaminas) are delicate flowers that drop all their leaves if they come into contact with so much as a cool breeze, and that may be true of some ficuses, but it clearly isn't so for mine.

So what kind of plants do you have now? I'm sure you can find info about temperature tolerance for them or any others you might want. As for me, I'm ignorant about anything but my f. benjaminas, scheffleras, ponytail palm, and dracaena marginata, so whatever I add to my little tribe musty be able to tolerate the conditions I can provide.

Yes, Litterbuggy, I wondered too why some think that Benjaminas are so delicate. Mine are not, and I will open windows- it seems to make the plants happy to have air movement! And right, you do figure that in nature, the wind blows, the rain falls, etc.

I do not set out plants because I have room inside. My reason has been bugs. I buy annuals to put in lots of pots outside. The annuals can bring little infestations without knowing until one day, boom, there they are, everywhere! If i did not have the annual pots I would probably set my plants outside to see how they do, but I'm too used to tradition of sprucing up the patio with lots of instant color.

Great to hear both your positive experiences with the benjaminas. That one would look good in that room, I might move it there in spring/summer then see how it fares the following winter. I have four ficus : benjamina, elastica, lyrata and pumila. Don't much like the last one so I put it in there yesterday. It sounds the most cold tolerant of the bunch anyway. Lyrata sounds the least.

Also a sans, a chain of hearts, and some ferns, that can all stay where they are for now - suits me and seems to suit them. Plus a couple of calathea, which are proving to be quite the learning curve. Haven't sorted how to care for them yet, but I doubt they'd cope with lower temps. I'm not worried about maximum growth for my houseplants, but I love it when they look healthy. And prefer to not kill them :) Oh, and I have a heart leaf philodendron too.

Would you believe that the ficuses and scheffleras have responded after just three days getting 1-2 hours of direct sunlight and either sitting in a good window or in open shade the rest of the day? Within a few days of a decrease in light I can see fewer new shoots and slower growth in young leaves. Both had slowed this past week after spending time further from the better light sources, including the open shade they had for three days before their introduction to direct sunlight, both have new growth this afternoon. The big ficus, whose growth is only equaled by the rooted cuttings that have had their own dedicated light for months, seems to have new shoots on every stem and branchlet.

A handful of older leaves on each of the established ficuses and scheffleras have a little sunburn, but overall they like their new environment. Hopefully they won't act like outdoor cats and sulk when I bring them inside for the winter!

Haha, I love it. When you finally round them up and drag them in they'll sit as far away from you as possible, glaring. And not believing you when you tell them it's for their own good ;)

This year has probably been the worst I've ever had for putting plants outside.

Were getting far too much rain. Everything is in the 5:1:1 mix and some are still showing signs of overwatering.

I've only been able to fertilize once in the past month due to all the rain.

Some days it'll rain all day long. Other days we've had intense downpours.

the plants are staying outside though. Hopefully this summer gets a little better.

It's still raining? Yikes! I would think it would have let up by now! Now that I can leave the plants outside I've got no worries (other than making sure a squall doesn't sneak up and knock my plants over), so you have my sympathy!

All of mine are wired up to something. I don't think 70 mph winds would even knock them over ha!

Lashing them down sounds appealing but some still need periodic soaking or tipping after watering. The dracaena is the most tippy, so I just filled a few gallon jugs and laid them on their sides to hold the pot against the slats of the railing. The other plants are more stable, and we're not supposed to get more strong storms in the next several days, but I'm thinking of using stacked bricks or concrete landscaping stones to support them and shade the pots to prevent overheated roots.

Aside from a handful of cacti, I never concern myself over letting my plants get rained on. No matter how much rain there may be. In fact, I always look forward to it. Rainwater doesn't contain very much, if any, dissolved minerals within it. So the more rain there is, the more it flushes out the soil for all of my potted plants. Plus, the rain is very oxygenated, so even though the soil may become saturated, the supply of fresh air is not cut off to my plants' roots. Just as long as the soil can still drain away any excess water afterwards, and does not remain soggy, you won't ever have to worry about rotting. Now I don't grow very many cacti, and have even fewer succulents, so I can't speak much on their behalf, but I have never lost a plant from them getting rained on too much. The only thing I do worry about when thunderstorms roll through my area is the strong winds that come with them.

My big ficus blew over last summer and it cracked the terra cotta pot.

So, that will not be happening again. Actually, I've made sure just about everything won't blow over.

For me it depends on the plant. Sansevieria, Monstera, etc. stay indoors for the most part, they go outside occasionally if it's cloudy or a storm is coming and they need water.

Ficus, Palms, etc. love spending the summer outdoors. And I don't have to deal with indoor pest infestations, I hate having to use sprays other methods to rid plants of pests. Spiders and ladybugs set up shop when my plants go outside, I leave everything up to them.