After spending the summer enjoying unfiltered sunshine on a balcony or windowsill, the time has come for houseplants to be brought back indoors.
But before you rush your plants inside away from the cooler, harsher weather, one Instagram influencer has shared a vital watering tip that every gardener should follow.
The scoop
Mandi (@happyhappyhouseplant) has shared a video of herself hosing her houseplants with bucketloads of water — something that she says every gardener should do before bringing their plants back inside.
It doesn't take long to see why. In the video, a big, black spider crawls out from the houseplant's leaves in a desperate bid to escape the flooded plant pot.
After you've finished dousing your plants, you can leave them to air dry outside — though Mandi cautions not to leave them in direct sunlight, as this could scorch their leaves.
She says that you don't need to worry about overwatering your plants, so long as your plant pots have good drainage. The more water you use the better, to really make sure that your plant is pest-free before bringing it back into your home.
"I'm not talking about a little water out of the drainage hole, I'm talking [Niagara] Falls!" Mandi wrote in a comment.
How it's helping
If you've been letting your house plants soak up some sun outdoors, then flooding their pots is an essential stage to relocating them inside.
"It's important," wrote Mandi, because it flushes out any insects that might be hiding amongst the foliage. Bugs that make it indoors could quickly become an infestation or leave you vulnerable to poisonous critters.
One Instagram user commented that they had found a venomous black widow spider on their plants while watering the yard. Others have brought in even more surprising creatures, like lizards, toads, or a tree frog.
Mandi also wrote that dousing the soil helps to wash away the build-up of salt, which can make it more difficult for plants to absorb water.
What everyone's saying
Mandi's Instagram followers commended her for reminding them about this vital piece of plant care.
"More people need to know this!" one wrote.
"My fiddleleaf has a bunch of those stink bugs and spider webs. I sprayed with neem oil first and will give it a good dousing in a month or so when we get cooler temps," said another. "The bugs are insane right now."
Another user added their own tip for getting rid of creepy-crawlies: "You could also just remove all the soil the same way instead of messing it up. Replace the soil and then bring inside right away."
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