When to bring plants inside for winter - Complete Chart

The most asked question from the gardeners in winter is about bringing the plants inside. In communities, we often ask this question without mentioning the plant name or the current temperature. The timing to bring a plant indoors depends upon which plant it is.

Each plant has a specific nature and growing climate, and cold tolerance varies among them. We need to consider these factors and a few other factors to decide when to bring them inside.

If your any of your plants are outdoor planted and you can't bring them inside, check: when to cover your plants in winter

Who can follow this chart?

This is not a growing zone-specific chart, so everyone from every growing zone can follow this chart.

This is not about where you live or how extreme the cold is. You might be growing a plant suitable for cooler regions in your tropical climate. Those plants do not require to be brought inside in winter.

If you are growing a tropical plant in your cooler regions, you must be more serious about bringing them inside in winter.

It's all about where the plants belong to grow naturally.

The plants should be pot planted or container planted.

So how do I find the optimal temperature to bring the plants indoors?

I have family members from almost every growing zone and we do experiments with our plants. For a specific plant, each year we try to provide different types of caring and note down the remarks.

We do the same with almost every plant we grow. This helps us find the optimal temperature to bring the plants indoors.

We consider only the best-case data to share with you.

Before starting a tip for you: If you are here only to find a specific plant's data just use the find option of your browser and type the plant name.

On desktop, press Ctrl+F (For Windows) or command+f (for Mac). On mobile devices, you can easily find it in the browser menu.

Flowering Plants - When to bring them indoors

I have told this many times in my different articles: flowering plants can be grown indoors if you take good care. But most of the flowering plants do not bloom well indoors no matter how much you care for them.

We bring them inside in winter to keep them alive and protect them from cold damage or frost damage.

I have not added plumeria and desert rose to my chart as I have separate articles on Winter caring plumeria and Winter caring Desert Rose.

Though coleus is a flowering plant, I look at this plant as an ornamental shrub. I love the leaves.

Orchids, Begonia, Hibiscus, Lantana, and Amaryllis are sensitive to cold. Take super care of those plants.

Leafy Greens - Optimal temperature to bring them inside

We generally do not grow leafy greens in pots unless we live in a pretty cold region. Even there are better options like growing in green hours or using frost cloth for frosts and covering cloth for cold nights.

Let's check the chart.

Roots and vegetables' optimal temp. to bring inside in winter

Are you wondering why there are vines in my chart?

If your cucumber or Squash ( or other vine plants ) are not big enough, it's easy to take those plants indoors. If they have grown big, remove the large vines and prune them properly. Now you can take them inside. They will grow in the next growing season (spring).

Having something is better than nothing when it comes to gardening.

And for asparagus, you should check when to cut them (asparagus) back to increase harvesting.

The best time to bring the Herbs indoors

Most of the herbs are suitable to grow in containers or pots.

If you read this chart carefully, you will notice that most of the herbs's optimal temp. are higher. This means they grow well in warmer climates.

Rosemary, Safe, and Lavender can be grown well in colder climates.

If you are from Zone 9 and still want to grow Lavender, check: How to grow Lavender in Zone 9

I have added a few plants here, those are not meant to be grown indoors or in a pot for a long time.

For example: Bay leaf. This tree can grow more than 25 feet. But you can follow this chart when they are potted and small enough.

This picture is from my herbs garden. (Not large enough but I have plenty of herbs shrubs and trees)

Porch plants or house plants - When to bring them indoors in Winter

The plants mentioned in my previous charts have a lot of porch plants and house plants.

Creating this section was the most confusing part of this article. I find a way to make it organized.

I know houseplants stay indoors, but many of us grow them in the porch area or open area. In winter we need to take them indoors based on which plant it is and how cold the temp. is.

As we have a lot of succulent lovers, let's create a separate chart for succulents first.

Succulents

Other Houseplants

No wonder most houseplants are cold-sensitive and hate it when the temperature is below 50.

This is why we can grow them indoors.

This chart will be useful for those living in warmer climates and love to grow them outdoors in containers.

Cold damage can destroy your houseplants. Be cautious.

Fruit trees and berries - Guide on when to take them indoors

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