Friday, October 20, 2017

Pineapples & Tropical house plants going indoors for fall & winter (& keeping cats out)

I really struggle to keep the inside and outside cats out of the garden and the houseplants. I have found ways of controlling this problem. In the garden, I made a fence along the rows to disorient the cats and keep them off of the garden mounds, in addition to fencing around houseplants indoors. To keep cats out, I also sit houseplants on top of dressers, stands, or grow hanging potted plants.

Here are some of my houseplants that I have been moving indoors to stay warm during the cool autumn nights and through the winter. I made a video of the houseplants which I will post on here soon, but I have rearranged the houseplants to all stay in the utility room with the cat litter to control the air quality. The utility room also has decent lighting and a heater for all the plants to get plenty of sunshine and heat. I also keep the ceiling light/fan on for the plants as well.

 Heartleaf Philodendon in hanging pot by window & stove to keep warm
With these houseplants, I have them on a short table with mesh fencing around the table to keep the cats out.
Christmas Cactus, Peace Lily, Dracaena, Heartleaf philodendron by window & heater for warmth
The palm tree is on an elevated stand to keep the cats out of the pot. Up from the palm is pineapple plants, another palm, snake plant, and heartleaf philodendron on a tall table.
Palm trees, pineapples, snake plant by heater with other houseplants
heartleaf philodendron with the other houseplants on table
It's not a good idea to put the big snake plant on a table considering its weight. But I have another snake plant sitting on an elevated stool to prevent the cats from getting in it.
Snake plants with other houseplants 
 I have additional house plants to bring indoors for the winter. Not only am I trying to keep the cats out of the house plants, but I am running out of room in the house for big plants. And this pineapple plant weighs at least a hundred pounds, so for now I am keeping them in the porch/greenhouse. At night I cover these with plastic so they are double covered. Eventually I am going to bring these plants in for the winter. I don't want to risk losing them to the cold winter after I have been growing them for years. I believe it is the pineapples fourth year...
Pineapples & aloe in outdoor greenhouse/porch
 One of the corn stalks fell over from the last storm, and to my surprise there was a big cob, so I picked it. The corn variety is Trucker's favorite, and it grew very quickly. I planted this corn late summer! I love the little surprises that the garden gifts us...



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