ACCLIMATE
How to successfully acclimate your plants and reduce transition stress.
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Acclimate
Pest control products we use on our business plants and personal plant collections.
Some plants are sold in peat heavy soil mixes, which are great for greenhouse plants that dry out too quick, but not great for houseplants that do not need this amount of moisture.
Some of Pam's Gen Pop kitchen plants that reside directly below a southern skylight. Most plants in our personal collections touch one another and can easily spread bacteria, fungus, or pests.
A humidity tub with various plants that needed some extra assistance to get healthy before entering Gen Pop. Some plants may require a terrarium with high humidity to thrive long-term.
Some plants need extra time in water to grow starter roots or to develop a better root system before going in soil. Clear glasses let us seethe progress.
LECA can be extremely useful to grow healthy, chunky roots. The air pockets in the clay balls allow for finer root hairs to develop compared to water only.
Some of the plants getting ready to transition live in moderately humid tubs with the lid off and a humidifier right next to it. This provides about 75% humidity, a drop from the 95%-100% humidity with the lid on.
Acclimating a Houseplant:
The less you do, the better.
Plants come to us from all over! Some plants are better adapted to the indoor environment than others. At the Plant Underground we acclimate our plants for sale so our customer has a greater chance of success with their plant.
But what if your plant just came out of perfect growing conditions such as a greenhouse? Or just came to you through the mail (where the plant was in the dark, variable temperature, and bad conditions for 2-20 days)?
Chill Stage
The Chill Stage should be applied to every new plant, every time. Whether you buy from a grocery store, a specialty shop, or a greenhouse, every plant needs time to adjust to new conditions.
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Quarantine
Keep new plants away from your current collection. Bugs, bacteria, fungus, and more can spread!
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Treat for pests immediately
Treat even if pests they aren’t visible to the eye. Assume every plant has pests and you'll save yourself a lot of headache. If you purchase from us, we apply horticultural oil to your plant right before it leaves our care. We recommend adding systemic insecticide to the soil for common houseplants (not edible plants) and monthly treatments of horticultural oil for all plants.
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Indirect medium light
When in the Chill Stage, give plants lower light than they'll need long-term. No direct sunlight or intense light. 6-12 feet away from a window with a view of the sky is usually sufficient.
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Don’t water
Unless the soil is completely dry, don't give new plants water. Water uptake through roots decreases as plants are acclimating.
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Keep in chill stage for a minimum of 3 days
Some plants need longer than others to acclimate, but don't rush it. Your plant is an investment and patience is key.
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Make Adjustments
This stage isn't usually necessary, but it's good to make any adjustments early on rather than constantly disrupting the acclimation to your home while it's establishing.
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New Growth Medium.
Only if the plant is potted in the wrong medium or in too big of a pot, you can re-pot after the Chill Stage. Keep in the same size pot as you purchased it or go down in size. Most plants need to be root-bound and many plant owners make the mistake of potting up too quickly. Do not re-pot unless you absolutely need to! The more you disrupt the roots the less successful the acclimation will be.
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Trim and prune.
Yellowing leaves, suckers on trunks, deformed growth, etc. can be removed after the Chill Stage to conserve energy and to put that energy back into healthy root and foliage growth.
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Introduce to Gen Pop
General population ("Gen Pop") is our term for plants that are thriving in your home's environment. They tend to share shelf space, require similar light, increase ambient humidity by clustering together, and may touch! Gen Pop is all of your plant collection for the world to see!
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Welcome to Gen Pop
Put the plant in the best possible place for it in your home where it can receive the appropriate conditions to thrive. Be sure to check out our Houseplant Bible for environmental considerations!
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Do not water right away.
The plant is working on adjusting, not water uptake. Let the soil dry at least 90% through before considering watering again. Watering too deeply can sometimes add stress to a plant that's still adjusting.
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Do not move the plant unless you fear it is getting too little light!
Moving a plant around the house will significantly stress it out. This is a common mistake that many new houseplant owners make.
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Observe
Watch how your plant does over the course of a couple months- a few leaves yellowing and dropping is totally normal. If your plant begins to significantly decline, the course of action will vary and requires extensive troubleshooting (more than this page can tell you): Is the plant in the appropriate conditions? Was the plant healthy to begin with? How do the roots look?
Plant Mail & Bare Root Plants.
Plant mail is becoming more and more common. Some plants ship incredibly well, some do not. Every time you order a plant through the mail you are taking a gamble and it's not always the fault of the seller for the condition your plant arrives in. However, how you handle a plant requires some skill after receiving in the mail. We wrote this to offer some guidance based on our own hit and miss experiences with plant mail to hopefully increase the chances your plant will acclimate correctly.
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Plant mail requires more patience.
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Plant looks good
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Follow Chill Stage rules
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Keep roots wrapped
If the root wrap looks appropriate (sphagnum moss and plastic wrap with paper towel) keep them wrapped and keep damp for 2-3 days before potting
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Pot it up
After a couple days, pot in appropriate medium and water deeply (“flushing” water)
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Increase humidity
If your plant is a humidity lover (prefers greater than 55% humidity), provide higher than normal humidity (more than 70%) for an additional 4-7 days by putting directly next to a humidifier, placing in a cloche or Humidity Box.
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The plant should be perky and the right color before taking it out of the Chill Stage and into Gen Pop.
Plant does not look good- Rehab Required
Some plants are going to require more effort than most plant owners are willing to give if they receive a plant in poor condition. It is possible o rehab a plant, but it takes patience. Some plants are in the Rehab Phase for months and months- we have a few in our possession that could be six months before they are healthy and ready to transition out of a Humidity Box.
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Unwrap roots immediately
Inspect roots for issues. If more than 30% of roots are limp/yellow/rotten or if the plant has a very small root system the plant will have an uphill battle to get healthy again.
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Root Rot
With a clean knife cut out root rot at least ½ inch above the rotten section into healthy root.
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Root rehab: Water Method.
If roots are not covered in dirt, rinse well and put roots in lukewarm water. Do not “scrub” roots as this disrupts the fine root hairs that may be remaining. Add a few drops of Super Thrive or other high nitrogen supplement. Keep in water until fresh white roots are actively growing and established. This could be months!
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Root rehab: LECA Method.
You can use LECA (lightweight expandable clay aggregate) in a clear glass jar and add the plant roots- only fill water up to the longest root and keep the top layer of LECA misted. You can certainly add a couple drops of Super Thrive or other nitrogen supplement. Keep in LECA until fresh white roots are actively growing and established. Adjust water level with the growth of the roots. This could be months!
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Root rehab: Moss Method.
If you have sphagnum moss, you can place the plant roots in damp moss and immediately put the plant in a Humidity Box. To get the right dampness of moss, soak the moss in a bowl of water then squeeze it out like a sponge. Mist as needed to keep this dampness.
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Humidity Box
For all plants except succulents/cacti, place the plant in a humidity box (>95% relative humidity) for indefinite rehab, even for plants in the water or LECA method.
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Gradually increase light
For the first few days, keep in lower light and gradually increase intensity and duration for the remainder of the rehab.
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Transition to Gen Pop
The plant should have established roots, be perky and the right color before taking it out of rehab. After rehab, adjust to Gen Pop conditions by slowly reducing humidity. You can take the lid off a plastic tub and keep a humidifier nearby (approximately 75% humidity). Keep plants in the moderate humidity for 7-28 days before introducing to Gen Pop.
Humidity Box
A Humidity Box is just that- a box used to keep humidity incredibly high (95% or greater). The box should be clear plastic or glass and seal air in. Put the box in front of a bright window or with a grow light affixed on top of the lid. Keep warm!
Since plants breathe O2 and CO2 both in and out, keeping the lid closed is OK. Fan the box every few days for some fresh air exchange (FAE) and to check for mold or other fungal issues. Some mold on bamboo stakes, on top of soil, etc. is normal. Be sure to remove it and to increase fanning.
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A humidity box is useful because it allows a plant to focus on root development and foliage growth to increase overall health without directing energy to preventing water loss. We've brought plants back from the dead with this simple method; but keep in mind it can take a long time. Some plants have been in our humidity boxes for 6+ months (better than losing the plant!).
