A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 houseplants outside in the NW

Hi, I just moved to Portland from somewhere else in the state. I'm living with friends for the time being, and all my houseplants are being stored outside under a roof. There's a couple of African violets, wandering Jews, kalanchoes, mother-in-law's tongue, a hoya, Xmas cacti, a Norfolk pine, a jade and a peperomia. Will all these plants be okay outside until it starts freezing overnight? Or should I move some of them into the house before then? Thanks for any insight or info or advice.

well, all i really know about is that African violets and norfolk pines are both tropical and canot tolerate cold, so at least those need brought inside. i have NO idea about the others. my mom already brought her norfolk pine indoors (we live in eastern washington). her's is about 5 feet tall now. we use it as our cristmas tree.

norfolks grow to be about 150 feet, but they won't survive any sort of winter, as their native island of Norfolk is tropical. however, they do very much enjoy being outside for the summer.

to answer your question, each plant has it's tolerance level. sorenthian is right about the african violets norfolk island pine. they should come in before the nights get to 50. other plants are more forgiving, some even are hardy to up to 40 degrees. by then they should all come in. the good news is that if you inspect your plants every morning, and check the expected lows every evening, you can tell what has to come in when. a plant that is not happy with the cold will be droopy when they get unhappy, but before they have irreprable harm.

Minimum temps:

African violets - 60 degrees
wandering Jews - 45 degrees
Kalanchoes - 40 degrees
mother-in-law's tongue - 35 degrees
Hoya - 40 degrees
Xmas cacti - 35 degrees. Benefits from cold night temps in the fall

Norfolk pine - 40 degrees
jade - 40 degrees
Peperomia - 40 degrees

These are minimum temps and are not necessarily recommended. Cooler temps mean growth slows and water needs are reduced. It also assumes that the cooler temps are introduced gradually so that once plants have been moved inside, they should not be moved back outside again.