Oh, I bet Vermont is lovely this time of year. It's still 95F here (and will be for quite a while yet), so my indoor plants are brought in immediately. Repotting depends on roots, how cold or scorching hot it is outside, and how finicky the plant is. Thanks for sharing!

I've brought home plants any time. But I always spray (under and over leaves and top of soil) them with insecticidal soap immediately, and then set it in a room alone for about a month. I usually leave a radio on all the time, and the plants love that. Then if all is ok, I mix them in with my other plants.

Oh goodness, a whole month? What sorts of things take that long to show up?

I don't take any precautions or use any sort of insecticides or fungicides. I do inspect plants before I buy them. If I notice anything out of the ordinary, then I just don't buy it. When I get them home, I don't keep plants isolated from each other either. I do try and repot them as soon as possible. When I repot them, I completely bareroot them by blasting away all of the old soil with the jet setting on my gardenhose sprayer. This works great at untangling their roots without damaging them, too. I've done this to numerous plants with very thin delicate roots with no problems whatsoever. Before potting them up in my own soil mix, and into one of my own pots, I do give them another visual inspection. That's about the only preventive care that they get from me.

Now I have nothing against the use of pesticides. Granted, I don't like using them, but I would never tell someone else not to. I find that people tend to overprescribe their use when it's not even necessary. If you grow your plants under the best conditions possible and keep them in peak optimal health, then the vast majority of problems can be avoided to begin with. Learning what's best for your plants is only something that you can gain through experience. In the past, I've killed lots of plants without meaning to. I've dealt with just about every kind of pest that I can think of, too. I never let that stop me from trying. Whenever I killed a plant, I just tried and tried again, until I finally learned what plants prefer, rather than what plants will tolerate. I own many plants now. Every year, I buy newer ones that catch my eye. Not once have I ever kept them isolated from my others. I don't even own any pesticides. Well, I do have one bottle somewhere around here. Its active ingredient was pyrethrin, and it's been so long since I've used it that I don't even recall what I used it for. I guess after so many years of killing plants, you eventually learn how not to, HaHa.

Just like what Benjamin Franklin once said: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Which is much easier to deal with: Preventing a fire? Or fighting a fire? When you prevent the conditions that lead up to these infestations, then you don't have to deal with them on a regular basis. Give plants what they prefer, not what they can tolerate. Do this and you eliminate 99.5% of these kinds of problems before they ever have a chance to gain a foothold.

Thank you so much for sharing! I really love seeing all the variety in how people welcome a new plant into their home, especially given years of experience and what you know has worked for you. What worked in the house I grew up in on the Gulf Coast didn't translate very well to the Texas Hill Country, and that didn't translate terribly well to San Antonio -- humidity and light, so many lessons! -- but it's been a wonderful education.

Yes, that is longer than necessary. But that way if any eggs hatch later I can catch it before it spreads to other plants. For example, fungus gnat eggs can stay in the soil a long while and if you end up keeping the soil moist, it makes a nice environment for them. I have about 65 house plants so that's why I do it, and it's convenient. Reminds me to check on them more when they're by themselves.

Photo- I do not bare root the plants, but I can see your point. Good idea, actually!

I do a repot after a couple weeks, and break away soil and loosen roots, then add my own soil. I started isolation when I was purchasing at big box stores but have kept up that routine even though I've now found a greenhouse that uses excellent soil and they have a huge variety of plants, so I just buy from them. Old habit.

Photo,

I agree some over use pesticides. I always look back on the winter a couple years ago were I battled spider mites on my large Ficus Benjamina all winter. It probably has over 1000 leaves on it at this point.

Theres just no real way to manage bugs once it gets inside for the winter. Isopropyl alcohol cut with water keeps their numbers down, but never completely rid them.

Thats the only reason I choose to use something strong like Bayer 3 in 1 insect disease and mite control.

I thought a couple of weeks was a reasonable quarantine period but then I had a mealy bug show up on a red edge peperomia one month after buying it, despite having sprayed with alcohol/water/insecticidal soap when I first brought it home. No sign of any pests for four weeks - plant sat on kitchen table so got closely inspected every day - then boom, one big fat mealy bug. Must have just taken that long to hatch. Choked on my coffee when I saw it.

Mealy bugs are so gross when they get big like that, because you can really see them move.

Dave- I agree with the Bayer usage. It works well.

I can also spray them with Bayer 3 in 1 if needed.

I hope you don't mind me asking-what kind of 3 in 1 bottle do you use? The ready-to-use spray bottle or the one that needs to be attached to the hose?

Do read the label on the 3-in-1. Been awhile since I have used it (I only use poisons as a last resort as I don't want them in my living area), but, if I recall correctly, the directions actually recommend using it as a soil drench since it is a systemic not contact pesticide.

i do try to isolate new arrivals but it isn't easy-- I have so many plants that finding an isolated area is difficult at best.

That is actually a Manjula Pothos. I have purchased 3 of those that were erroneously labeled as Pearls and Jade. All Costa Farms plants. I think they are so beautiful.

Goldstar, I use the 3 in 1 that connects to a hose. The ready to spray bottle just wouldn’t cut it my large Ficus. For smaller plants it would work fine though.

The bottle that connects to a hose definitely has some power behind it. It’ll knock over any smaller plants that aren’t secured. Great for big trees though.

Paul, it’s not just a soil drench, you spray the entire plant as well.

Its meant to work 3 ways: kills existing pests, forms a protective barrier on the plant and absorbs into the plant as a systemic.

@massey, Oh, that's interesting. Would you mind having a look at these two pics to compare? The one in my OP was taken under warm LED overhead light, so there's far more of a misleading yellow tone than exists in reality. These shots are in natural cloudy daylight (no filters! ;) ) for comparison. I'd love to know for certain what I have.

It certainly looks like Manjula. It is less about the color and morea bout the leaf shape to me. Manjual leaves are kinds of curly or curvy and more round or heart shape. PnJ are not curly and have a more pointy tip. You can go on the Costa Farms website and it describes them and has a photos (not a very close one). We had a discussion on here (I will try to find the thread) where we were talking about the differences between Manjula, Pearls N Jade, Glacier and N'Joy. Justin from Costa Famrs gave a nice description of each of them. Costa Farms (exotic angel plants) grows Manjula, Pearls and Jade and Glacier but not N' Joy.

Here is one thread where we discuss the differences of the plants. I will tr to find the other thread where Justin gives a written descriptions. [pothos thread[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/anyone-heard-of-a-jessenia-pothos-from-costa-farms-dsvw-vd~4446385)

and here is another thread very much like yours here

Oh, thank you so much -- that fits exactly! -- and now I have a better idea of what I'm looking at when I see random "assorted" pothos mixed in with everything else.

Yay, I love having the right name! Thanks again :)

I always inspect plants before buying them and avoid anything with visible issues like the plague. White webs? Nope. Tiny bug? Nope. Dying leaves? Nope. Better safe than sorry, much of this is contagious.

I'm learning the hard way with rust from a now-discarded mint that's torturing my pothos from cross-contamination :( I keep the pothos apart but am paranoid of it spreading from handling. Every plant that enters the house is welcomed with a thorough clean-up and repot into lighter, less dense mix (have yet to try 5-1-1). I've found root mealies on plants I had inspected thoroughly but of course could not pull out of the soil at the store! Had to clean it up extremely thoroughly, would not have bought it if I knew.

Robin - Your comment brought smiles :) I've cleaned up store-bought stuff from mealies only to have big fat adults appear more than a week after too!