The way to Keep a Baby Mimosa Tree Alive Indoors

Sometimes called silk tree, the mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) is a small, deciduous tree which grows outside in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 through 9. You can also grow a mimosa as a container plant indoors if you’re willing to give it additional care. Sometimes, maintaining a mimosa healthy indoors is easier than doing so outside, where it might be prone to several wilts.

Summer Care

Inside, behind glass, the direct sunlight a mimosa tree requires occasionally creates too much heat, so watch for wilting and brown, scorched leaves. Ideally, place the mimosa at a bright, open space like a sunroom. A mimosa tree requires bright light all day to thrive. Fertilize your mimosa once per month throughout the growing season using a general-purpose, water-soluble 24-8-16 fertilizer. To fertilize, mix 1/2 teaspoon of fertilizer into 1 gallon of water and then water your plant. Water your mimosa as frequently as needed to keep the soil moist but never soggy. If the mimosa includes a yellow hue, it requires more water.

Winter Care

Because it is a deciduous tree, a youthful mimosa needs to experience a winter period. To mimic this indoors, you’ll need to keep your tree in an unheated garage, basement or other cool spot for the winter. Ideally, the tree should experience winter temperatures as close to freezing as possible. But don’t toss your plant suddenly into the cold. Nature prepares plants for winter by providing them with a four- to six-week amount of slowly decreasing temperature and light, and you should too. Water your mimosa sparingly during dormancy but don’t enable the plant to dry out entirely.

Indoor Pests

A mimosa tree indoors may sometimes experience problems with spider mites and whiteflies. Whiteflies are miniature, white insects that collect on the undersides of leaves. The adults will fly off when you approach the plant but leave behind eggs. Spider mites seem on plants as tiny, moving dots, frequently on the undersides of leaves. You can deal with both insects having a homemade remedy. Mix 2 tablespoons of cooking oil plus 2 tablespoons of baby shampoo into 1 gallon of water, then pour it into a spayer and spray it onto the plant. Make sure you coat the undersides of the leaves, since it is where the eggs and larvae mask. Maintaining your mimosa’s leaves free of dust might help prevent spider mites. To dust the plant, then give it a gentle rinse in the shower or at the sink to wash away dust.

Size

A baby mimosa no uncertainty fits into your house easily, but a mature mimosa can reach 40 feet tall. While this is deemed small for a tree, then it is likely much taller than the ceilings in your house. If you want to keep your mimosa indoors because it matures, you’ll need to control its size. The planting container, which needs to have drainage holes, which can help by limiting the spread of this tree’s roots. You will also need to prune it to additional limit the tree’s size. Prune your mimosa through its winter dormancy, using disinfected pruning shears to cut back the tips of new development and remove old branches entirely to keep the tree small. To disinfect your pruning shears, soak them in a combination of equal parts rubbing alcohol and water for five minutes and then rinse them.

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