House smells after bringing in outdoor potted plants.
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Check your pots for mold and standing water. Check the bottom of the pots as well. Is there any dead foliage on the plants?
Is there any mold on the plants or the dirt? Have animals used them as a litter box? You may have to change out the dirt they are planted in.
I would suggest taking the plant out of the pot and, as others have said, look for mold. Clean the pot, add fresh dirt, let most of the old dirt fall off of the roots, then replant. I would water until you know it's taken root in the clean pot. If they are indoor plants, fertilize, but outdoor plants of then need to go into hibernation mode. That means water them every once in a while but let them die back so they can hibernate. It really depends on the plant.
Did you repot the plants in fresh soil and spray them down with horticutral oil
Did you use a smelly fertilizer like manure or fish emulsion? Can you sniff it by any particular plant or is it just a bad odor in the air? Did you close up all your windows? Could something have died in your chimney or in the wall? Smelling like a toilet usually means standing water or something decaying or dead.
Let your plants dry out for a few days this usually helps the problem, you really don't need to bring in plants as you will just cause problems, plants should be over wintered, bringing them in will just make them flower earlier and end earlier and have fungus gnats and problems with fungus or mold, just a host of different things can happen when bringing them in, and also what food you are giving them can attribute to the smell of your potting soil, cats also like to use potted plants as their kitty litter box or marking their territory which can make plants smell and another thing to remember is don't over water your plants, also don't let your plants stand in water that will really make them smell
I have extra large yucca tree plants and several other types of large plants ..a couple of them are 20+ years old. This year is the first year they have smelt awful after bringing them inside. They smell like sweaty feet...does anyone know any remedies of taking care of this smell? Their too large to re-pot.
Kelly, where do you live? I live in Nebraska where it gets really cold. My yucca plants stay out all winter, planted in the ground and are covered in snow. Never even thought to bring them inside. They are a nice plant though invasive outside. Do your plants look good? Could parts of them be rotting to give off that smell? Good luck.
I am wondering if it is the actual plant that is causing the odor, or the soil. One way to find out - I would put saran wrap over the pot containing the soil. I use vermiculite, osmicate.
I also use Milorganite ( which is said to be treated sewerage water - they say it is NOT human waste, but what is the function of a sewerage treatment facility) It stinks to high heaven, so does the vermiculite, and osmicated fertilizer.
Try covering the dirt with saran wrap, if that eliminates the smell there's your answer. If that solves your problem, cover the dirt with newspaper and put a layer of peat moss in the container. Worth a shot. Oh, BTW.... I use these fertilizers OUTSIDE, but I do fertilize the potted plants with it as well.
Good Luck.
Usually most plants do not emit a stinking odor, More than likely it is something in the soil as a source of decay.
If you cover the soil, do not do this for too long, it can cause mold from the soil to grow.