When should I bring balcony plants indoors in the UAE?

The UAE growing calendar is inverted compared with Europe: October to April is the outdoor season, summer is the rest period. Balcony plants grow hard in the cool months and then need shelter, or at least shade, from June to September when the air itself dries leaves and dark pots heat the root ball.

Indoor-type plants that should come in: pothos, monstera, peace lily, calathea, string of hearts, eucalyptus in a pot, and anything in a pot under 20cm. Stay-outside plants: olive trees, bougainvillea, desert rose, agave, most cacti and succulents, and heat-tolerant outdoor plants; give them morning sun, afternoon shade and water deeply in the evening.

If a plant must stay out, use a light-coloured or fibre planter, raise it off the hot floor, group pots so they shade each other and water at dusk so the soil is not steaming by noon. The inverse move, taking plants out in October, should be gradual: a week of shade before full sun avoids scorch.