Ask Burton: Q: I’ll be bringing in my houseplants from the patio soon. What insecticide should I use to make sure no critters come inside with them?

A: There are multiple effective ways to protect your houseplants during winter, but our favorite is using orange oil. It is easy to use and has a pleasant smell. Here’s how to use it: Mix one to two ounces of orange oil with a gallon of water in a large bucket. Dunk the root balls of your houseplants in the solution for about ten seconds, then take them out to dry. This treatment will repel and eliminate most soil-dwelling insects and is completely safe for humans. It will significantly reduce the number of unwanted guests in your home during winter.

However, ensure you don’t use too much orange oil on the leaves, as it may cause damage. Before bringing your plants indoors, give them a thorough inspection for mealybugs. If you find any, treat the affected plants outside with a systemic insecticide every few days until the problem is gone. Mealybugs can quickly spread to other plants if they are still infested with active pests and brought inside.

Lastly, if you have a small plant heavily infested by mealybugs, it is better to dispose of it than bring it inside. This way, you can prevent the infestation from spreading to other plants. It is better to lose one or two plants than to put all your other plants at risk.

(And this is important. If you have a smaller, less-valuable plant or two that seems to be intractably infested by mealybugs, chuck them rather than bringing them inside for winter. Better to accept the loss of one or two than infest a dozen over the course of the winter.