The Great Indoors

[bluedog]

When is it time to bring in the faint-of-heart for the winter?

I don't know what all of them are but here are a few examples:

- cacti and colanchoe - will they live indoors & plant again outside next year?
- some tropicals; philodendron, hibiscus
- canna bulbs
- ferns
- will begonias overwinter inside?


Next question, where th heck am I going to put them? <_<

[DandyLioness]

Bring them into your house.... and then buy a trailer for yourself! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[HarleyGal]

Get rid of your curtains and blinds, build shelves in front of all your sunny windows, invest in lights for when you run out of sunny windows, and bring 'em all inside till spring! ;) :D

Yes, begonias can be kept inside for the winter! ;)

[MrSeedy]

I really envy folks , who have lots of large south windows for their sun loving tropicals through the winter. I have a few sort of small ones , but not nearly enough to accommodate all my sun loving tropicals. Of course even those sunny windows aren't very bright if like me you live where you might see one sunny day a week or in one case one sunny day in a three week period. Those short daylight periods with constant overcast can mean that even the brightest windows can barely provide enough light to keep some plants alive. I"ve been lucky the past two winters with much more than average sunshine through the winter months so I could enjoy lots of flowers indoors. It would even help if my house wasn't laid out so darn strange, with an east facing front entry that blocks most if not all direct sun to my east window in the livingroom, and then a back entryway , that also blocks any western sunlight in my back room in the midwinter. Normally east of west windows can provide some direct sun in the midwinter, provided you don't have some other structure blocking it. I sometimes ( or should I say usually) hate my house. The only good thing about it is that my diningroom is free to load up with every possible plant, or I'd not have half the space for extra plants.

[bluedog]

Ahem...and so, in reference to the original question, *when* do I do this :rolleyes: ;)

[SilenceOfTheClams]

Blue.... I drag my guys in when the night time temps hit the low-mid 40's or if the daytime temps do not rise above mid 50's... which ever is first. The week prior, I treat them for insects so I don't have an infestation indoors. Usually a GOOD HEAVY spraying of water with murphy's oil soap, or any of the insecticidal soaps work pretty well. For plants with tender foliage, (gasp... hold on .. no hate mail) I place the plant in a large plastic garbage bag, fumigate it with Raid Home & Garden, close the bag and let it set overnite, then mist, let air dry and bring it inside.

ON the TROPICALS...... they'll almost TELL you they want IN! Bring into a warm tropical window, let adjust and water well...

[Arkie111]

:lol: Bluedog. Where do I put them? I agree with Harleygirl; take advantage
of every available sunny window. I use lights and timers and cheap shelving
when I run out of windows.
In fact, I don't except overnight housequests from Nov. l until the last of
April. Spare bedroom, living room are full of plants and the utility room is
"my seed-starting" room.
;) Most begonias WILL overwinter. But if they do start to die down. Take
cuttings, dip in root starter and restart the plant.

;) When to bring in? Silence of the clams is right--bring in your Tropicals
lst. I probably won't bring in all of mine until the end of October; but I've
already started repotting and spraying the tropicals. The hardy houseplants
I will take care of later.
Next comes the outside perennials. Have a trunk and back seat of my car
full of mulch. By the time I get all those bedded down for the winter--I will
have too many aching muscles and know I have TOO many plants.

[Ginny42]

Bluedog, I bring all of them in about the first week of october usually. Just like Clams said, when the temps at night reach the 45 degree mark. After the cold snap last night I was afraid all the tropicals were going to go into shock, but they all looked fine this morning.

Are your cannas in a pot or the ground? If your digging them and storing them for winter, you can save a lot of room. After the first frost dig them up or unpot, shake loose all the dirt off the tubers, cut the stalks to about three or four inches above the tuber and let them sit and dry out good for a few days to a week in a cardboard box. I store mine right in the cardboard box in a crawlspace under my steps. I just layer brown paper bags between them. Some people use dry peat moss.

Ferns are very touchy when you bring them indoors for the winter. Last year I had three fronds left of a large beautiful sword fern by the time spring came around. Silly me didn't realize it was because I had it right next to the heating baseboard. -_- I know not to do that again! :rolleyes: It did come back strong after putting it back outdoors though.

[MrSeedy]

It seems like I once again missed the "main" question on the post, so I'd add that I like to bring mine in when temperatures start dropping below fifty at night on a freqent basis and highs start running in the sixties. I think if you leave them out til temperatures are regularly very cool every day, they can find it a bit of a shock , when the average indoors highs are much warmer than the ones they've (sort of) adjusted to! Some of them are very adaptable to the cool days , but others may be damaged when temperatures are consisntently cool, so you should watch for signs of stress, such as yellowing or dropping leaves to show you they're not happy with the cool weather. Seems I read somewhere that tropical hibiscuses can drop most of their leaves with even a few nights in the low fifties, though those temperatures can be common nightime temps. in Southern CA, and I never noticed the hibiscus losing leaves there, though they were plants that most likely had adjusted to those lows over a period of several years of being outdoors yearound!! In general I find those cool temperatures by late September here or early Oct. so my plants will be comming in soon.

[bluedog]

what about the cacti and colanchoe?
can I bring coleus in?
How about the pink speckled thingy I've got planted next to the coleus?
What about the squirrels, will they be okay out there?
And, let's not forget the moles! Should I build a little mole haven?
I'm not too worried about the blackspot, I'm sure it will overwinter just fine.

I've decided that my bathtub will be a makeshift greenhouse for the winter. In the meantime, I am researching how people managed to stay clean in the 16th century without the benefit of running water.

(How do I use the "little green guy holding his breath" emoticon? He'd be so appropriate here but clicking on him doesn't help)

[bluedog]

I'm reposting to see if I can get any more takers on the topic. Am I wasting my time bringing in annuals (see above). I'd b bringing them in with an eye towards putting them back out, in th ground next year. If it's not gonna happen, I'm leaving thm out to die :ph34r:

[Audwoman]

what about the cacti and colanchoe? - I have had all my tender sucs and cactus for a couple of years bring them in with the other tropicals. I do no special lights. But I do have a garden window and a couple of sunny windows.

can I bring coleus in? - Yes. I took cuttings today. I will try what has been suggested....some I will keep rooting them in water some I will root in soil to see which ones last.

How about the pink speckled thingy I've got planted next to the coleus? - Don't know what the pink speckled thing is... is it a poka dot plant? If so I grow those all the time inside just in bright light not direct sun.

What about the squirrels, will they be okay out there?- If you have an entrance they will come in when you are not looking.

And, let's not forget the moles! Should I build a little mole haven? - No they will build their own and eat every root of all the plants you leave outside.

I'm not too worried about the blackspot, I'm sure it will overwinter just fine. - Yep that will be there next summer.