Bringing plants back inside.

I have not counted pots yet , I will when they are all inside. Bet it is over 1,100. I have tripled the number of shelves and light fixtures since last winter. Trying to be nice to all. Was 40F this morning. The rest of the tropical plants come inside today (given the energy.) C&S will wait until Monday perhaps. Forecast for Tues night is 37F. Something like 75% of the C&S will winter in my cold rooms - extra bedrooms with the heat turned off. They stay between 45-55F. Dormancy. About 99.5% of the plants loved the summer outdoors though I did keep some rarer, expensive ones inside all summer. Assuming you do it correctly, of course, I am suprized at how well they all do under lights. T5 fixtures.

OK, I was indeed curious so I did a pot count: 1061. Won't count the cuttings currently in 2 jars of water. Or the succulent pieces drying out.

I should count mine when I bring them in this weekend. I'll be cold tonight, don't have time to bring them in 'till then. Hope they'll be alright, Diane

Gasrocks,
Could you not by a GH to put all those in? You must have a large house or big basement. My husband would have a fit if I brought that many plants inside. Fortunately, I do have a GH, but it is not big enough. It's so nice knowing there are other people that go to great lenghths, for the love of plants. LOL

Show us some pictures...

I have no GH, no basement. A small, dark house. My one and only south window is about 3' X 3'. As of tomorrow though I will have 16 T5 light fixtures. Yeah. Actually when I first say this house, thinking of buying it, I almost passed based just on the largest room in the place (living room) being very dark (fake wood panels) and only one window. Very depressing. Finally after being here over 9 years, it is now the brightest and nicest room in my house thanks to lots of lights and plants. A nice place to spend time. Somehow green growing things just brighten up a place especially in our longish winters. I also have a 125 gal fish tank with fish that are over 40 years old and over 60 small cats that just keep having babies. Living things can be magic indeed. Last place I lived I raised rare trees. Was up to 165 species. Suddenly, I had to leave them all. Now, the soil is too poor here and I have just too many Deer to get serious about trees again. Only have 40+ kinds of trees. But since I really am a wildlife photographer, the Deer can be ok. Have an extended family of Turkeys living in my woods this fall. See them almost nightly crossing my front yard.

This message was edited Sep 20, 2012 2:45 PM

Wow I was going to say, about the sheer number of plants. I can't bring that many in this year, certainly don't have that many plants, but the cats like to eat my plants. Since I don't care for that I have cut back but have still had to devise ways to keep the cats off the plants.

Granted, I have now have 2 senior cats, down from the 4 or 5 that I used to keep.

At the beginning of October I brought some kittens (3) with me from one of my brother's house in PA while traveling. He has so many - his male and female adult had kittens (2) and they had the male neutered, but apparently there was somehow the ability to impregnate the mother again. So there was a second litter within 6 month (5 more kits).

And a neighbor brought a feral kitten to me last week which makes 4 kits taking clavamox and tobramycin eyedrops 2 or 3 times a day.

I have to say that I think plants and animals inside the house can be wonderful, but the sheer number of cats that you have and allow to breed sounds irresponsible. Just sayin'.

"Why should I have my pet neutered?

Animal shelters, both public and private, are faced with an incredible burden: What to do with the overpopulation of dogs and cats that they cannot find homes for? Approximately 3.7 million animals are euthanized at shelters each year, due to the sheer fact that there are not enough willing adopters. Having your pet spayed or neutered ensures that you will not be adding to this tremendous burden."

http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/caring-for-your-pet/spaying-neutering.html

I am very against feral cats. The county I live in wants $100. per cat for the surgery. I call that unreasonable. Next county over does it for free. My cats live outside. I have 6 right now. Wild ones have no chance of stealing from the food dish, neither do Coons or Possums. Yes, my cats would not be compatabile with my indoor plants.