Bringing plants back in for winter- chore, fun? tips?

Happy,

I am "HAPPY" to share my experiences and knowledge with you--and anyone else. I seem to retain all kinds of information if it has to do with gardening--whether I have done it or not.

I was looking through all my saved papers on "How to" almost anything and came across one on Wintering over Caladiums. Here is some of the advice given by Allan Summers of Carroll Gardens: I will just state the steps--briefly.

1. You can store Caladiums in pots (if that is how you grew them...) in a dark, warm place. Withhold watering until mid-February. Then start watering and move them to the warmest place you can find---top of a water heater or the top of your refrigerator. Be sure to check for water daily. Keep the soil just moist. NO light is required at this stage. When leaves emerge, start misting daily. Keep warm.

2..If your Caladiums were grown in beds, dig them up and store them in a tray of dry peat moss and pot them up in mid-February in a very light. Professional mix--one that is almost all Peat Moss. Keep them in as warm a place as you can until they show growth buds. Put them outside in beds when the temps. are warm and stable--like in the 80's to 90's.

Just FYI: If you happen to plant a Caladium tuber upside down--they will have smaller leaves, but more of them than if you planted it right side up? It will be, sort of, quantity--NOT quality!!!....:o)

Gita

hi- i've ben reading along, mudst say thanks too. just bought two cheap pots of caladiumd and was planning to store in pots, so thanks for the last, confirming it should be ok. i think i better bring them in now and let them start drying out.

Do caladium do ok as houseplants? I'm thinking of sticking them in a window of my office. Could I do that, and then plant them in the ground come summer?

happy, I'm going to say no because I bought in a pot and it started out fine and now it is slowly dying back. There are only two little leaves left. I'm going to let it dry out and try gitagals advise and move it to a dark spot until Feb.....warm spot might be tough...all the dark spots around here are on the cool side.

Wind, if you couldn't do it, then there's no way I could! Plus, we don't have a lot of free window space under the best of circumstances, but I quadrupled the plants that need to be dragged in this year, AND we acquired 2 cats who eat and all plants (including the poisonous ones), so I have a major space problem. I don't think our caladium were very vigorous, so I'm a little concerned that they won't make it if I hold them dormant, but I guess that is what I'll try. Thanks.

I am having the same questions about the caladiums. I ned to do something today most likely. Thanks everyone for all hints.


Ruby

What do you do about bugs in your container plants that you bring inside for the winter? We have had horrible ant invasions in the house, so I want to be very careful. But I really hate using insecticides, and if I do use insecticides, I want it to work!

Happy,

I treat all my pots, including my HB's, with "Systemic Granules" 2-3 weeks before I will bring them in. I think the "granules" have now been replaced by a liquid version. I remember buying 3 bottles of the granules over a year ago (at HD) because they were being clearanced out/discontinued.
You sprinkle some on top of the soil and scratch it in a bit and after a couple of waterings, any vermin that has set up housekeeping in a pot will be dead, PLUS the toxins will be absorbed in the plant's "System" to boot to fight any subsequent sucking insects. .
I am not aware of anything organic, or non-chemical, to accomplish this.

Here's a few preventative things I do.

I never sit a pot directly on the ground, deck or any flat surface. Elevate your pots off the ground by an upside down saucer or some bricks. The upside down saucer is also good in case we have heavy rains. The pot won't be sitting in water for days.

Yes! The ants have been bad this year! I learned something the hard way this Summer.......
I usually hang several HB's from my tree for the Summer. Nice filtered light, pretty to look at, etc.
Well!!!!!! I pulled one of the plants out to show a friend how root bound the plant was and the WHOLE root ball was infested with ants! They had quite a nursery going there! This only happened to the pots hanging from the tree.
I figure the ants crawled up a tree (or maybe lived in it anyway) and down the wire/plastic hangers and found a nice home. I will not hang any more pots from a tree. Too bad! I like the look!
I also got a pile of bricks from my neighbor and had stacked them nicely up against my shed. Well! Within a week, there were huge quantities of ants and all their "eggs" under every brick. Now where do I put them! There are the itsy bitsy ants--NOT some huge ones.

Happy, as far as in your house, go buy Ortho's "Home Defense" spray. It is safe once the spray dries, and it will deter ants for 4 months. Spray it around your door sills, window frames, or anywhere else you think they are coming in.
I think last year's warm winter was responsible for too many bugs of all kinds surviving to pester us all.

Gita

The Ortho 'Home Defense' is the best stuff I've found, too... and it doesn't have much of an odor, which is a real plus. I spray it around the perimeter of the morning room, and around the rim of big pots, and I definitely use it on entry sills.

You're right, we've had remarkable numbers of those tiny ants this summer. I'm sure they're in a lot of the pots I want to bring inside. I don't want to use a systemic on things like scented geraniums that I like to nibble... but I think I'll give them a drench of water with some lysol or murphy's oil soap added... I know that'll knock back populations of fungus gnats, and somebody mentioned on another forum that it works on those little ants. I think orange cleaner and pine sol are also said to work. One capful per gallon of water for all of those options. Obviously, I'd try it on one plant first, just to make sure it's OK, but nothing I've used the murphy's on so far (including african violets) has reacted badly.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Do you want any crocus bulbs? I'm getting ready (finally) to place an order with Van Engelen. They've got a great price on C. sib. 'Tricolor' (possibly my all time favorite) and 'Firefly', and I'm also looking at ordering 500 of the lavender mix C. vernus at a nice price with the quantity discount.

Of course, if they still have them in stock when their sale starts, I'll have to order more... but I think I decided I "need" some now to be sure I have them!

gita et al- funny story here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/780506/

Jill: I might love to go in with you on the crocus order. I just got a big Blooming Bulb order, and it has been so long since I placed it that I don't remember what I got! Let me see later tonight if I still need crocuses . . . .

LOL, how did I think I had Dmailed the crocus bulb question to Happy and find I'd posted it here instead? No matter... anyone who wants can get in on the crocus "deal." If I get over 1000 of the C. vernus (giant crocus) lavender mix ('King of the Striped', 'Grand Matre', and 'Flower Record'), the price drops by 16% from their "per 100" price... that's still not the 40% off they'll offer during their sale next month (IF there are any left), but it's a nice price... 13 cents a bulb (14.3 cents, with shipping) brings it to about the same price as those boxes I got at Sam's last year for my MIL ($16 plus tax per box of 120 I think), and these will be fat, lovely VE bulbs!

OT...but can someone please tell me why I'm seeing theses dang ads all over the place?!?! That was one of the reasons why I came to DG a couple of years ago - to get away from those distractions.

Chantell, I noticed the new 'sponsor' for the forum also. If you go to My Info, on the Preferences on the right - click on Ads and unclick the Forum Sponsors :)

hi all, a nice article on overwintering coleus in today's DG feature. I want more trailing coleus; I really love coleus. I only have trailing Lava Rose; 'Solenostemon scutellarioides', which is really nice. I'm going to try and overwinter some by cuttings for the first time.

I really like 'inky fingers' ~ I can't remember if that one is trailing or not. I couldn't find it locally this yr and should have mail ordered it. I missed not having it.

Personally I don't think Lava Rose is very 'trailing' but it looks great in a pot. Any recommendations for other trailing coleus? I'd like to try some in our front porch hanging baskets next year. They would get sun.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/175/

also about the ants...I wonder if the plants that got ants from the tree if the tree was an Acacia tree? Some sort of symbiotic relationship goes on between ants and that tree. Most articles talk about the trees being in Africa or India but we have lots here in the US as well. My sister has those trees in her yard here in NJ and if you look closely there is always a stream of ants up and down the trunks.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/bugs-animals/ants-and-termites/ant_acaciatree.html

I never had ants as a problem on pots brought in but we did have quite a few beetles last year in the house that had to come from the pots.

wind,

That was a very interesting clip. How do you find things like that?

No Acacia tree here. The HB all were hanging from a Red Maple tree.

Very close to this tree is my shed and there have always been ants crawling around the door frame every time I move the door. I can only imagine that they are all inside the walls there. Sometimes if I move something that has been sitting on the concrete floor inside the shed for a long while, there will be ants "nests" under there.
I just grab my ant spray and kill as many as I can. They sure can scurry away quickly.
I have thought of wrapping something sticky arounf the loops of plastic strapping I use to hang the baskets from to keep the ants from crawling down them and into the HB's. Any suggestions? Maybe like some of the stuff they use for Gypsy Moth caterpillars?

Thanks, Gita

I don't know about a sticky trap. But on a related subject, I have read many times that you should not use insecticidal sprays for ants if you have ants inside the house, because it disperses them and you'll end up with more colonies. You need to use bait.

hi Gita, I just stumbled across that video clip...wasn't it neat? I'll have to send the link to my sister too.

Maybe a little plastic water moat like what is used above hummingbird feeders would work for over your baskets. I use them and they keep the ants off the feeders plus the finches and small size birds love to drink from them :)

kind of hard to see, but it is above the hummer feeder

Wind,

I've never seen those moats in stores, where did you get yours?

a specialty bird store or any online store that sells hummingbird feeders usually sells them. I was thinking though that the hole in the plastic cup and S-hook you would use probably wouldn't hold the weight of a hanging basket.

You might have to invent something that could hold more weight. Some people have gotten creative using aerosol can cap lids ~ maybe you could run a stronger support thru it then caulk it up with something so it could be filled with water???

Thanks Wind. I need them for my hummie feeders. The ants discovered them this year and were able to get inside where the dead bodies fouled the mix quickly.

I'll have to search out a wild birds in Durham, this town is too small to have any upscale thngs like that and I know Tractor Supply and Lowe's here don't have them because I am always going through their bird feeder areas.....

I made one by putting a hole in the bottom of a yogurt cup. I doubled up a sturdy piece of wire and ran it through the hole, bent a loop on the bottom (where it came through the bottom of the cup) for the feeder to hang from and bent a "u" on the top for it to hang from my shepherd's hook. Then I applied a generous ring of "Goop" (sturdy all purpose glue) to hold the wire in place in the hole and make the connection watertight. I had to get a little creative in supporting it while it was drying so the wire would run straight up and down.

Thanks Critter,

What a great idea! I'll have to see what I can find to use. Do you think those Rubbermaid small storage cups would work or would they be too small?

Anything that holds a bit of water will work, but I'd choose something that'll hold several ounces of water so it doesn't evaporate out too quickly.

How about the clear plastic flared glasses used at parties?
You could melt a hole in the bottom with a small nail to run your wire/string through and then just use a glue glue gun to seal around the hole. NO drying time! Boom! it is dry! AND waterproof.

Dragonfly--don't you think Rubbermaid storage containers would be a bit bulky and ugly to boot? Something clear plastic would look like glass and be so much more non-invasive--visually. Cheaper too.

Gita

I like the glue gun idea -- just didn't bother to get mine out for the one that I did. But have you tried to melt a hole in one of those clear plastic party cups? They tend to crack on me (unlike solo type cups or yogurt containers). I have it in my mind to spray paint the little cup I made when I get the Krylon fusion stuff out to try on plastic pots.

well, I was thinking of the really tiny ones that come in the multipaks you can buy.

I can never find them in a cabinet and when I do use them, they get lost in the fridge for months! They aren't very clear, it's true, but I think they will stand up to the outside weather pretty good. The sun here is merciless in the summer!

I know what you mean about losing those little half cup containers in the fridge! Structurally, I think they'd work fine... but if you have slightly larger ones, I'd recommend using those instead... I think you'll be refilling the smaller ones constantly.

Another option is to put a layer of vaseline at the bottom of the "moat." (You can put water in, too.) That way, if the water dries up, the ants will get stuck in the vaseline. Just be sure you do it in such a way that the hummingbirds can't manage to get any on their feet/feathers.

Oh, and for Gita's original question about using sticky stuff... I suppose you could spray "tanglefoot" right onto the hanging loops... the loops should be some disposable material that's easily changed out, since I imagine they'd become unappealing covered with ants and other bugs!

Ladies, I have enjoyed reading all your posts. Gita, how I wish you knew of a source currently for those spring loaded poles. I searched Ebay just the other day when I was trying to figure out where I was going to put all my house plants that have spent the summer outside. I can not find any anywhere. I used to have them, years ago and regret ever letting them go. I have a question for anyone who has more experience than I regarding this yearly ritual. Does anyone ever repot the plants just prior to bringing them inside? Does anyone "prune" back plants that are really lanky? I have some scented geraniums that I would love to save but didn't have much luck last year with them when I brought them inside. I have heard you can overwinter them by letting them go dormant inside a paper bag or something to that effect. Does anyone know of this? I also have several of the Angel Wing begonias, one that is way too big but wondered if it would make it more difficult for the plant if I cut it back. Any suggestions would be appreciated. My plants are not really huge, but the number is many and I have virtually no decent windows for light. What sort of plant lights would yall recommend? Thanks.
Shirley from Laurel

My SGs do great in my sunny morning room... I do prune them back when I bring them in, just because they get huge, and I usually have to prune them a couple of times during the winter also. I've also overwintered cuttings under lights -- the same cheap, cool florescent shop lights I use for starting seeds.

Wyldeflwr,

Some things just are no longer around--like those poles. I have had those forever! The only place I can think of that "might" have them is the "Lillian Carter" junk-stuff catalogue. Seems everything in there is cheap and passe. Maybe you could look it up on line.
You know what else is the same vintage and no longer found? Those little shelves you hook to the top of your window sash for small pots of something. YES! I have 2 of those also. See--I never throw anything out. This kind of stuff justifies my pack rat habit.

As for the Angel Wing Begonias--I have had them for longer than I can remember. The same plant--endlessly propagated.
I keep mine in the house for the winter near a window. It will drop most of it's leaves, but that's OK. All you want is the tops of the stems for next Spring.
I cut mine back every Spring. The growing tops (about 8"-10") I root in a container in water and pot them up when rooted--about 3-4 per 6" pot. The long stems--I just cut way back and throw out.
The original plant will re-grow to make a lush, new plant. About every third year, I take the old plant out of the pot (after I have cut it back) and tear the whole root ball apart. There will be some old roots that are all fibrous. Get rid of them. The more actively growing roots get repotted in fresh potting mix (my fave. is MG) . Just watch how beautifully those roots will re-grow from being re-potted.

As a rule, I seldom cut anything back in the winter as I bring plants in as cutting things back encourages new growth. I'd rather that happened in the Summer when all the plants are in "growing mode". I would say do not prune anything back unless you have awesome growing conditions and light in the house.

I do not know much about Scented geraniums, but I can guess that they would be a magnate for Whitefly as they are hairy. That is one infestation I do not want to have to deal with.

Here is a picture of my OLD begonia--all cut back for the umpteenth time.

Here is how beautifully it has re-grown in a couple of months.

And here is how nicely the tip cuttings are growing after rooting in water.

I've only had one scented geranium get whitefly... not sure where it caught them from! It was a duplicate, so it went out in the cold, and everything else got spritzed with Neem.

I tend to be a little chicken about cutting begonias back quite that far... I usually leave one or two leaf pairs on the stem... but I have a pot that's looking pretty leggy, so I may prune it more drastically.

Beautiful Begonia Gita. That is one plant that I haven't had and have always wanted. If I can find some space this winter, I might buy one if I see it somewhere.

This will be the second winter that I have brought in pieces of my geranium. It is looking rather sickly about now. It didn't have much of a chance due to teenage boys knocking it over two or three times before I finally moved it. So, it is alive and will bloom a beautiful color from time to time, but definitely needs "something." Do you think maybe letting it go dormant vs. keeping it alive through out the winter is called for? Is there a benefit to letting them "rest"?

Thanks ladies.

Ruby

Ruby,

I have one extra pot of the AW Begonia from cuttings. I had a bunch of them at Jill's at the Swap. You are welcome to it--but I can imagine that we live too far apart.
Do you know anyone that would be coming this way?

I will be cutting it back in the Spring again. You are welcome again....

Re Geraniums? I never mess with saving them. Can get nice new ones for a couple of $$ in the Spring.

Gita

Or if you're heading up this way, just let me know, and I'll take some cuttings for you!

Gita, the geraniums I'm talking about are those big pots of pelargonium (scented geraniums) on my deck. :-)