5 Indoor Plants For The Winter
Using these overwintering tactics, you may rescue cold-sensitive landscaping plants and ensure that they thrive again the following year….
Exactly why should healthy plants be thrown away?
A large number of gardeners choose to keep their houseplants outside for the summer and bring them within for the rest of the year, as seen below. Consider using a similar strategy—and saving some money in the process—by moving your favorite cold-tender plants inside when the weather lowers, ensuring that they are ready to flourish once again when summer arrives.
There are a few things you’ll need to do before bringing your garden plants inside for the winter. First, check for pests and treat them if they are found to be present. Remove or reduce the amount of fertilizer applied to a plant if it is in need of it. While some plants may only be taken inside and nurtured as houseplants, others need to be driven into dormancy for a few months of cold storage, and still others need to be propagated from cuttings. Follow the links below to learn about ten popular cold-hardy plants that you may bring inside each winter and then enjoy outdoors for many more summers to come.
5 Indoor Plants for the Winter
Palms
Palms are excellent indoor plants during the cold months.
In the Deep South, some palm trees may survive the winters, but most palms need to be brought inside to overwinter. Make sure they are not left out in the cold weather. Moving palms to an indoor place that receives enough of light when nocturnal temps fall into the 50s is a good idea. They should be watered on a regular basis to keep the soil wet until the spring, and they should be moved back outside after all risk of frost has gone,
Cacti
Maintaining cacti and succulents outside for the longest period of time feasible may encourage them to go into hibernation when the combination of shorter days and colder nights occurs. Keeping an eye on the thermometer and being aware of the low temperature threshold for your specific variety of cactus will be necessary.
Others, on the other hand, may be unable to resist temperatures of 20 degrees. As a rule, cactus thrive in a chilly, even unheated, light setting with little to no watering. Early April is the best time to reintroduce them outside.
Citrus
Fruiting citrus trees are vigorous growers and flowerers over the winter months, with the possibility of ripening fruit as well. Before cold weather approaches, carefully place them into a well-lit area with a temperature between 55 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Given that citrus trees are particularly susceptible to the drying effects of the air, it’s advisable to situate them away from heat vents and cold breezes. Using a pebble tray or frequent misting, you may add more humidity to the air.
Hibiscus spp.
Plants may be kept inside throughout the winter months. hibiscus flowering in the tropics
When nighttime temps approach the low 50s, bring tropical hibiscus plants indoors. Place them in a well-lit area and care for them as you would any other houseplant.
Maintain a moist but not saturated soil, and feed them on a regular basis to ensure good growth.
Try to keep heat vents and cold breezes out of the room, and if required, place the plants on a pebble tray to increase the overall humidity. If you want to keep the form of your tropical hibiscus, prune it three times in the late autumn and winter (October, December, and February).
Jasmine
Tropical jasmine for the winter indoors.
Before bringing jasmine vines inside for the winter, prune them back by at least 25%. This will free up valuable space in your house while also lowering the amount of energy required to keep the plant alive.
Remember that leaves will most likely fall off, maybe all of them, but that new ones will sprout in their place in due course! Make sure to place jasmine in a bright, sunny area before the cold winter hits, and keep it away from drying air vents and cold winds. A pebble tray may be used to increase the humidity by roughly 30%.
Elephant Ears
Plants may be kept inside throughout the winter months. Elephant ears are a kind of ear that is shaped like an elephant’s trunk.
Dig out your elephant ear tuber when the temperature cools down and the foliage begins to die back in the fall. Remove any residual leaves, then carefully rinse away any leftover debris and grime with water. Allow for a few days of drying time by placing the tuber in a warm, dark room with sufficient air circulation.
The bulbs should be wrapped in paper and kept in a cold, dry environment. Keep an eye out for decay (throw away those that are rotting) and insect damage on a regular basis (treat with an insecticide).
Boston Ferns
Plants may be kept inside throughout the winter months. The Boston Fern (also known as the Bostonian Fern)
Boston ferns may be brought inside the house and kept in their active form throughout the winter, but this is a dirty endeavor that takes a long time to complete. rather of waking them up, put them to sleep Maintain a cold, dark environment that will not freeze (for example, an unheated basement or garage) and water them once a month until the spring blooming season.
Geraniums
Geraniums for the winter inside
An other plant that enjoys sleeping through the winter is the geranium. Before the first freeze, dig the plants out of the ground and carefully knock the dirt away from the roots with a spatula. Set aside for a couple of days in a cool, shaded spot to dry out completely.
Stack the plants in a paper bag and secure the top with tape or a rubber band. Keep them in a cold, dark place where the temperature maintains between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. Trim the geraniums that have been preserved and plant them in wet potting soil with two leaf nodes below the soil line about 2 months before the last frost date.
a trumpet played by an angel
Plants may be kept inside throughout the winter months. trumpeting angels
As soon as the first frigid day arrives, bring your potted angel’s trumpets indoors to a cool, dark location.
Leaf fall and dormancy are both expected for this plant. Maintain a slightly damp soil environment until spring, after which the plant may be moved outdoors after the threat of frost is over. When bringing in-ground plants inside, either dig them up and pot them, or cut them down to the ground in the autumn to generate rooted cuttings that may be transplanted the following spring in their new location.
Banana
a banana plant that can survive the winter inside
However, while Musa basjoo, Musa lasiocarpa, and a few other banana trees are highly resistant to freezing temperatures, the majority of banana plants will not endure prolonged periods of freezing temperatures.
The potted banana plants may be moved inside and placed in a bright, sunny area where they will be in a more sedentary condition for the duration of the winter months. Alternatively, you may assist them in sleeping through the winter by gradually reducing watering as the weather cools down. Finally, before the frost, cut the plant down to 6 inches in height and relocate it to a dark, cool spot away from direct sunlight. Maintain a just wet soil till the weather heats up in the springtime.
