WINTER INDOOR Container Plant care - What works? Problems?

[applestar]

Mid January and solidly in the middle of winter indoor container plant season.
I was thinking that DEFINITELY misting every morning keeps them happy. Last winter, I was sick late fall to early winter and was unable to keep up this routine which had always been my "must do" and my plants deteriorated by mid- January.

This year, I have been diligent and haven't missed but a handful of days so far, so I'm able to say with conviction that this works for me.

I thought it might be a good idea to pool our ideas and review how winter indoor care may differ among different gardeners, probably depending on their regional climate and indoor environment.

Feel free to post about specific problems or issues if related. Let's see if we can come up with a solution.

I'm just going to re-post something I wrote in another thread in reference to bringing container citrus and fruit trees inside in the fall which I think summarizes my situation somewhat. I'll post more about other stuff later.

Start acclimating your plants to lower light conditions by moving them to a less sunny location. This works out for me because I begin by putting them on my patio which is more sheltered and the brick helps to keep the temps up a little more than out in the open so they can stay out a little longer, but is handy for bringing them inside in a hurry if lower temp is forecast, AND this location is shaded by the trees until late morning.

I agree about repotting. You should see my "jungle" on the patio right now. Repotted ones on the left, to be repotted ones on the right and elsewhere in the garden.

Actually, a location that gets morning sun but is shaded before sunset is more ideal, if you have one.

Check out this list and be sure to bring in the plants before or as soon as the overnight/pre-dawn temps start to dip below the minimum. If they experience too low temp for several days straight, they'll start the dormancy mechanism and will drop leaves even if you bring them inside and they won't turn around for a while.

If your plant is not listed, I don't have it. Please post the minimums in the thread if you find out and I'll add it to the OP so it can be a useful reference.

P.S. I don't spray my plants. I try to bring in the full microcosm including the predators, and I want to preserve the soil food web in the containers, but that's just me. I shoo any flying bugs off, and I do try to encourage the ants to move out by flooding the pots before bringing them in. There are usually some spiders and centipedes. Last year, there was a Black Swallowtail chrysalis.

Oh. I do draw the line at grand brown garden spiders. When I moved the avocado yesterday, I accidentally broke a two-foot diameter web. I was hoping the spider who usually climbs up one of the anchor lines as soon as they see me come near had hidden in the apple branch, but when I looked closer, I saw it peeking out from the top of the avocado. So I positioned the plant so the avocado is touching the honeysuckle vine. Hopefully, she moved out last night because I need to bring the plant in soon.

PPS. When I do bring them inside -- There is always some leaf loss and some plants do drop leaves more. I thoroughly mist my plants with filtered water first thing in the morning and lat thing at night.* I believe they are used to the morning dew and evening condensation and the higher humidity. If I neglect to do this, their leaves tend to take on dried crisp appearance and start to drop.

PPPS. I forgot another important point -- you need to check their preferred winter temp, and survey your home for micro-climates. Most of my citruses stay downstairs in a SW window in a room farthest from the thermostat where temps fall to low 60's -- but they would prefer 50's. My tropicals go upstairs where it stays above 65 and closer to 70. You can always provide supplemental light if necessary.

*Not misting at night at all this year since I'm growing tomatoes as you may have noted, and I was afraid they would suffer fungal issues. Some plants look like they could use extra misting but I've been refraining. They all seem to be OK except the plants that are more likely to be in dry forced air heat vent drafts.

[prettygurl]

When a plant gets sick...throw it out immediately! Lol. I tried to save one and ended up losing 3 total. After doing some research, I found out that the disease was common in greenhouses.

[rainbowgardener]

I am absolutely with you, that daily misting makes a huge difference and sometimes is the difference between success and failure.

Supplemental light is important for some plants, depending on the plant and how good your natural light is (I don't have any really sunny windows).

Keep inspecting for insects, caterpillars, etc. It is amazing how many little wormy things can manage to come in with your plants.

Don't over water or over fertilize. Indoors the plants are not taking up as much water and nutrients as they would outdoors, they are not exposed to drying winds etc. It is easy to over-water.

[applestar]

Good points, rainbowgardener.

More supplemental lights you can give, the more the plants will respond. The difference can be quite noticeable.

Ex. I am overwintering Lemon Verbena. I put the three containers in three different locations --
1) On a downstairs sofa table (average comfortable for people temperatures) a few feet from the windows, supplemental lights are present but this plant is not very close to them. Misted every morning but in the exposed open location the RH dries up pretty quickly.
2) On a SE windowsill. Only natural light. Window is uncovered so it's cold, especialy at night. It was particularly dark near winter solstice, but now the sun is rising earlier and tavels higher everyday. Misted but not as thoroughly every morning. Even with double glazed windows, there is some condensation on the window in the morning so a little more humidity.
3) Inside a indoor "greenhouse shelf unit" with T-12 and T-5 daylight tubes feom sunup to bedtime. Front flap is unzipped and only 1/2 closed but the plant is in the back of the bottom shelf and does get some natural light from the uncovered NW window. Matchstick blinds are closed at night but doesn't provide thermal protection. Probably warmer than exposed windowsill of (2). Misted thoroughly every morning, and the higher humidity is retained by the plastic enclosure shared by many plants. Small PC fan on a timer runs for 4 hours every afternoon for air circulation.

So far, (1) plant is on its last legs -- leaves have dried, curled, and dropped one by one and two of the cutting-grown plants have already died, (2) plant was looking really sad but is now looking better. No leaf drop but no growth. (3) plant has healthy green leaves and new shoots.

I think it's obvious that good light and humidity are big requirements for Lemon Verbena to stay healthy. However, since they are perennials that die to the ground in frost/hard freeze-free areas, I believe they can come back in spring if you can provide a dormancy-inducing conditions. In my experience, Lemon Verbena that didn't manage to stay alive over the winter in warm indoor conditions won't come back in spring. If they are limping along -- usually end up infested by red Spidermites -- they have very hard time recovering in spring but can be saved by hardening off and put outside very early as soon as chance of hard freeze is over -- around a month before last average frost.

For all winter indoor container plants, no matter what kind of lights they are given, it's a good idea to turn/rotate the pot every day or at least every couple of days. At least every time you water. You can tell by the way leaves turn towards the light that they are not getting even light coverage. You can even shuffle plants around as well as rotate the pots so they all get good light when it's their turn.

Another reason to rotate the pots is to be able to inspect the plants from every direction. Don't forget to look up at the underside of the leaves and to look down from above the plants.

Right now, I'm managing minor aphid infestation by hand picking them singly off the foliage whenever I see them. Temperatures are low enough that this is sufficient. I see adults every once in a while so I think those pesky ants are still coming in whenever there is a thaw to pasture the aphid herd. Sometimes, I miss them and they give live births to more, then I might miss the littering ones. But they leave a trail of white empty shells as they grow and moot. So if you follow the trail and search nearby, you can locate the aphid and squish before they have the chance to make more.
-- I almost always find more when I rotate the plant to expose visual line of sight that was hidden before.

If a pest infestation gets to be too much for simple hand picking and squishing, I spray thoroughly with dilute soap solution in the sink or the bathtub/shower. I also spray with milk solution or AACT solution in case of foliar fungal problems.