Some plants may take up to two months to start regrowing. Prune the plant back, and it will bounce back in the spring when the days get longer. These include: Heavy mulch - At least to two inches. When to Start Overwintering Plants in Pots. How to Overwinter Tropical Plants as Houseplants. As either a container plant or landscaping plant, a palm tree (Arecaceae) provides bold, evergreen foliage and a tropical-looking growth form. Alternatives to Amazon abound — from online holiday markets and virtual personal shoppers. However, these kinds of plants tend to be more sensitive to seasonal changes in temperature. How to keep tropical plants alive, even thriving, during a Minnesota winter. It's not too late to sign up for our virtual cookie exchange.Find out how we culled 305 cookie recipes down to just five today at…. Watch the plant carefully for signs of aphids, white fly and scale, which may pop up suddenly even after the plants have been inside for a while. A Cracked Pot. Had I kept the banana in its own pot, I could have overwintered it in a cold, dark basement room where it would have gone dormant, and I could have repotted it in the spring for another summer of growth. In cold climates, keep the humidity below 30 percent to avoid condensation on your windows. Mary Jane Smetanka is a Minneapolis freelance writer and Master Gardener. Not if you live in an area that sees frosty or freezing temperatures over winter. To prevent it from growing too big and heavy for me to lug up and down the basement stairs each spring and fall, I divide its fat root ball with an ax every few years. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Protective barriers - Keep the snow, wind and ice off your plants with protective barriers. Most houseplants are tropical plants, which enjoy a little “summer vacation” in pots on your patio or deck. As for the bird of paradise I received so many years ago, the plant means too much to me to be dumped; during winter it is perfectly happy growing under a shop light for a few months in my chilly basement. Make sure to keep the plants away from heaters and furnaces, which brings us to point number #2! Plants from temperate regions (where the plants normally go dormant in winter), on the other hand, need the down time induced by cold weather. If things start to get really dark, try placing an artificial bulb above any … Unless you live near the equator, where light is pretty constant throughout the year, … Over watering can lead to harmful conditions, like root rot. More than 40 years ago, my parents went to Hawaii and returned with what looked like three coffee beans, each sporting a little orange mustache. The plant tripled in size over the summer and, as I feared, by the fall it was impossible to remove the plant from the pot intact. Moving your plant frequently throughout your house is harmful to its health. Keeping outdoor plants alive in the winter can be hard, especially if those plants are tropical or subtropical and you live in an area that has occasional freezes. You should inspect your plants well for insects before bringing them inside. I won’t be giving up that plant anytime soon. This article was co-authored by Lauren Kurtz. This helps reduce the negative effects of this activity. Danielle Ernest: The definition of over-wintering means to care for a plant (annual or tropical) that typically doesn't make it through the winters in your zone by bringing that plant into your home - living area, basement, garage - to keep it alive from year to year. Fill the bathtub. You owe it to your fragile specimen to keep it alive. Pretty much any heat source will sap any … X However, when the nighttime temperatures dip to 50 degrees F. (10 C.), it’s time to start bringing plants indoors to keep them alive during the winter. In order to protect the plants, you will need some sort of additional heat during frost and freeze events. Plant protection in winter can take many forms: you can warm the soil, you can wrap a shrub, you can block the wind. Failing to do can result in your house becoming infested with bugs. References. In some cases, excess water may leak out of the pot and dirty your home. You can always shave excess dirt off a root ball with your shovel, but it will be impossible to reattach a severed root. Limited beer, wine sales allowed with to-go orders of food, but cocktails still prohibited. Moving Potted Plants Indoors for Winter . I also have a lemon tree that flowers in the spring but pouts for much of the summer. Clueless, I stuck them in some soil and waited months before a tiny green spear popped out of the little pot. Tropical hibiscus, jasmine, bougainvillea and small citrus trees will do quite well indoors if they’re in a bright spot where temperatures are at least 60 degrees. Water and humidity are the next issues. You can overwinter your tropical plants by continuing their growth phase indoors, allowing them to hibernate, or by using overwintered bulbs, tubers, and corms to regrow plants. Last Updated: March 29, 2019 Lots of containerized plants can spend the winter inside if the temperature's 30- and 40-degrees Fahrenheit. This article has been viewed 3,782 times. Don’t be tempted to jack up the heat, as warmer air temperatures can lead to leggy growth and insect problems. These are tropical plants and don't survive exposure to freezing temperatures. This way you'll be certain of the lower range of their temperature resistance. Now, I get four or five exotic blooms on the plant between February and May each year. They were bird of paradise seeds, brought back to Minnesota for this fledgling teenage gardener. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. Can I Keep My Mandevilla Outside Over Winter? The ideal light and humidity for many tropical plants may be more than your home can provide. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/0e\/Overwinter-Tropical-Plants-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Overwinter-Tropical-Plants-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/0\/0e\/Overwinter-Tropical-Plants-Step-1.jpg\/aid8307933-v4-728px-Overwinter-Tropical-Plants-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"