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Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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Posted by mxk3 z5b/6 MI (My Page) on Wed, Nov 4, 09 at 16:27
| I potted up two heliotrope and brought them indoors before the frost hit. They looked good for about two weeks, but now they've dropped pretty much all of their leaves. They are watered adequately, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Will they grow back or are they going to be toast? If I can somehow keep them going early March or so, I can trim them back and stick them on the light cart when I get my seed sowing started for the season (in other words, it doesn't bother me if they *look* ratty, as long as I can keep them alive until late winter I'll be happy, I can then trim then back and get them going for the season). Any advice welcome!
Oh, or can I dry them and store them like geraniums (bare-root) over the winter? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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| i checked their zone .... yesterday ... if memory serves... its 9 or 10 ... which translates to me as tropical rain forest type situation ... which means to me.. indoors.. in MI.. in winter.. your problem will probably be ambient humidity in winter .. and your forced air furnace .... we are lucky... in MI.. to keep our houses at 30 to 40% humidity .... NOT many outdoor plants.. can handle that ... and that is why we are limited to the generic houseplants we deal with ... sans a greenhouse or terrarium .... to keep it warm enough in the house .... you need to run the furnace.. and that reduces humidity .... or.. if you run the humidity high enough.. you will have a frozen waterfall on all your windows ... solve the humidity issue ... and you might succeed .... dropping all the leaves... means root rot... too much water in the soil .... or.. they were actually hit with frost before you brought them in... or they were going into dormancy.. and by bringing them in the house .. you disturbed whatever phase it was in .... or.. they just dont really like you and committed suicide ... i guess the only thing to do.. is keep it barely moist .. but not wet... and see if it reflushes... good luck ken PS: regardless of the type of heating you have.. the humidity issue remains ... as of course.. getting enough light indoors .... and the rest of the variables ... |
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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| Ken gives you a lot of reasons to give up. In my opinion "it will not work". A lot of things regarding plants don't work for me and after a few tries, I admit it. Al |
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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- Posted by mxk3 z5b/6 MI (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 6, 09 at 15:52
| Well then, darnit, I'm just going to have to prove you two wrong LOL!!! |
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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| i surely did NOT say .. do NOT try .... ken |
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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| Can heliotrope be grown as an indoor plant all year round? If so maybe it's just the transition from outside that got it. I'm going to try to grow them for the first time this year so can try indoors under lights and outdoors to see what happens. |
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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- Posted by mxk3 z5b/6 MI (My Page) on
Sat, Nov 14, 09 at 15:43
| Well, the dogs got into them, guess they find heliotrope tasty. I think they got into the mint, too - though they're breath certainly isn't what I'd consider minty fresh... So the heliotrope is hitting the pile (not the mint, though, I'll just keep that in the garage over winter, it'll be fine in the spring) |
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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| Hi mxk3. Just to let you know I was successful a few years back overwintering 2 heliotrope cuttings I'd taken mid summer. They'd limped along all winter, until mid May when I was able to set them out during the warmer days. They grew great then, and I had big bushy plants come midsummer (our summers are really only 3 months long). I'd done this only to see if it could be done (8-9 months is a long time to overwinter a plant indoors, I do it with my citrosa geranium and various coleus varieties too). I now purchase my heliotropes in the spring, usually they look only slightly better than the 2 I'd overwintered, but only the blue shades are ever spotted in my area. I'd read the white blooming ones have an even stronger scent, and should I get my hands on one of those, I will certainly have to try to overwinter the plant again - if the scent is what it's reported to be, and the fact that I've never seen them offered around my area would make it worthwhile to me. |
RE: Overwintering heliotrope indoors
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- Posted by mxk3 z5b/6 MI (My Page) on
Mon, Jan 4, 10 at 10:40
| Kioni - Select Seeds sells the white variety along with some lighter purple varities. I've ordered from them in the past, and CS is excellent, and they ship healthy plants (not big plants, but healthy plants). |
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