Bring plants inside

Hey, I admit-I'm cheap. And it just kills me to see my Chinese hibiscus out on the deck die from winter cold-not because I mourn for it, but because I paid 15 bucks for it.

So I decided to bring my plant indoors to a bright window for the winter. Before I did, I put it through a four-step process to prepare it for indoor growing. This also works for oleander, yellow shrimp plant (Pachystachys lutea), pink shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeana), copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana), stiff bottlebrush (Callistemon rigidus), and other woody, semitropical and tropical shrubs.

Step 1 : Prune the branches back by about a third. This way, the plant takes up less floorspace. Also, because indoor light is dimmer, nearly all tropicals and semitropicals drop leaves. Pruning them back reduces the mess.

Step 2: Spray the plant according to label directions with either insecticidal soap or Ultra-Fine horticultural oil; otherwise, the mites and insects could spread to other houseplants. Thoroughly wet branches, stems, and leavesespecially the undersides.

Step 3: Potted plants often get root bound during the summer. The easiest way to solve this is to take a small pruning saw and slice away about an inch of roots all around the ball. How much you cut off depends on the original size of the ball. This one was 8 inches across, and I reduced it to 6 inches.

Step 4: Repot the plant in a container at least 2 inches wider than the original. I used a 10-inch clay pot. Then fill in around the root ball with fresh potting soil. Water the plant with a rootstimulating, water-soluble fertilizer, such as Up-Start 310-3. Don't fertilize again until it begins producing lots of new leaves; then feed the plant once a month.

STEVE BENDER

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Oct 2003
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