Will these houseplants survive indoors at 50F all winter?

9 years ago

My houseplants have gone insane the past couple of years on the patio during the summer, to the point they've overgrown the room I have for them on the lower level of my house.

I have a mother-in-law suite, built over our garage, that we use mostly for storage these days. Most of it is a southern exposure, so it has fantastic sun in the winter when the leaves are off the trees. During the winter, we hang a heavy curtain in the stairway to restrict airflow and turn the thermostat up there down to 50F to save on heating. The garage below it is insulated, and the windows and siding are new, so there are no drafts, just a constant 50F even when it's -20F outside.

I have the following houseplants I'd like to keep up there:

-Rubber tree
-Jade plants
-Pothos
-Potted peppers from my garden (trying to overwinter these, as they were grown from seed given to me by my wife's grandmother from Puerto Rico)
-Dracaena palm
-African violet
-Sansevieria
-Coleus I potted up from the flower beds
-Salvias, also from the flower bed

Can anyone tell me with reasonable confidence which of these could handle 50F all winter long?

Thanks!

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Comments (6)

plantomaniac08
9 years ago
I'm not sure about all of them, but the Sansevieria and Jade will have to remain dry if being kept cold. And I doubt that temperature will be okay for an 'African Violet' (too cold).

Planto
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
9 years ago
Nick
I am not sure about all of them either; I had my plants in cooler 'storage' last winter, only 48F. Besides lots of succulents (many jades included), I only have ficus Benjaminas, few olives, passion flower & few other tender perennials. They all survived. It was 'too warm' for few of my angel's trumpet plants (Brugmansia), and they kept leaves all winter long. And I did overwinter pepper plant, it lost almost all of the leaves but survived.
With lots of sun you mentioned, daytime temps will probably be higher.

I would check min. temps for the plants you mentioned on net, and keep the ones that need more than 50F in the another room you mentioned (I imagine it's warmer?).

Rina
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dellis326 (Danny)
9 years ago
You could try building a false wall with sheets of plastic a few feet back from the windows with the plants in between the windows and plastic. This will create a pocket of slightly warmer space in the cooler apartment. Stick a small ceramic heater in there to bump up the temps to 60 to be safe. Or heating pads often used for rooting and seed starting under the pots can help keep the pots warmer and help prevent rot.

You can also take plastic milk and juice bottles, paint them black and fill them with water. Set them between the plants where the sun shines on them and they will absorb heat during the day and release it at night. Covering the floor with sheets of black plastic will bump the temps up a degree or two as well.
lauraeli_
9 years ago
The minimum temp for houseplants is usually about 50. Some are 55, like peace lilies, some are 45, like weeping fig. African violets do not like to be below 60.

If you bump the temp up to 55, you can expect all plants to be ok, minus the african violet. But african violets are small. Just bring it in and set it on a east-facing windowsill or something. (As long as it is not drafty, the window is double-paned, and it is not in between curtains and the window)
lauraeli_
9 years ago
If you dont want to mess with the temp...of the ones listed, the pothos and african violet are the ones likely to be stressed at 50. The rest would probably be alright. Just water very minimally.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
I wouldn't be concerned about any on your list except the pepper plants and Coleus. My house gets pretty cold during winter too.

No comment on the AV or Salvia, don't have those.

Will these houseplants survive indoors at 50F all winter?

Comments (6)

plantomaniac08

rina_Ontario,Canada 5a

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