Well, it's been a looong time, since I've posted here. Starting up a new business took up all my time for most of this year. Was just browsing, while I fight a head cold (on the excuse that I can't work, while medicated) and saw this post. Thought I'd add my two cents. I've been bringing potted herbs indoors for several years to enjoy during the winter. Each year I overwinter 30 to 40 pots. Winters in New Hampshire are long and cold. Some plants survive fine outdoors up here (e.g. mints, thymes, tarragon, chives), but many don't make it (e.g. sage, rosemary, basil). So, I grow lots of herbs in pots outdoors spring through fall and bring them inside just before the first frost. Some plants do great; some just hang in there until spring. But, even if I don't get enough fresh herbs to use for all my cooking, adding some snips of fresh leaves to the dried stuff adds a nice dimension of flavor. Here's what I've learned. Every "dont" listed is something I did, so the end result described is from personal experience, not book-reading. 1) Give plants all the sun you can. This is more important than humidity, temperature or proper soil moisture (which is a close second). I have several southern windows where the bulk of the plants go and a couple of eastern windows for those that can take a little more shade. I don't use supplemental light, but my southern windows have unobstructed sun. 2) Tropicals, like Vietnamese coriander and Rau Om, don't like to be right up against the window, since it gets pretty cold there. Tough plants, like, oreganos, thymes, mints, etc. could care less. 3) I usually dont bother with annuals, since they get very leggy indoors. Thats one of the reasons why I grow Vietnamese coriander and Mexican culantro instead of cilantro. An exception this year is Greek columnar basil (also called Greek bush basil). It is supposed to do well potted indoors. It is almost three feet tall and sitting in a southern window as I type this, so we shall see how it goes. Even if it doesnt make it, the plant puts out very dense growth only 10 inches wide and I think the flavor is more like Genovese basil than sweet basil (although I have seen it listed under sweet basil). It doesnt flower, doesnt bolt, and did fine all summer in a 10-inch pot, so it is a winner in my book. 4) Water less in the winter, since most plants will slow down with the shorter days. Drier soil is better; damp soil will kill many plants. Exceptions include tropicals, like Vietnamese coriander and Rau Om. 5) Leafy plants, like standard oregano, thyme, African blue basil, lemon savory, etc., I cut about two thirds the way back before I bring inside. The new leaves will be better adapted to the reduced light and the older leaves usually drop anyway in a few weeks. 6) Rosemary I don't cut at all, preferring to prune it in the spring. Same for bay laurel and other, tough-leaved plants. Thick, fleshy leaved plants, like Cuban oregano, Spanish oregano, Portuguese oregano (also called broad-leaved thymes) I leave as is and let hang naturally. They look nice that way. 7) No matter how hard you try, you will get pests, especially white fly and white spot. I use a pyrethrum-based pest spray, which is rated as safe for fruit, and a copper-based fungicide. Have never had luck with the tea-type fungus remedies. 8) Keeping a few carnivorous plants around, like a Cape Sundew (Drosera capensis) or one of the heavily branched sundews (D. multifida extrema), will also help control white flies. Capes are easy to grow indoors and look cool, too. 9) Herbs are tough plants to begin with, so I fertilize infrequently and use a dilute plant food, when I do. 10) Prune regularly to remove dead and yellowed leaves. Don't let dead leaves pile up on the soil; since they will become a breeding ground for mold. 11) If you intend to bring plants in for the winter, try growing them in pots all summer. The transition will be a lot easier for them. There are some varieties, like Blue Boy rosemary and Grolau chives, which are bred especially for pot culture. Oreganos do great in pots, too, especially the less hardy varieties, like Cretan, Italian and Syrian. For plants that I put in the ground, like Berggarten, purple and tri-color sages, I take cuttings and root them. 12) For potting soil I use plain, old Sam's Choice from WalMart. Nothing fancy, but it drains well and still holds moisture. 13) The toughest time is December. Days are the shortest and the plants are just coming out of the adjustment period. If you can keep them hanging on until the New Year, they will usually start perking up and will look a lot better within a month. Up here, I think the snow on the ground actually helps by reflecting a lot of light up to the plants from below the window. 14) Since its deciduous, lemon verbena, no matter what you do, will drop its leaves within a few weeks of being brought indoors. Dont try to prolong the agony, since it will just end up getting spider mites. Just move the plant to a cool place out of the light until March. Bring it out, give it sun, water it, and it will put out all new growth. If you leave it out until first frost, it will drop all its leaves outside and save you the trouble of cleaning them up for a month before you put it away. 15) Some plants, especially mint cuttings, can have a funky smell, when you first bring them inside. That will change to the normal smell as the plants adapt and mature. I hope some of this is useful. Overall, I think that herbs as a group are easier to grow and less fussy than plants grown for their flowers or fancy foliage. And, they are a lot tastier. narcnh

I am also in Tampa(Temple Terrace). All my pepper plants are in the ground and I leave them there all year. I cover them with blankets durring frost, but they still die back some. They have always came back with no problems. I just saw a recent thread where someone used those big Zepherhills water jugs with the bottom cut off, sort of like an individual greenhouse for each plant. I might try that this year. I believe tomatoes will not produce under 60 degrees. They can survive lower temps, but I believe that is when production turns off. Tomatoes are an Annual, not a perennial like peppers. I follow the 2-season rule for Florida and only grow tomatoes in the spring and fall. This year I grew from March 1st to July 1st, and Sept 1st to frost. By July 1st most of the tomato plants were burnt to a crisp. Although I have seen fields of shade cloth down in Ruskin, so I might try that and baby them through the summer next year. what part of Tampa are you from?

Laticauda.. You certainly have brought me back over to the Adenium forum that I have missed for a long time. Seeing my old friends has touched my heart and it is because you found me on another forum to ask me a question in which it directed me here.. So yes, you did warm my heart seeing all of my friends from many years of being here! I'm still around many forums and Im Mostly on the Plumeria Forum but I will pop over here to see you guys more often!! So thank you for your thread and your questions. !! Kadie. Lol. Mahalo!!! :-) Laura

Cory, My garage is unheated but usually stays about 50-60 degrees in the winter, I don't have a heater out there now but am willing to get one. It has no windows. I am going to be using the same CFL set up as Laura, not sure if I should be adding any LED's or other lights as well and am happy for advice or suggestions. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20110903/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007RKKEHA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_Jo-eybXDKWGFE https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M6SR1JM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_no-eybWRD9Q86 For the lights I assume that I should start with a shorter duration then move up to a longer duration over a period of time? I have started transitioning them a few days ago by moving them to a shadier spot in the yard before I decided to get lighting and was just going to put them in a window. Now I want to make sure the lights wont "burn" them once they come into the garage with the lights. What kind of transitioning do you recommend? My goal is to keep the trees growing and ripening the existing fruit then flowering in the spring. The Meyer has 8-10 gumball-walnut sized fruits and the lime has 2 walnut sized fruits. They will be on trays with rocks and water to help with humidity. I know that they will require less water and I already make sure to get them pretty dry between watering. I will scale back the FP to 1/4-1/2 the dose which I believe is 1/4-1/2 tsp per watering. I also will be repotting at least the lime in late winter/early spring into a 5-1-1 the meyer is already in a fast draining bark mix. Since this is my first experience with overwintering citrus and using supplemental lighting I want to make sure I'm giving them the best chance at living.