Artificial light for overwintering

16 years ago

Is it possible to overwinter my tropicals under artificial grow lights, rather than sticking them in my basement? I live in CT, and I've had to bring my plants in already. Due in part to a good summer (and adding a few more plants to my "collection") I don't have enough room in front of my West facing sliders. (I have my large Gardenias, Passion vine and Mandevilla Laxa and some Jasmine there!)

I have smaller Gardenias, Jasmine (other varieties), Brunfelsia, Bouvardia, African Gardenia, Wrightia Religiosa, Datura, Cestrum (nocturnum and diurnum), Allamandas, Calliandra, Coffea Arabica, Mock Orange, a small Plumeria.... whew!!! Some are "everbloomers"

I'd like to keep them upstairs, but it will have to be under artificial light.

Also- Can I give Everbloomers fertilizer during the winter months???

I just can't seem to find clear and specific answers to these very specific questions; I'd appreciate any advice anyone has to give- and I Thank You in advance!!!

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Comments (5)

birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Jee, do you mean keeping these plants under artificial lights w/o a window?
If so, all I can say is whew..LOL..That's asking a lot.
The Plumeria will automatically go into dormancy, so you don't need to fret on that one.
The others you mentioned, are high light, humidity loving plants.
As far as fertilizing, the answer is a definate NO. Feeding times are best done from Mar-Sept, maybe even Oct, depending on the amount of sun each are given.
Did you overwinter these plants in the basement before? If so, what effect does it have? I've never grown plants this way, so I'm curious as to how they get by.
Living in Il, I too brought most plants inside..it was in the 30's the last few nights..today it's 90..LOL.
Do you not have enough windows to place each plant? Toni
mersiepoo
16 years ago
Last winter, we lived in our basement yet again (ugh). One TINY window and we had curtains on it. I had a bunch of plants that had 2 lights on them (regular bulb lights, but they were close to the plants). The plants that died died from either overwatering or when the place got too cold or both (we only had a woodstove and a propane tank for heat, and it got cold there. I did have some plants survive, like my small banana plant, my key lime and my tropical tree tomato plant. If those can survive on only lights for the winter, most of yours should too. You probably want to get some 'cool' flourescent bulbs for the plants to supplement, maybe put them on a timer as well. Just be careful to not overwater too, that killed my jasmine plant as well as my passionflower and my tea plant. HTH!
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littlem_2007
16 years ago
I had overwintered some of my orchids and baby citrus in the basement with the florescent tube lights which are sold for plants and aquariums and they were OK. they did not grow but they did not die either. this summer they all grew quite a bit except for some the orchids which are finicky anyways. this winter I got longer and higher watt ones and I will overwinter the seedlings: plumerias, papaya, mango, citrus and avocado, some orchids and the clivias (orchids and clivias are not seedlings). hopefully, they will survive.
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jimshy
16 years ago
Regular light bulbs are hell on plants -- much more heat than light, and your average house is already bone dry during the heating season.

You can buy a 4 foot fixture and high output fluorescent bulbs pretty cheap at your local box store, they'll work much better. The folded fluorescent bulbs these days go up to 200 watts, they require a different fixture, but may be the best cost/performance ratio available right now.

HID lights are the most potent, but they're really for greenhouses, not people houses. There's a lot of info on the "Growing Under Lights" forum, as well as books on the subject.

As others have said, most will go dormant or grow only slowly under lights, so they'll need less watering and no fertilizer. Hang in there, and they'll be all ready to go in spring!

Jim
karyn1
16 years ago
I grow most of those varieties plus many others in zone 7a and overwinter them indoors. You need good grow lights if you want to keep them going. I was using fluorescent grow lights for a while with sub-optimal results. I switched to 1000 watt HID bulbs and the plants do beautifully. Most continue blooming throughout the winter while indoors. You also need a way to keep up the humidity and fans for air circulation. The only real problem I have over the winter, inside as well as in the greenhouse, is bugs, mealy bugs, spider mites and scale. It's never a problem outside but a month or so after the plants come in I usually get an outbreak. Gross disgusting critters!
Karyn

Artificial light for overwintering

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birdsnblooms

mersiepoo

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