I love this kind of supermarket gardening! Others I have tried with success--as long as your local grocery story supplies the produce: mango (easy) sugar cane (even easier) dates (pits need bottom heat to hasten germination) loquat "Eriobotra japonica"(fruit can be found around June in more gourmet/specialty produce markets--at least here) Guava (mine has flowered and fruited in a container) Ginger (easy) Taro and related tropical tubers ("Elephant ears"; easy) coconut (you need an unhusked, fresh coconut, sandy soil, heat and patience--can take up to 6 months just to germinate) And many others.. Happy shopping!

It may depend on what kind of winter we have. If I were you, however, I'd consider the possibility of leaving them intact over the winter. I'd watch what happens, but wait till spring to cut them back. That way, if you get dieback, you'll at least have something to cut off that you didn't want to keep anyway. That said, because it's an annual (we're talking catharanthus--vinca rosea--not vinca minor, as in periwinkle/creeping myrtle, right?), even if it survives, it may not be as lovely and floriferous as it was this year. Stems get woody, and plants do get tired and bloomed out, especially if they've set seed. Kay

what eventually will happen is the consumer will get tired of these cheep but dying plants, and the big boxes will eith stop selling plants, or the more likely scenario. They will come out with slogans like "now 100% plant friendly" "Healthy plants guarinteed". they will only change when they are forced to by the consumer. There is very little margin for the little guy to get his fair share, and the credit he (or she) diserves. I managed a garden center. Before i became manager, we were filling the dumpster with annuals every 2-3weeks. In our 130ft greenhouse my only helper and I implemented a 0% loss policy, and from that point on, we threw out less than 1% annually of all live product. which means we sold 99% (at full price) It was a little extra work, and we got no help from the owners, but it was worth it. The customers loved how healthy our plants looked. We were a small farm market in a suburb-rural area. Everyone was telling us that our stuff looked healthier than the fancy plant stores in the city. There are ways to keep plants healthy, cut costs and increase sales all at the same time. as an added benifit, your business devlops a good image. I wish i could have continued to work there, but I could not devlop the business any furthur without help from upper management (funds and resources), which they were not willing to give. sory for the long story, but it's a subject close to home, I miss my friends at that business, which i left less than 2 weeks ago. --If God gave me one gift, it was the ability to rescue plants from certain death.

I hear ya, everyone has different setups and different needs, and this "hobby" can cost you. If you have your plants in a major living space of a home, your automatically cash screwed since everything has to look "more decent", from pots to tables to watering cans to lights (tool and accessory storage?). If you grow in a greenhouse, remote spare room or basement you can get away with more. Some houses are detached, attached, semi-detached brick wood or other as far as excess heat goes. I grow inside my basement in the winter using 1 fluorescent and 1 LED strip fixture hanging from chains over a table. I also have clip on spotlights for plant bottoms. I will go all LED once the bulbs go dimmer in one fixture. The main thing I'm pointing out is that fluorescent bulbs have issues and are being phased out slowly and have disposal problems, I'm getting rid of them slowly throughout the entire 6 family by converting existing fixtures. The conversion price and technology is here, enough to grow by converting ANY old existing fluorescent light fixture to LED by disconnecting the ballasts and direct wire to new clips, rudimentary electrical skills required. Wattage is reduced by 50% and they are brighter and last longer. Meaning if you see a strip fixture in the trash, there's a potential candidate for someone to retrofit. if you go to the grow light forum, its too wacky for me. Guys that want to build light fixtures (use this or that chip/diode and debate the merits)and guys that want to show off the latest $500 toy. If your just looking to start some seedlings and get Citrus through winter with growth its an option.....