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Growing under Lights

What annuals can I over winter inside?

6 years ago

I bought a few grow lights and would like to attempt to keep some of my annuals alive over the winter inside but am new to this! What plants would be easy ones to try this with? I have some low light requirement annuals (few types of begonias, NG impatiens, coleus). Would these be good candidates? Would high light requirement plants (like marigolds or petunias) work? They will be in a room with very little natural light so the grow lights will do all the work.

For some of these (begonias, impatiens) I thought I would just take cuttings and work on growing the small cuttings into larger plants over winter. Any advice? Thanks!

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Comments (3)

raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I've kept bedding begonias, and also angel wing types, easily and successfully, sometimes for several years in a row. Last year I kept an annual salvia "Victoria Blue" (and I was surprised, I will admit). Calibrachoa usually makes it until late February then dies -- I don't use grow lights so I don't know if that is a light issue or just the nature of the plant. I've overwintered standard petunias, though. Geraniums are easy, even in the north window that I kept them in. There have been a few others that were fillers in the pots when I bought them, that I don't know what they are but they did well.

I usually just overwinter them in the pots they spent the summer in.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
6 years ago
You can only overwinter plants which are perennial in their natural habitat. True annuals, by definition, will die over winter. As long as the plants you use are perennial you stand a fair chance of keeping them going.
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i am new to gardening from seeds and this has also been my first year in this climate zone (8) i had no idea that any annuals can be kept indoors year round?! perhaps i am misunderstanding this possibility but i have marigolds, portulaca (i know, SO not for containers) and lots of potted nasturtiums that are still doing great and now i'd like to know if i should try to keep some around inside? (i've just been collected the seeds to dry & store for next fall) any insight would be appreciated.. thanks
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I also live in the U.P. so our growing season is to short for me to not try and overwinter as much as possible. I have a banana tree (from seed two years ago)and a large elephant ear that come inside. Cannas and gladiolas, oxalis,a lantana I grew from seed this year and a nice containerof Ganzia and tricolor sage and Orange celosia I refused to give up to the cold. I have a small grow room that I start seedlings in the spring that most of the pots are at with a sunlamp for light. I have two special geraniums that Im trying the no soil,brown bag method. I have a large strawberry pot with rosemary, thyme and a curry plant in the southside kithen window. A eucalyptus and sunset hibiscus and two types of Abutilion in same window. Ive had two large Hibisus that Ive had for ten years that come in and out depending on the night temps. Ive had good luck keeping rosemary alive most of the winter in a cold porch with brightlight but this year Im keeping it inside and well watered, keeping my fingers crossed!Even if I lose this one It wont be till after Xmas and It makes a nice xmas plant.
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Thanks for the details on basement storage Carol. While I'm lucky enough to have an above freezing florida room, but I find that each year I need more space. A greenhouse seem out of the question at this point, so something has to give. Since the basement is almost as big as the house, there's room down their to spare. Have you tried to keep plants longer in storage? In the best of all worlds I would want to keep them under raps until April. The crowding in the back room in March can be extreme, what with all the cuttings and plants grown from seed. You indicate that you don't water your plants during their long sleep, but I wonder how long you can get away with that - until April? Lastly, I'm impressed with indigo spires too. One that I planted out as a 6 inch cutting about June 1 is now 10 feet across and absolutely covered with flower spikes. As well as attracting hummingbirds it has been a favorite with butterflies. It is sited next to a nature center parking lot and has been the talk of the gardens. The one I kept in a large pot at home is much more modest, though beautiful. Next year I'll plant one at home in the ground too. I just love plants that vastly exceed expectations.
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I believe the general rule with container plants is that you should consider conditions in an exposed container to be 2 zones colder than in the ground. Unless boxwood is hardy to zone 4, you should bury it in the ground (pot and all) for the winter or find some other way to protect it. I don't have any experience with celosia. I assume it is a tropical plant but I don't know if it normally lives beyond 1 season. If not, there isn't much point to bringing it in!
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Loretta NJ Z6
6 years ago
It's late now but coleus is a good candidate for overwintering. Cuttings do well with some varieties easier than others. I wouldn't do marigold unless I had some very unusual seedling. They are easy to start from seed. Petunias have gotten a little pricey so I did try one very good performer but it didn't succeed. You can do them from seed and I did get some good results from collected seed off the fancy varieties.

As the overwintering prospects grows over the years of plant collecting, I've narrowed down what I would bring in. There are a lot of houseplants like marantha and rhizomatous begonias that are better suited for overwintering results and make a better impact in the garden because they come out of wintering looking good or they are quick to recover their size. Abutilon, tender salvias, Coprosma, Persian Shield, plectranthus, all kinds of geraniums, muehlenbeckia, tender ferns, etc - a lot of the expensive annuals that don't come in packs do well. Of course you can't save them all though you may try.

Some I don't do because the recovery time is too long- anything with gray needles like rosemary, curry, tender lavender, mandevilla (takes all summer to recover).

Keep in mind my setup is light shelves in the basement. I don't have sunny windows for things like hibiscus.

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