I don't think your evergreen tropical flowering shrubs that grow happily in full outdoor sun in places like Honolulu will benefit from such treatment. And am wondering what the point of it would be. Otherwise if you are located in the north seasonal outdoor conditions will affect their behavior even in the south facing window.

Thanks for your response! Window space is at a premium with the season change and bringing plants indoors--if I have an opportunity to liberate those spots for plants that cannot enter dormancy I'm interested in doing so.

What about setting up some artificial lighting?

I love grow lights and use them on most of my seedlings and rehab plants--I don't want to build out more grow light space at this time if avoidable. I've got lots of options of keeping the plant awake over the winter, but I'm hoping to learn more about dormancy in general and whether I can induce dormancy into my hibiscus over the winter without major loss in vigor. One reason for this is the soil needs a changing badly and they're begging for an aggressive prune however I don't want to repot until Spring so that new growth has tight internodes and the plant has long days to recover in.

Al, are the plants you over winter in the cubbyhole in the dark or do you supply light?

Since I grow under lights in the basement and lights are on/off 16/8 hrs, there is a small amount of light that manages to make its way through the opening despite the curtain that covers the nook, but it is negligible - very close to being able to say no light at all.

Al

Al, thank you for your response. It gave me the idea to overwinter my hibiscus, geraniums and maybe some others in my cool, dark basement. I already over winter my bananas (after removing all leaves) using that method.

One more question: do you do anything to the plants you put in the cubbyhole like pruning them back to minimize transpiration, etc.?

The plants that will tolerate a frost but don't need a cold rest are allowed to be knocked back by a freeze. I also try to defoliate whatever goes into the cubby hole when I give the plants the first drink. For plants with thick/ fleshy leaf petioles, I use a pr of scissors to cut through the leaf stem anywhere between the main part of the leaf and it's attachment point (to the branch/ stem). For thinner petioles, this tool is a very quick/ easy defoliator that stays sharp for a VERY long time:

Al