Houseplants are people too!

[Opsa]

We're supposed to have a very frigid night tonight, so I decided to finally take in the houseplants from the front porch.

Some I had to leave out there, since they've gotten so huje I cannot find the windowsill space for them. I've got a gigantic fern out there in a big oriental pot. I am hoping that it is hardy enough to live in dormancy over the winter and pop up again next spring, as it is lovely. Last year I had it inside and it took up about a quarter of Mr. Ops' study. I don't think he cared much for that, even though he didn't make a fuss.

Others I brought in even though they are scrawly. I have a couple of old pale pink geraniums that my mother-in-law gave me the year before she died (14 years ago this December). I just can't bear to let them shrivel in the cold. I also have a very happy variegated geranium that my stepmother gave me many years ago. She's dead now, too. It is too big for the sill, but there it is.

I think of these plants as the last living remnants of these people I knew.

There are quite a few out in the garden that I think of in the same way.

[Aggie]

I have a Christmas/Easter cactus that my grandmother had for years.  The original plant rotted out at the base, but I've made many, many cuttings and given them away, and keep a main plant potted up. 

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

We're supposed to have a very frigid night tonight, so I decided to finally take in the houseplants from the front porch.

Some I had to leave out there, since they've gotten so huje I cannot find the windowsill space for them. I've got a gigantic fern out there in a big oriental pot. I am hoping that it is hardy enough to live in dormancy over the winter and pop up again next spring, as it is lovely. Last year I had it inside and it took up about a quarter of Mr. Ops' study. I don't think he cared much for that, even though he didn't make a fuss.

Others I brought in even though they are scrawly. I have a couple of old pale pink geraniums that my mother-in-law gave me the year before she died (14 years ago this December). I just can't bear to let them shrivel in the cold. I also have a very happy variegated geranium that my stepmother gave me many years ago. She's dead now, too. It is too big for the sill, but there it is.

I think of these plants as the last living remnants of these people I knew.

There are quite a few out in the garden that I think of in the same way.

You could try "tenting" the fern in place-- el-cheapo plastic sheeting can be had, in the paint department as "painter's drop cloth".  Some cheap sticks, or a frame of PVC pipe (also cheap) some ubiquitious duck tape?  And vioal  Instant mini-greenhouse.

Anchor the base with bricks, sandbags, or similar.

If you can get them?  Transparent trash bags work too, if they are large enough.  Then you only need a single pole to hold it up. 

Ventilation is a must, though, so a slit here or there is a good idea.  Or have the base slightly elevated.   Not a lot is needed, the plant is all but dormant.

[Opsa]

An excellent suggestion, thanks B! I guess I'll have to remember to water it, too.

[Darlica]

My suggestion is in line with Bluenose's

First plant it in another pot, there is two reasons for this 1 the frost will probably ruin your oriental pot, 2 more soil means more insulations against the frost for the plants roots.

Insulate around the pot, you can use various materials for this I've used bubble wrap (lots of it), and build a tent over the plant as Bluenose suggested.

Don't water it much, in fact let it be from the day you pack it in and during the coldest months, until you unpack it again. The plant will go in to hibernation, this means it will suck moist and nutrients back from the leafs to the roots and then "sleep" it won't need much water. If the soil is too moist ice-crystals forming in the soil if it freezes will damage the roots and if it's warm  the moist will cause mould and the roots might rot.

Good luck!

[Opsa]

Good advice, thank you.

The plant is potted in a large plastic draining pot with attached dish that sits inside the oriental ceramic pot. Maybe I can put insulation between the two pots. That is, I could put bubble wrap outside the plastic pot and inside the oriental pot.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Good advice, thank you.

The plant is potted in a large plastic draining pot with attached dish that sits inside the oriental ceramic pot. Maybe I can put insulation between the two pots. That is, I could put bubble wrap outside the plastic pot and inside the oriental pot.

See if you can get some vermiculite at your local garden store-- it's basically expanded volcanic glass, a natural insulator.  It'll pour neatly between and you don't even have to remove it, come summer. 

[Darlica]

I'd say remove the oriental pot and store it in the garage or something.
All porcelain/ceramic materials have a tendency to store moist in tiny, tiny air bubbles in the material. When the temperature falls below 0°C the water in the bubbles expand and the porcelain cracks.


Sleeping plants are never pretty wrap it up an put it somewhere out of the way. Darkness won't hurt as long as it's cold but as soon it gets warmer it will need light and water. Even temperature is good so shaded place is much better than a sunny one when the year has turned.

I used wooden or plastic pots and bubble wrap and old rugs for my plants on the balcony it worked well enough.