Summer plants spend winter indoors awaiting warmer weather
By JOYCE KARSNAK
OSU Extension master gardener volunteer
CANFIELD
With the sun staying out longer each day, the plants that came inside with me last fall are drinking up more plant food and needing a bit more water.
On particularly cold and snowy days, trimming and tidying them up is a fun task.
These aren’t considered traditional houseplants. They include geraniums, coleus and succulents grown in the outdoor gardens.
They can spend the winter with you in the house and be a great addition to the garden now that it is spring.
An excellent one to try is Mezoo “Trailing Red,” a succulent in the Aizoaceae family. With a cream-colored margin surrounding light green leaves, the plant produces dime-sized daisy-like red flowers, but you’ll grow this succulent for its foliage.
Dorotheanthus bellidiformis Mezoo “Trailing Red” is native to South Africa and prefers arid conditions. It also does not care for heavy clay soil, but will grow in it.
It thrives in containers, using a normal light potting mix. It is a beautiful spiller with a mounding and trailing habit. It will grow beautifully in partial shade, but will produce more flowers in the sun.
Another species in the same family is Aptenia cordifolia, which looks very similar, but with a tighter growth habit.
In temperate climates, the plant grows outdoors year-round. It will not withstand the cold, however. This is when it begins its second season when you bring it in and put it in a south facing sunny window.
Trimming away the trailing growth, and any extra-long roots, the plant can be potted in a relatively small 4-inch pot.
Water when the plant looks a bit dry. If overwatered, leaves will drop. If underwatered, leaves will be limp.
It does not require much fertilization, just lots of light and warmth.
The first year I grew this plant, I couldn’t bear to cut the trailing foliage when I brought it in, but that was too stressful for the plant and the leaves dropped and the vines withered.
I cut it back as a last resort to short stubs and a few leaves. Before long, small leaves appeared on the bare stems, and soon, the plant was rejuvenated.
Healthy stem cuttings could also be rooted in a potting mix. For information on how to do this, go to http://go.osu.edu/movinginside.
Colorful coleus is also a good choice for wintering over in a bright indoor area.
Before frost, take cuttings about 5 inches long and strip the bottom leaves from the cutting and place in water so that the remaining leaves are above the waterline. In a short time, roots will appear. When the roots are a nice size for potting, plant in a soilless mix, either singly or in combination.
Short cloudy days produces thinner growth with longer spacing between leaves. After the plant takes hold, pinching leggy stems will promote side growth. (Warning: it is unlawful to propagate and sell cuttings taken from proprietary plants developed by professional growers.)