I received two cuttings this past spring. They are now beautiful plants, and as an added bonus, one of them bloomed for me. The temps are supposed to go down into the upper 40's here in Kentucky this week and I am now wondering how to care for these as they spend the winter in my basement. How cold can it get before these plants are damaged? What do I do with them once I bring them inside? Thanks!
Winter Care?
If kept dry and cool at about 50 degrees theyll go dormant.
If kept in bright light and warm at or above 60 degrees
Theyll continue to grow inside.
I live in Philadelphia PA and winter mine inside my basement greenhouse each winter.
Rockdrky, mine stay outside all year. Last winter, most of them kept their leaves and kept growing and needed water. I have a nice microclimate going at my place because of the gravel instead of grass, six-foot brick retaining wall, and aluminum siding along the house. It doesn't get much below 35 here at night in the winter, and mostly it stays in the 40's, only getting down to the high 30's for a few hours before the sun comes up. Plumies, depending on their age and microclimates, will become damaged at freezing temps, 32 degrees and below. Some mature trees can take some freeze and have branch die-back and still come back from it in the spring. I wouldn't let your plumies experience anything lower than 40 and 50 is preferable as Michael said. There is a section on overwintering with links and threads in the Sticky FAQ thread for more info. about overwintering, but once they go dormant in your basement, you won't have to do anything with them until spring except to keep them dry and cool. Withholding water and fertilizer along with the decrease in light will help to induce dormancy when the time grows near for them to go dormant: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/599185/