Moving tropical plants indoor preparation as winter time on the way.

[jimmy_sayavong]

I have several tropical plants and trees (including two banana's) which I would like to preserve their current beaty as much as possible as the winter approaching. I live in Dallas, TX area (Zone 8), I plan to move the plants into my gargage before the winter arrives. This is my first year for doing this short of things, and therefore I need lots of advise from the experts on this forum.

Here are my questions:

1. What are pre-moving requirements?
2. When is the right time to do the actual move?
3. Do I need any sorts of lighting to similar sun light for the garage? if yes, can I simply use the existing garage lights?
4. If I bring them to inside the home (instead of garage), do they require different treatment?
5. Do I expect to see lots of leaves falling during the winter?
6. What is the minimum temperature for a typical tropical plant to reasonably maintain their "growing" season appearance?
7. Any other suggestions/advise are welcomed !!!

Thanks in advance

JIMMY

[JoeSpareBedroom]

In order to maintain their "growing season appearance", you either need perfectly located sunny windows (and even that doesn't duplicate outdoor lighting 100%), or you must be quite wealthy to be able to afford sodium lights that will crank up your electric bill like you wouldn't believe. It has a large enough effect that the electric company in some places will notify the police because it sometimes means there's marijuana being grown indoors.

When temps hit the mid 40s, bring the plants indoors. Before doing so, inspect very carefully for insects, although there's little you can do about anything living in the soil. Indoors, they will need MUCH less water, so slow down the watering ahead of time. Expect leaf drop from some plants as they adjust to the lower light levels. If you're short on space indoors, you might get away with leaving them in the garage, if you can monitor the temperature.

[jimmy_sayavong]

I have several tropical plants (including two of banana trees) which grown in pots on my backyard. They all are pretty at the moment (september). I live in Dallas, TX area (zone 8) , and the winter is only 2 months away. I plan to move them into my garage before the winter comes so that they will survise the freezing weather. The main objective is to preserve their natual beaty as much as possible. Since this year will be my first attempt, I would like to get more advise/suggestions as much as possible from you experts in this forum to accomplish this task.

Here are my questions:

1. What are the pre-moving requirement?
2. When the actual move should take place?
3. If inside the garage, any special lighting required? if yes, how can I accomplish this?

4.What would be a minimum low-temperature in the garage that would negatively effect the plants well being?

1. Am I expecting major leaves falling during that time? what about banana leaves?
2. Any other advise/suggestions/comments are welcome !!

Thanks in advance

JIMMY

[JoeSpareBedroom]

You posted this twice yesterday. There's already one response.

[jimmy_sayavong]

Thanks for the information. It sounds like I 'd be better off by leaving the plants inside the house. However, you didn't mention anything about the banana trees. Am I expected to see just leaf turning brown, or it is going to be completely flatten to ground as it would be if leaving them outside during the winter?

Thanks,

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I didn't mention banana trees because it was so simple to google the information, I didn't want to spoil your fun.

[Compostman]

You didn't say what type of banana it is. If it is Musa basjoo (hardy banana), you should be able to mulch it (use the banana leaves) and it will come back next year. At least that's what happens in zone 7, unless there's much colder than normal weather (probably somethings less than zero F.) _________________ John Henry Wheeler Washington, DC USDA Zone 7

[jimmy_sayavong]

My original post was that If I bring the banana tree inside the house during the winter, would the leaf and such still appear to be somewhat close to its "current beaty" as it is outside during grawing season?

JIMMY

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I'm not trying to be difficult, but what if one person said the tree will look just a little ragged, and someone else said it would look like death warmed over? What would you do differently based on those totally different answers?

[jimmy_sayavong]

I am afraid you are trying to make thing difficult for a newbie like me to understand your point. The question is plain simple --- does the banana tree looks the same when moved inside the house duing the winter? I can't see that being as simple as YES or NO answer !!

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I gave you the answer early in the discussion. The answer is NO, unless you can come close to duplicating the light level of the outdoor environment. Even in open shade, that's usually much brighter than typical indoor lighting. If you want to maintain the plant in near-identical condition, you'll need to surround it with 6 to 12 vertically mounted fluorescent tubes of the correct type, or high energy sodium lamps. If you have a south-facing sunroom, you might get away with no additional lighting, but expect the plant to NOT maintain its exact appearance.

If you're not prepared to do these things, then over the years, you'll gradually figure out which plants are not practical to own because you can't provide the right light, humidity, space, etc.

[Compostman]

[clc]

The question is plain simple --- does

NO