Overwintering ideas please

Unfortunatle , I`ve got a detached house that face east > west , so don`t have all day light at all ,
early morning sunshine on one end and late afternoon on the other end , I`ve tryed many time to overwintering those plants with no luck at all , so it start to be impossible overwintering plants like :

Papyrus



I`m ok with the other variety , but this one is just not easy for me , I`ve tryed from seeds , but will not do a lot in one season .

water lattuce




I`m thinging to get a fihtank but anyother idea would be good

soft plants like coleus , I know they are easy from seeds but it would be nice to save them



persian shield




and other few , that would be nice to keep them alive ...

 

You must of been reading my mind sal about overwintering!
Today I've took some cuttings of my favourite coleus, never had any luck with seeds always end up buying plug plants. Love that persian shield too, I think that you can take cuttings easily from that too.
Not to sure about the papyrus though, it's one on my list for next year
I've got a musa sikkimensis red tiger that I need to over winter

 

I'll be watching this thread for tips on the Papyrus (hopefully) as I have one myself

I've also got a Banana (sikkimensis hybrid), Young Paulownia and a dozen or so Cannas to overwinter

 

Bilbo I`would keep you banana indoor , that`s too nice to risk , my paulownia is outside all year and the cannas are really easy to overwinter .....

the papyrus will live happy in a conservatory with loads of light , but I need a new idea for the rest ....last year I had them indoor , but they died nyway for lack of light and heat

 

Thanks Sal, I'm not so worried about the Cannas as I know the score with them and any casualties can be replaced with seed grown plants next year.

The Banana as you say is a beauty and I'm keen to get that through so that's my priority

The Paulownia will simply be kept under cover in an unheated greenhouse and planted out next spring

 

with the banana you have to be really carefull , I lost some bananas indoor , for overwatering ...so be really carefull

 

With the help of Hydrogardener , he just gave me a brillint idea , that would sort 2 problem at one ....save my plants in winter and protect them from the cats .....brilliant

the indoor hydrophonic greenhouse

 

Presumable it is Cyperus papyrus you want to overwinter, rather than C. alternifolius?

I have read to plant it in a pond basket and stand it in a tray of water. Seems wetter than I woudl have thought it would need, but I have only managed to overwinter them for the first winter, not the second. But perhaps that is enough, they are decent sized plants in Year Two.

I take cuttings. I stuff them around a 5" pan (shallow pot), and over winter them in that pot - to save space - and them pot on and grow on in the Spring. They look really manky by then ... but they grow away OK.

I've sown lots from seed, and they do OK, but Mrs K remarked "Those seed grown ones aren't anything like as stocky as the named varieties" so she wants me to preserve them from cuttings too ... trouble is I grew about 100 Coleus from seed each year, that's a lot of cuttings to try to hang on to!

I'd love a cutting of that if the chance arose. I haven't seen a source of them that I thought was affordable

 

p.s. supplemental lighting is an option too, if you choose Metal Halide that will also give you quite a lot of heat which, in an enclose cabinet, will keep it toasty warm - run the light at night when it is colder. I just have a small poly tunnel in my conservatory, with the lamp inside, which I use during late winter / spring to bring things on. The light is in my home office during the winter for any plants being overwintered - no problem with temperature during that period as its within the centrally heated part of the house.

 

Sal,
Not too sure to be honest. Last winter I had a very poor success rate with overwintering tender plants.
Lost most of my Aroids and Gingers.
Didn't replace a lot of them this summer, and am hoping the survivors will be ok this winter.

 

Lousy winter - too long. Colder, but Shorter, would have been easier I think. Race against Rot ... minimising the time that plants are in winter-storage (or maybe just minimising the time that they are dormant) is key I think?

 

It would have been better if it hadn't warmed up before the last cold snap too.

@sal73 - are you talking about outdoors or in the greenhouse? I think that most overwintering failures under glass are as much about getting enough air movement as lack of temperature. Although I reckon that you'll always struggle with tender water plants without good heat.
Example - last year I had two good sized Cantua buxifolias - the one in the greenhouse died, yet the one that just had overhead protection outdoors survived (although not well enough to bloom). This winter I will swallow the bullet and have a fan heater in the greenhouse set at 3 to 5°c.

 

The trick is to "Know your plant", some plants will survive low temps if dry.
But some dont like to be too dry and need a drop of water during milder spells.
Some will happily stay dormant all winter, others like to keep some green growth

You need to watch the weather forecast and if things look like getting colder and miserable, dont add that extra watering that the plant looks like it needs one sunny morning.

I've found outside some plants like frost protection and as long as they get that they will take any amount of rain.
Others like overhead protection from rain and will survive frost if they keep their crowns dry.

It all depends on the winter conditions where they come from, so sometimes its good to read up on the climate where particular plants originate.

 

I would over winter the Strobilanthes indoors as it needs warmth coming from Burma.
My greenhouse will be kept at around 5c, nothing like the winter temp needed for Coleus, Perilla or Persian Shield (Strobilanthes) or my Duranta so they will all go on the kitchen window sills.
I am not sure whether my Plectranthus Silver Shield will take 5c, I'll have to take some cuttings pronto as the main plant is too big to keep anywhere, then there is the Citrus, the Ensetes, Begonias, the ...........!!!!