[FamiliarFace]

I’m in central Indiana, but just moved a year ago from Ohio. I’m still learning about gardening. Last year, a dragon-leaf begonia was fiercely stubborn when the temps dropped, so I took a chance and over-wintered it in our sunroom, and made stem cuttings from it. So now I’m wondering if I can do this same kind of thing with other plants that I usually think of as annuals.

Does anyone here have experience with bringing geraniums, tuberous begonias, caladiums, and/or coleus indoors? Any ideas on how to propagate these? Should I invest in a grow light or do they want to go dormant? Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

[trisham]

We had a container of impatiens in our kitchen for years. I’m not sure what wiped them out, but my husband mentioned recently that he misses them, so I’m thinking that next spring I’ll replant that container and see how it does.

[greeneyes]

I’m not really up on flowers, but maybe someone else can help here. I can tell you that I have chopped off limbs of tomato plants that had flowers or green tomatoes.

Pulled leaves off the bottom so that several knobs are exposed,Dipped them in rooting medium, and buried them in a pot of dirt. Roots will form at each nodule. Most of the tomatoes formed roots and continued to grow.

I was able to transplant them to the ground in the spring too. The tomatoes were all indeterminate types.

[sockmonkey]

Does anyone here have experience with bringing geraniums, tuberous begonias, caladiums, and/or coleus indoors? Any ideas on how to propagate these?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/891/

I've overwintered geraniums by just pulling them up, shaking most of the dirt off, putting them in a tightly closed blaqck plastiv garbage bag, and then putting that bag next to the house, covered with leaves all winter to keep it from freezing.

I am in TX, so your locale gets a lot colder..Out of 12 geraniums, 9 survived when I replanted them in the spring.

I remember my Mom just burying begonia leaves halfway in little pots, and propagating new plants that way...

[matthew fuller]

” So now I’m wondering if I can do this same kind of thing with other plants that I usually think of as annuals.”
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Many people think of peppers as annuals, but they are really perennials. I have a prize Gypsy pepper that has about 15 almost ready peppers on it now, and it’s still blooming, but the best part is the cuttings that I have been able to start. One of the cuttings is only about an inch or so tall so far, but it already has visible multiple bloom buds! Now my main problem is going to be keeping them alive thru the winter. (”Gypsy” is a hybrid, so seeds are not reliable.) It is the best pepper I have seen for Central TX, and I strongly recommend giving one or more a try if you can find one. Bonnie plants has them on their website, but they didn’t have any for sale this fall.

http://bonnieplants.com/products/vegetables/peppers/gypsy-pepper

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Geraniums and coleous will over-winter in adequate sunlight or full spectrum (grow lights) with reduced watering in winter. My expierience has been that all bulbous plants need to go through a dormant season, to reviitalize , for spring growth.
Cannas, dahlias, and caladiums need a 'chill' dormancy , but need to not get frozen .
That might get acomplished by bulbs placed in north end of the basement with reduced light, reduced moisture, and placed in "onion bag" allowing air flow.
Its hit , or miss according to basement moisture. YMMV