Gardening Novice, please help!?

I have three tropical plants outdoors right now (a hibiscus, a lamb's ear, and a ??). I want them to live through the winter but there is no room in the house for them. Are there any ideas you can recommend for the garage (maybe some sort of cheap lighting system?). We are on a budget so creative ideas are greatly appreciated!!



Thank you!
Gardening Novice, please help!?
Purchase 2 or 3 four foot shop (double) lights from HD or any hardware store. Make sure they can use the new T8 fluorescent tubes. Buy daylight tubes which can be had for a few dollars each! At the same store purchase several feet of heavy gauge, white Visquine (R) plastic sheeting. It must be white, at least on one side. While you are at this store, buy a 5

dollar timer and a heavy duty gang box, several feet of cheap metal chain and a few hooks. From a stationary or office supply store buy a half dozen or so small paper clamps.



So, hang the 2 shop lights from the ceiling (joist) in the garage, in a 'non-drafty' corner. Have your plants at least 2 feet off the cement floor. Position the fluorescent tubes to no more than 2 inches from the tops of the plants (touching the tubes will not adversely affect most plants) and run the lights for 20 hours a day! If outside temperatures fall below zero, run the lights overnight.



The purchased paper clamps hold the plastic sheeting to the light fixtures' edges, forming a 'tent' which encloses the plants, offering more light and protection from the cold.



Throw a thermometer into the contraption and if temperatures actually go over 85 degrees, remove one of the 'tent' walls to ventilate.
Reply:hibiscus will not tolerate the cold one freeze will kill if however take some cuttings off the tip place in a sterile planting mix and place in a warm humid area you will have rooted plants by the spring
Reply:Hi:

Hibiscus is deciduous unless you live in zones eight and above. I live in zone seven and I recommend to my clients that they prune back the Hibiscus before the first freeze. It will come back next season.



If your Hibiscus is in a pot you can try it in the garage with some lighting. You can buy some flouresent lighting at a major chain store that is fairly inexpensive. If you have a small little table or somthing that you can set your Hibiscus on, then put the light above it. It will need three to five hours of indirect lighting per day. If you have some good windows in your garage you should be fine. There are also speciality shops that carry small lighting especially for indoor plants.



Leave your Lamb Ears outside as they will return next spring. You can bring the Lamb Ears in if they are in a pot also and do the same thing.



I hope this has helped some and good luck to you! Take a look at my site map on my website as well as my Landsape Articles section for some information that may help you. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

Have a great day!

Kimberly

http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.c...

http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.c...
Reply:It's not so much the light, as it is the temperature and humidity. The garage will work if the plant is provided with protection from the low temperatures, but I wouldn't count on it. And lamb's ear is a hardy perennial (unless you live WAY up north) so it should survive OK if it's planted in the ground (if you can do that).
Reply:I just leave my Lambs Ear out in the garden all year..I live central Illinois..it survives just fine and multiplies yearly... I just brought my Hibiscus in (it's potted)..was told thought this site that keep it inside in a sunny location and keep it going all winter ( won't bloom as much as it has in the past) but in Spring, past frost time take it out again..what's your ??? plant? Well, anyway,,I hope I at least helped with the Lambs Ear..