overwintering Over winter fail ...

[Gargoyle91]

Well I tried  all the plants that I cut down cleaned up for overwintering did not make it. What gets me is every plant I didn't touch or bring inside are all coming back to life and it got damn cold here a few times lol  So I guess next year I'll just leave well enough alone

 

[moruga welder]

my only O.W. , just sits in the south bay kitchen window . it does great , no cutting back , have kept 4 at a time this way .

 

[ErolDude]

I messed up with my overwintering, I had 5 BEAUTIFUL plants (all were like the one in the photo) that I cut the roots on and planted into smaller pots, also cut back the leaves, all that remains are brown dried up stalks.

 

[Nightcrawler]

I messed up with my overwintering, I had 5 BEAUTIFUL plants (all were like the one in the photo) that I cut the roots on and planted into smaller pots, also cut back the leaves, all that remains are brown dried up stalks.

Bummer, that's a purty plant.

 

[ErolDude]

Used to be a purty plant, yeah

 

[dragonsfire]

A very nice plant R.I.P
Its like rolling the dice as to if they survive.

 

[Thegreenchilemonster]

I messed up with my overwintering, I had 5 BEAUTIFUL plants (all were like the one in the photo) that I cut the roots on and planted into smaller pots, also cut back the leaves, all that remains are brown dried up stalks.

When you cut the roots back, did you wash them completely of all of the old soil, then repot them in fresh soil? Did you trim down the branches, along with the leaves?

 

[ErolDude]

Nah, didn't do any of that. Was I supposed to?

 

[Thegreenchilemonster]

Nah, didn't do any of that. Was I supposed to?

Yes, wash the roots completely of the old soil, the trim the branches back, soak them in a diluted dish soap/water solution, then pot in fresh soil.

 

[ErolDude]

Meh, I will probably mess it up again but I will try this season using your method

 

[Bob_B]

I've found that I usually have more luck doing minimal trimming before the winter sets in.  But, I live in a temperate climate - zone 8B.  More times than not, I lose more plants by doing a lot of trimming - I've done better with simply cutting crossing branches, dead branches, etc. and then waiting until April to do major trimming of plant and roots.  I keep all my plants outside protected from fronts from the NW and will pull them into my pool house if it freezes.  No matter what, I still have a mortality rate - losing some plants anyway.