overwintering Overwintering and Light-coloured Leaves.

[Ragnar]

Hey guys.
 
I've got around 10 plants overwintering in the basement under a small window and in slightly below room temperature temps. Most have started to shoot out new foliage and stems.
 
The foliage is VERY light in colour compared to a plant under lights or in the sun and both leaves and new stems feel flimsy to touch. I am assuming that this is due to the extreme low-light. Sorry no photos for now..
 
My question is: Do I try to acclimate this weak foliage to the sun in the spring or should I just strip it off and let it bud out anew? I'm leaning towards the stripping just to avoid dealing with sunburn and focus on new growth.
 
 
--adding light or cooling them down to dormancy are not options for me.
 
 
Thanks for your opinions in advance.

 

[OneHighJedi]

Keep some foliage on there so photosynthesis can happen and gradually expose the plant more and more to the sunlight.
 
Treat it with a mild dosage of fish fertilizer, or better yet, get your water straight from the fish tank. But I don't think you have a big enough tank for 10 plants :p

 

[Ragnar]

Keep some foliage on there so photosynthesis can happen and gradually expose the plant more and more to the sunlight.
 
Treat it with a mild dosage of fish fertilizer, or better yet, get your water straight from the fish tank. But I don't think you have a big enough tank for 10 plants

 
I think there is plenty of green in the stems to provide photosynthesis, at least they fared ok when I stripped them completely late November to sanitize and bring indoors.
 
What I really would like some input on is whether it is worth it to go through the whole hardening off phase with very weak leaves -- they are about on par with say young celery foliage so I would assume that they would take much longer to harden of than say a healthy plant under T5s.
 
As for ferts and soil mixes etc I'm happy with what I'm using and the overwinters were repotted into fresh fortified soil when I brought them in and will be potted up into large totes in the spring so I'm really not too worried on that front. The issue here is what would be better -- a heavy prune or weeks of hardening off?

 

[OneHighJedi]

 
I think there is plenty of green in the stems to provide photosynthesis, at least they fared ok when I stripped them completely late November to sanitize and bring indoors.
 
What I really would like some input on is whether it is worth it to go through the whole hardening off phase with very weak leaves -- they are about on par with say young celery foliage so I would assume that they would take much longer to harden of than say a healthy plant under T5s.
 
As for ferts and soil mixes etc I'm happy with what I'm using and the overwinters were repotted into fresh fortified soil when I brought them in and will be potted up into large totes in the spring so I'm really not too worried on that front. The issue here is what would be better -- a heavy prune or weeks of hardening off?

 
If you are completely sure that the plant is healthy enough for a pruning, then go for it, since new foliage is coming in.
 
Either way works fine, the plant will still thrive.