Moving Inside For Winter – An Erodium Houseplant This Year
Days are cooler (finally) here in Ohio and the nights have approached the 40s F, so if I am to save my erodium over the winter, I need to get that done as soon as possible. The erodium won’t survive a frost or freeze, and I just happen to have a cute little Wardian Case that I think will do the job of over-wintering it well.
You’ve seen my mini-greenhouse Wardian Case before in this post, but it has gone empty for quite some time and I am ready to get it planted up. When I have over-wintered the erodium before, I do get a few buds and blooms, so hopefully I will have some of those. But I mostly am looking forward to just keeping it alive. It would be great to start the spring off next year with my own Erodium instead of having to purchase it.
Side note: Almost every spring, my local Lowe’s has these little plants. Each tiny plant is in a 2-inch pot for under $4 (as of Spring 2019), so they will probably go up a bit for 2020, but still a bargain. They spread really well. I only bought two this year and they filled the hypertufa pot well.
The Baby’s Tears have almost been killed by the chilly nights and hot days, and the Erodium is suffering but still struggling to bloom. I do need to get this replanted as soon as possible.
How Will The Erodium Houseplant Do?
I am planning to pot up the Erodium in a Wardian Case which is not a sealed terrarium. It does have a lid but it is not air-tight at all, and that top is hinged so that I can leave it open if I want. I will just see how the plant does and adjust accordingly. Dealing with some transplant shock (plus the fact that I waited this long and it is in such bad shape), I am going to worry that it won’t make it. Neem oil mix plus a good rinsing with insecticidal soap should get rid of any hitchhikers try to come inside ( I hope).
Maybe I have some more glass containers if I have too much? One never knows which will survive so having another pot of the Erodium should be good insurance, right? (Nah, they’ll both die…)
Hopefully it will be thriving when I get around to filming a house tour. That is long overdue here, and I have so many more plants than I had before, so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so that you’ll always get an update when I release a video.
