Overwintering Houseplants In My Basement

I think I have beaten the cold coming to my area here in Ohio and I have all of my plants inside now. The pressure of waiting to hear the Weather Channel say “Scattered frost is expected in SW Ohio tonight….” and beginning the mad scramble to shove everything in at once is OVER!

It is done. The overwintering houseplants are all treated for gnats with a systemic insecticide, some are re-potted, some are sporting a fresh new 2-3 inches of soil on the top surface. My Mosquito Bits are ready and I have stocked up on Hydrogen Peroxide to water them for the first few times.

Do I Use Grow Lights in My Basement?

My basement doorway in the area that I have my plants only has a few overhead lights as typical in an unfinished basement. The doorway leading out to the deck has a small window way up in the top. I guess that is so that someone cannot look inside the door window and see you inside. I am all for that.

So my shelving units have light fixtures attached. I have two of the units with three lit-up shelves and the final unit has just two lit-up shelves. I am seriously thinking of getting just one more shelving unit because these are getting crowded!

Having enough light is the key to successfully keep them healthy when you are overwintering houseplants. More and more lights!

This is the first year I have brought Lemon Coral Sedum inside for the winter. But it has done so well, I hate to kill it with Ohio’s freezing temperatures. I love that bright color in my pots and even though it looks so much like Angelina, I think I can have room for both.

However, the Sedum Angelina can stay outside all winter and just gets orange and rust-colored. I won’t worry about it at all.

I keep a lot a supplies stacked near the door in the basement garden area so that I have easy access to them. I used to keep them on the top of the shelves where the plants are. But that became a problem when I couldn’t reach things I needed.

I guess you could say I am vertically challenged.

More Additional Lighting As Needed

This set up of lights is the additional “Sun” that I offer the plants if it seems they need it. I felt my succulents grew colorful and not too stretched at all being under artificial light. In fact, when I put them outside and protected them from sunburn, I didn’t think they got enough light.

I am pretty sure this is some light fixture that you use when working in a garage to shine lights into the engine or something like that. But Harbor Freight can be a wonderful place for gardening supplies too. I get so much of my supplies there. Love those boxes of gloves!

Is A Basement Houseplant Garden Working Out?

I think having a basement for all of my houseplants to overwinter inside is perfect for me. I lets me be a bit messy sometimes (I get a lot of dirt on the floor since I am not a neat planter.) When I see some of you ladies spreading out a newspaper and planting in your living rooms or kitchens I am so fascinated that you can do it so neatly.

Now me? I am like slinging that potting soil as if it were in a chipper-shredder and it is all over the place. I attempt to keep it neat but…it just ends up messy.

Speaking of being messy, when you are using grow lights you definitely need to have drip trays under your plants. I find these trays from Dollar Tree (packaged 2 for $1) are perfect for some larger plants and also for groups of plants.

Be sure to get a tray that has some depth to it and you are good to go. If you noticed in the video, I am also using a large boot tray for some of the large hypertufa planters on the bottom row. It is perfect.

Basement Plant Set Up - Overwintering Houseplants in Basement - Grow Lights for Houseplants

I hope you enjoy the video. My grandson was the videographer and he did a great job for me. I would love for you to watch it and leave me a Like or a Comment. They are fun to make and to compare growth from year to year. Thanks for your support of my blog and my channel.