Help! winter is coming and i fear for my house plants!?

my plants always do better in the spring/summer time when they are outside 24/7. all my plants have blossomed into very full plants except for my boston fern-its not huge but better than the others ive had. winter is soon coming and i live in central pa. i fear my plants will die off again or dwindle dwn. esp my fern.


i had a fern last year (a boston) and it did very well then all of a sudden it died. now this spring i got another and it is doing rather well concidering last years experiment. it has its growing spurts.


what should i do to keep it from dying? everyone around me has what i call hanging bushes. ive asked around %26amp; from what they tell me they do im doing as well but yet still no true luck. my bthrm is quite small with VERY little light so i cant put plants in there.


i have 4wondering jews, 1xmas cactus, 2aloe, 2heart-shaped vines, 1poinsetta %26amp; another i cant identify.


my house isnt bright w/natural lt %26amp; my 4yr old wont let them alone or watch what hes doing. advice?

Help! winter is coming and i fear for my house plants!?
First of all, teach your 4 year old to leave the plants alone. No is a good word, use it strongly and frequently. Plants can be child friendly around friendly children. Have your child help you with them; nothing you have is poisonous or dangerous, so make your child a part of the solution not the problem. Second, you have some very nice plants, some of my favorites, but moving them inside will cause them some stress; it's a given. If you plan ahead it shouldn't be so bad, though. Clean them up and trim them back; I know it makes you feel awful to trim them, but they do need it now and then. Make sure there are no bugs on them and bring them inside dry. Make sure each plant has a place of it's own, with a dish to catch water, and with light. The light doesn't have to be sunlight. If you don't want to invest in grow lights, then put lamps with flourescent bulbs in them around the plants. Maybe you can put a hanging light above them. Then buy at least one humidifier like the ones they sell in the drugstores for sinus problems. Keep it filled with water and run it for a few hours at least every other day. Spritz the plants with water, too (that's a good job to have the 4 year old help with), and keep them from drying out. Don't over water them, wet feet causes root rot. Cut feeding them to half as much. Winter is their less showy time and they will lose leaves and not be as happy. They can sure brighten your home during the winter though; it's all about the moisture. Now, about that poinsettia, it needs at least 12 hours of darkness followed by 12 hours of light every day before it will turn red (or white or yellow or whatever color). It is not poisonous in spite of the bad press, but they are so tricky and can be the very devil to keep alive indoors. I wish you luck with it and hope it turns out well.
Reply:Oh boy, what a dilemma. This I know from a friend. She hung her fern near a north window in the kitchen. And kept it watered accordingly. They don't do as well. But they stay alive and come back with a vengeance in the Spring. Also I've read, bring them in at nite when the weather starts to turn, that way not such a shock to them when you have to keep them in.
Reply:I have no luck with indoor ferns. As for the other plants, do you have a garage, basement or extra bedroom? If you do, put the plants in there and get yourself a couple of clip lights at the hardware store,a couple of gro-light light bulbs ( special light bulbs for plants ) and a houselhold timer for lights. I put my houseplants in a corner of the basement and I clip the grow lights to a couple pieces of leftover sheets of plywood and the sheets of plywood are propped up on either side of where the plants are. It makes a nicely lit little area for the plants. I have the timer set for 12 hours of light during the winter. I check them a couple times a week and keep them watered. They don't do as well as being outside but they do OK. I
Reply:first of all remember all plants need to go dormant for a period of time. Ferns can be put where it won't freeze(basement) and allowed to die back and in the spring you bring it out start watering and it will come back. Wandering jews will lose color without enough sun but will come back out in the spring. You can even cut them back.The other vines probably don't need alot of light. Flourescent light is sometimes enough to sustain plants, if not buy a small grow light. I have lots of houseplants and when some begin to die out I get pieces and start fresh plants. Pointsettias will often bloom again after being put in a dark place for some time. Good luck but remember they are not going to be beautiful all the time .
Reply:I always have more houseplants than windows, so I know what your talking about with the exception of the 4yr. old. Consider grouping them together for mutual humidity, child protection and give them some additional light. You can get 2 shop lights with 2 cool white and 2 warm white for about $25 at Wally's. Then you'll want more plants and need more light and on and on it goes. RScott