One of the great water-garden conundrums we face in Northeast Ohio is what the heck to do with all the tropical plants left over at the end of the season! We often see our tiny starter plants blossom into stunning monsters by the fall. However, unfortunately, most of these thriving giants will meet their untimely demise when the lovely Ohio cold inevitably rolls in.
For most of our clients, this is a sad truth they must face. Tropical plants will not survive the winter, and the process will have to begin again with new plants in the spring. However, for a handful of our clients, letting plants that they have watched grow into something truly remarkable just shrivel up and die is completely unacceptable.
I myself fall into this category. After several seasons of trial and error, we at Earth and Waterscapes have come up with our own method for dormant winter storage for tropical plants. It has proven to be quite successful. The types of tropical plants that we stock varies, but we primarily store the colocasia and the canna lily. These two plants have proven to be the easiest to store and restart with minimal losses.
This process begins in the fall when temperatures stay consistently below 60 degrees, but before the first frost of winter. The whole idea is to let the plants get chilled without them freezing. I recommend pulling them earlier if you might not make it back to your clients before the frost. As our crews start bringing in the tropical plants, sometimes by the truckload, it is important to make sure that everything is tagged with the client’s name and plant variety. This should help you avoid playing the guessing game of “Whose plant is this”? Unfortunately, this is a game we have played a time or two in the first few years of wintering plants.
Winter storage prep
Out of the several methods for storing tropical plants, my preferred method is dormant storage. Once all the plants have been brought in and tagged, the colocasia tubers and the canna lily rhizomes are rinsed and cleared of debris. Then begins the daunting task of splitting apart all the tubers and rhizomes where they tend to naturally separate. This allows for more airflow and lessens the risk of rot during the drying process. With the splitting of these plants comes, once again, more labeling. The majority of the plants brought in for storage will need to be divided or, at minimum, trimmed back. What happens to the extra tubers and rhizomes is up to you.
At the start of the drying process, we leave the foliage intact until after the plants are dry. The canna lilies take less time to dry and are less prone to rot. In our experience, the colocasia is a tad more difficult, so the drying process is a crucial step before storage. All the plants are put on wire shelving in a cool, dry area of our facility. The wire shelving allows for essential air flow around the tubers and rhizomes. If space is limited, the colocasia foliage can be cut back. However, leave a minimum of 1 foot of stem length. If the stem develops rot, it will be far up enough to not affect the tuber.
The canna lilies may take up to two weeks to dry enough for the foliage to be cut back. The Colocasia, on the other hand, can take closer to four weeks depending on the size of the tuber. It seems like the drying process is a never-ending step. However, we have learned it is a step that simply cannot be rushed. Once the canna lily foliage is dry close to the rhizome, it can be cut back. I usually leave about 1 inch of stem so it is not cut too close. The Colocasia foliage is left until it is dry all the way to the tuber. When the foliage is dry, it will actually peel away from the tuber.
When winter hits
When you have finally finished the everlasting drying process (my least favorite part), you can begin putting everything into storage. My preferred method is paper bags with dry potting soil. The paper bags allow for some air exchange, and we can label directly on it with the client’s name and plant variety. This step thankfully falls toward the end of the season when work is a little less demanding and the weather is less cooperative. It is a great rainy-day project.
Once bagged and labeled, everything gets stored in a cool, dark area of our facility. I highly recommend monthly checks on your tubers and rhizomes. This keeps them from drying out and going unnoticed. The canna lilies are the more likely to dry out; however, if caught early, a quick soak for a couple of hours can correct the issue. The colocasia, once in storage, is typically stable but should still be checked monthly for any signs of mold or rot.
The tubers and rhizomes remain in storage until mid to late February. Typically during the summer, we will hold back small nursery pots for the sole purpose of starting our tropical plants in the spring. Once it is time to bring the plants out of storage, each tuber and rhizome is planted in a nursery pot with clean soil (and, yes, labeled again). We start them in a warmer section of our building, because at this stage they require minimal UV light. If you have them placed close to a heater, make sure to monitor their moisture level. We have painfully learned that warehouse heaters can dry out soil more quickly than you would expect, and the hustle and bustle in the beginning of the season can draw our attention away from our starter plants.
Let the light in
It will take a few weeks for the plants to start making real growth and break through the soil. Once they have broken the surface and it is established that they are viable, it’s off to the greenhouse. Our greenhouse is extremely small at 8-by-10, but thankfully canna lilies and colocasia don’t take up a lot of space when started. On average, we can house 100 plants. The greenhouse is not required, but once the plants have broken through the soil, they need supplemental lighting until they can be safely moved outside without the risk of frost.
This can be done with UV lights, but in our experience, the cost of the lights and the power to run them was comparable to the cost of a small greenhouse. A bonus is not worrying about power outages when your plants are getting light directly from the source. Who wants to mess with a generator and extension cords if they don’t have to?
The plants stay in the greenhouse until the risk of frost is gone. The larger plants are then moved outside until they are ready to go home to clients. We typically start putting the plants back in the water gardens around the beginning to middle of May. My favorite step of the entire process is getting to return the plants to their ponds and starting the cycle all over. It always seems like such a daunting task in the fall, but it has proven to be well worth the effort. Our clients are usually calling the office by mid-April and are always thrilled to see their plants come back.
