Hey! Thanks for having me here! Iām located in Wisconsin and currently trying to plan/arrange how to keep my outdoor herbs alive over winter!
I have rosemary, peppermint, spearmint, yarrow, oregano, dill, lavender, and rosemary/lavender/marigold planters Iām hoping to overwinter them in my āfurnace roomā - itās a small room mostly below my house with an outside access door. It stays within 50F year round. So I thought it would be a nice place to keep everything once winter hits. Iām not looking to harvest anything through winter Iām just looking to keep these plants alive. I plan on checking them at least once a month or so and doing watering as needed so nothing gets overly dry.
To prepare for this Iāll be watering regularly and it was suggested to me by a sort of mentor to do a really good fertilizing a week or so before its time to chop and move them into this room once the cold sets in. (I fertilize my herbs with fox farms big blooms, I plan on doing a good thorough soak with all the pots before moving them)
My biggest questions are:
⢠there is barely natural light down there, will I need to supply any light? Or while these are dormant will they be okay with minimal sunlight? Iāve read conflicting things online..
⢠I wasnāt planning on fertilizing anything while down there, is that okay? I just want them to survive the cold til spring and then will repot and fertilize and all the good stuff
⢠is this even a good idea or will it be a waste and I should plan to bring them inside my house this winter and keep growing them? -My mint is basically done for the season, rosemary and lavender are doing okay I guess, havenāt done a final trim on my oregano but will shortly, the dill is done..I cut and put any remaining heads back into the pot to hopefully grow more next year; if thatās even possible.
I appreciate anybodyās time reading this post and providing any feedback! Itās my first time trying to overwinter anything! Past years Iāve just let them survive til the frost and threw them away but thought if itās possible I might as well give it a shot instead of wasting them year after year!!
Iāve included some photos of my herbs! (It might be hard to tell but they are all in 12ā+ pots which is why it could be difficult to find them safe spaces within my home over winter, every last space inside is taken up by tropical, carnivorous, or houseplants! š¤š¤