You’re probably familiar with hardy perennials, such as asparagus and rhubarb. These tough guys have cold-tolerant roots that allow them to survive whatever Old Man Winter throws at them and then sprout anew each spring. But did you know that some of your favorite veggies—tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and even sweet potatoes—are also perennials? Tender perennials, to be exact. These long-lived plants are native to places with warmer winters but are regularly grown as annuals further north. There are a few herbs that also qualify as well, including lemon verbena, lemon grass, pineapple sage, rosemary (grown as an annual north of zone 7), and stevia.

And while these guys won’t survive a cold winter outdoors, you can protect a favorite plant by bringing it inside for the winter and replanting it in the spring! Be sure to only bring in healthy plants, free of visible diseases and insect pests. If you have any doubts, opt for cuttings (more on that below), which are the easiest to inspect and least likely to harbor stowaways. For potted plants, check to make sure you don’t have, say, an ant colony in residence.

There are three easy ways to bring plants inside for winter:

Keep Them Potted
Perhaps the simplest way to manage tender perennials is to grow them in pots year-round, moving them outside in the late spring and back inside before frost in the fall. This is a good method for slow-growing woody herbs such as rosemary and lavender, as well as small ornamental hot pepper varieties. ………..

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Cut Them, Root Them, Pot Them
Large plants with extensive root systems are difficult to dig up and transplant successfully, but many can be overwintered by cutting off the tips of shoots, encouraging them to sprout roots, and then planting the rooted cuttings in small pots. Cuttings take up a lot less space, so it’s a good method if you have only a little sunny space indoors. And if you want even more of a given plant, you can snip off the tips of the original cutting when they get tall enough during the winter and root those as well. Tomato, sweet potato, and many herb cuttings are easy to root.

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KEEPING THEM GROWING

If you have sunny windows or glass patio doors (or are willing to use grow lights) in spaces where daytime temperatures stay about 65 to 70 degrees and night temperatures are at least 10 degrees lower (the 50s are perfect), you can keep herbs happy and harvestable all winter. However, even with eight hours of winter sunlight, your plants may get a bit ratty and stretched-looking by spring.

You also have a good place to keep fruiting plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, alive. Alive doesn’t mean fruiting, however. Unless you want to maintain jungle-like conditions in your house (75 to 85 degrees during the day, with high humidity ), use grow lights to supplement the short days of winter, and move pollen around by hand each day to fertilize the flowers, these plants are unlikely to set more fruit indoors. Any green fruit already on the plant when you move it inside may keep growing and ripen, but don’t expect summer-flavor…………..

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More Interesting Articles:

• (Video) Green Tomatoes: Turn Them Red With These Super Easy Tricks
• (Video) The Secrets To Growing Container Tomatoes Revealed

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Article source: Rodale’s Organic Life
Image source: same as above