"The Henchman" wrote
You mention dormancy: can you go into detail about this and please
remember I am a dummy so intorductory explanations please. I'd really
appreciate the lesson....
I'm probably not the best person here to explain, but I'm sure I'll be
corrected.
Dormancy is a plant's time of rest, the most obvious example being what you
see during a temperate winter when everything looks "dead". (Some plants
have more than one dormancy.) They can go naturally dormant based on changes
in temperature, light, day length (or really, it's the length of night), or
amount of rain. With some tropicals the changes can be subtle. So it depends
on the plant.
Basically, by imitating whatever drives them into dormancy in nature you're
giving them their "beauty rest." To do this I always stop any kind of
fertilizing a few weeks before they're to come back indoors, and gradually
reduce watering once they're in. In the spring they eagerly bounce back
after getting the "usual" treatment. That's also the time they get repotted
if need be.
I do this every year because I read that to withhold dormancy from a plant
is stressful to it. Often the plant itself will give you clues when to
reduce watering. It's those clues that so many people miss, and they
mistakenly think it needs more water. I imagine this is how a lot of
houseplants get overwatered til they're dead.
HTH, and good luck trying to grow herbs indoors; it never worked well for
me. I guess they just needed far more intense light than I was willing to
pay the electric bills for.