Question
i would like to know how to transplant this for indoors, what soils or mixture to use. Thank you

Answer
Grace,

As it is probably in full bloom right now you should dig it trying to disturb the soil around the roots as little as possible and put it in a pot only slightly larger than the root ball. Dig it right now and leave it sitting outside where you dug it from until the night temps start dropping below 60 degrees. Fill in around the rootball with a soil mix of 2 parts potting soil and 1 part perlite. That will supply excellent drainage so the plant is not sitting in water. The roots rot easily. Do not put a drain tray under it until you take it indoors.

The ideal way, from the plant's perspective, to overwinter these if to have them in a tropical house with all the time summer. Most of us do it with far less than ideal conditions, but a testament to this vine's will to live is that they come through anyways.

Whatever you do, prepare for a naked plant with dead vines, esp. after a frost. These are true tropicals, meaning they don't much care for anything under 60癋 and dry air. This means that the leaves will fall. All of them by springtime. You will be tending a pot of mangey looking life until March. But, if you were to look underground at the roots, you would see large storage organs that will wait for the next warm, moist time to regrow. So don't let it get bone dry, because the roots are still alive. If you keep it cool, don't let it freeze (again in this case). If your garage gets close to freezing, it might be better to stick them in the house. Depending on how much foliage is left on top, you can either keep them near a window (if the plant has say, 25% or more of its leaves) and watch them fall off. This means that you will keep the soil somewhat moist until they are all down, then only water to prevent the soil from drying out fully. This scenario makes sure that the plant is not forgotten to dry out completely in a cold dark garage.

If the vine looks dead, with just about every leaf down, then it can be moved to a cool dark place to rest until late Feb. Make sure the soil is sort of dry (but not bone dry), and try to keep ventilation on it so that fungi don't take up residence in the roots. Just good air circulation is fine, no need to run a fan on it. Keep an eye on the bottom and when you see green sprouts in late Feb, put the plant in the strongest light you have. (Don't take the plant out of a cellar with 1/2inch growth and put it in full sun, this fries the new growth.) Get it used to strong sun.

In any case, I would wait to see what you have left before pruning. These bleed a white sap that some people are allergic to, and you may want to keep some of the vines for scaffolding for next year's plant. Throughout the winter you will notice some parts that wither and shrink and become brittle. This is dead and can be removed as you see fit to do it. Good luck.

Darlene