I was gifted many 2-1/2+ year old seedlings today. Before I could arrive and dig them out of the ground properly for transplanting, they were literally pulled out of the ground. It makes no sense to put them back into soil for 2 wks.(Kingwood, north of Houston) But is it too early to defoliate and clean off the roots for winter storage? What to do? They are good size. Average 25-30". Tia! -Cheryl

Hm. I have no experience with this since my plants are in the ground year round, but I would think it is slightly but not terribly early to let them go dormant, so that would be my best guess. Or you can stick them all together in a tub filled with perlite.

Based on experiences with other plants, I'd stick them in some moist potting mix (or perlite, great suggestion) for a few weeks. I think you can just cram them all together -- just trying to keep them in the green for a little longer, since they are babies, and you may end up getting more warm-enough days yet than you think. If they're all in one or two buckets, you can bring them inside for a couple of cold nights, even.

Do you strip off the leaves? I just leave them on the plant (potted or pulled) until they dry up, which often takes several weeks if the plant was well-watered before being brought inside.

Thanks, Ladies. @dutchlady @critterologist. This is our last week of 80º in the day. The cool down starts this weekend. The general local consensus was to pot them up to give them the best chance. I've put them in pots. Some are sad. I have some heat mats ordered hoping they will recover some? They are the first occupants in the greenhouse, placed in the sunny spot away from the sides. I don't intend to keep most of them. But I would like to gift healthy seedlings to my friends. It will be my winter project! There are 20 more about 30" tall gang-planted into 4 pots. IDK why she kept them growing so long like that? I will repot those in the spring.