Chaya as house plant?

I'm in Zone 8a and have just ordered some chaya cuttings. I plan to start rooting them in pots in the house, then try a few outside and keep the others inside. While most of what I've read puts chaya in zone 9, I did find one source that says it's hardy in zone 8b.

So my major question right now is, is anyone growing chaya year-round as a house plant? I know I can grow it outside in pots and move it inside for the winter, but it's a big plant and my back can't handle too much lifting. If I were to grow it outside and it died to the ground in a freeze, would it likely come back from the roots?

I think as long as you mulch it heavily it should come back up. It grows so fast from cuttings, you really could just keep a few cuttings every fall to hedge against possible freeze loss, and plant them back out in the spring, I dont know how it does as a houseplant, but it is rated to survive freezes down to 25.

Dan Allen wrote:I think as long as you mulch it heavily it should come back up. It grows so fast from cuttings, you really could just keep a few cuttings every fall to hedge against possible freeze loss, and plant them back out in the spring, I dont know how it does as a houseplant, but it is rated to survive freezes down to 25.

Thanks, Dan. I hadn't thought about taking cuttings for the next year. According to our hardiness zone info, our lowest is 10 to 15. That's hardly been the case this year, though. There have been days in the 70's here in Athens, Georgia! And I guess I could try a cutting as a house plant and just see what happens.