Bonsai Noodles
Mame
This is the winter-spring equinox I've paid most attention to ever — for obvious reasons. I live in MN, and I think it's quite incredible how smart these trees have been acting lately. Unlike many others, all the trees (wild, garden, and potted alike) have stayed dormant for the most part. In fact, the only green I see are from the conifers...
When I read through the forums, I see, "It's not a good idea for trees to ever see anything above 40-Fahrenheit for more than week," since buds will break if so. But as I've mentioned, that's not been the case. Even trees which I recently purchased from Brent (who runs his great operation in California) are still dormant. There was a heat wave which made temperatures rise as high as 60-Fahrenheit, and the weekly average was about 50-Fahrenheit. Still, all the trees are dormant. How come they're so good at telling when it's time to wake back up? I also know it's not purely circadian-rhythm based, since I'm keeping some trees in the garage. Given, before the heat wave, there was a cold spell that made temperatures dip as low as -20-Fahrenheit (yes, kind of scary!). Maybe that was the source of these trees' knowledge? It seems like they take "moving averages" of their surrounding temperature before deciding to break dormancy (and a few other tricks, it seems).
I'm not complaining. I'm might happy they've stayed dormant, since that means I don't have to worry about whether or not their unhardened leaves will get damaged by cold winds. (Temperatures have dipped to high 20s, which is maybe tolerable, but not ideal for them)
What have been people's experiences? Sometimes, I think we don't give our trees enough credit. I guess there's something to be said about "free-range childcare"!
When I read through the forums, I see, "It's not a good idea for trees to ever see anything above 40-Fahrenheit for more than week," since buds will break if so. But as I've mentioned, that's not been the case. Even trees which I recently purchased from Brent (who runs his great operation in California) are still dormant. There was a heat wave which made temperatures rise as high as 60-Fahrenheit, and the weekly average was about 50-Fahrenheit. Still, all the trees are dormant. How come they're so good at telling when it's time to wake back up? I also know it's not purely circadian-rhythm based, since I'm keeping some trees in the garage. Given, before the heat wave, there was a cold spell that made temperatures dip as low as -20-Fahrenheit (yes, kind of scary!). Maybe that was the source of these trees' knowledge? It seems like they take "moving averages" of their surrounding temperature before deciding to break dormancy (and a few other tricks, it seems).
I'm not complaining. I'm might happy they've stayed dormant, since that means I don't have to worry about whether or not their unhardened leaves will get damaged by cold winds. (Temperatures have dipped to high 20s, which is maybe tolerable, but not ideal for them)
What have been people's experiences? Sometimes, I think we don't give our trees enough credit. I guess there's something to be said about "free-range childcare"!
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