DrTolhur
Mame
I know about all the discussions around over-wintering with regard to air temperature vs. soil temperature, indoor protection, and all that, but there's one piece I feel like I'm not able to reconcile. They say that root/soil temperatures below 15ºF will kill roots, but then they also say that keeping trees in an unheated garage/shed is sufficient in regions that get that cold. While that makes sense for temperatures around 10-15ºF, it doesn't make as much sense when you get days in a row of near-0 days, which happens here. I've got to think that after 3 solid days around 0ºF, anything in my garage is going to be below 15ºF, including bonsai soil. So it seems there are two options:
1) My assumption is wrong, and my garage does not get cold enough to drop soil temperatures below 15ºF.
2) Soil temperatures below 15ºF aren't a death sentence for trees, and there are other factors at play.
I started bonsai last spring, so I've been through one over-wintering season, but I didn't have any plants in bonsai soil in the garage. (It seems like the potting soil I was using might be more thermally insulting than bonsai soil.) As this year I have trees I care about more and they're in bonsai soil, I'm giving it more consideration. So what am I missing?
For context, the trees I'll be over-wintering in the garage are:
- Chinese elm
- Boxwood
- Japanese hornbeam
- Amur maple
- Japanese maple
1) My assumption is wrong, and my garage does not get cold enough to drop soil temperatures below 15ºF.
2) Soil temperatures below 15ºF aren't a death sentence for trees, and there are other factors at play.
I started bonsai last spring, so I've been through one over-wintering season, but I didn't have any plants in bonsai soil in the garage. (It seems like the potting soil I was using might be more thermally insulting than bonsai soil.) As this year I have trees I care about more and they're in bonsai soil, I'm giving it more consideration. So what am I missing?
For context, the trees I'll be over-wintering in the garage are:
- Chinese elm
- Boxwood
- Japanese hornbeam
- Amur maple
- Japanese maple