The Big Chill

[josh797]

I heard a guy did this to his bonsai....
I live in an apartment with no way of keeping my juniper outside, in KY we just got our first good chill 45 degrees. My tree has been perched outside everyday on my window sill (really dangerous btw). I decided to keep my tree in my refrigerator, I would take it out every couple days and have it sitting in the sun light for a few hours. Then I would put it back for another couple days. I heard a guy doing this and his tree survived. What are your thoughts?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

My thoughts are that evergreens, especially conifers have freeze-proof resin that allows them to keep functioning at pretty low temperatures.
If there's no way around it, the fridge could be an option. But I think it would be better to get a cheap hamster/birdcage, improve the construction strength, and then just hang your caged tree outdoors. Then again, that could be too cold. Since there's nothing beneath it being able to counter winds and all that.

The thing with windowsills is that there's heat from your house escaping. This will warm up the tree after a while, and that will disturb the dormancy. Along with prolonged dark periods.. That can't be any good.
Let's talk centigrade for my own comfort; most fridges are +5C, most living rooms are +20C, the open windowsill will be somewhere in between -2C and +17C depending on your heating and outdoor temperatures. That's an awful lot of different non-dormancy temperatures.
I'm sure it can be done, and it can be done right. But why not take the easy road?

I'm all in favor of experimenting, but less in favor of taking risks.

 

[JudyB]

Why would you take it out of the fridge and then sit it in the sun, then put it back in? If you're trying to make safe dormancy for the tree, this is pretty much the opposite of that. Trees don't need sun if they are dormant. The biggest challenge of fridge storage is to make sure they don't dehydrate as it's such a dry environment. You could mist every so often for that.

 

[Cypress187]

I was thinking of a cardboard box perhaps, duck-tape it to something outside, it's not too cold and secures the tree (unless it gets to wet and crumbles).

 

[M. Frary]

I heard a guy did this to his bonsai....

To kill it slowly.

 

[Johnathan]

is it just 1 small tree? leave it in the backseat of the car!

 

[defra]

Move to another place.
Keep only tropicals with a propper indoor setup.

 

[josh797]

To kill it slowly.

https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/dormancy.htm

 

[JudyB]

https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/dormancy.htm

So Josh, what you are not getting here is that once the plant is dormant, it needs to stay that way until spring and the weather is good for it to go back into growing mode. What you are proposing as far as taking it in and out of the fridge is the problem. That means it gets woken up every time you take it out every few days and put it in the sun. Why do you think you need to do this? Dormant plants do not need sun.

 

[rockm]

I heard a guy did this to his bonsai....
I live in an apartment with no way of keeping my juniper outside, in KY we just got our first good chill 45 degrees. My tree has been perched outside everyday on my window sill (really dangerous btw). I decided to keep my tree in my refrigerator, I would take it out every couple days and have it sitting in the sun light for a few hours. Then I would put it back for another couple days. I heard a guy doing this and his tree survived. What are your thoughts?

My thoughts are that your juniper will be dead by Christmas. Inside, your tree will NOT go into dormancy. Dormancy for conifers is not the same as for deciduous trees. If you can't expose the plant to temps below 25 F or so for an extended period, it will not be dormant. Non-dormant evergreens require light. Putting it inside a dark refrigerator for days, then removing it for a few days, then putting it back it, will slowly stress it to death.

Junipers are not "indoor" trees. They're sold as that by sellers who don't really care if it lives. They can always sell you another tree.

 

[Jeyrsmith]

Do you have a flat roof? Can you put the tree up there and maybe build a small wood box with mulch?

Other than that i think the back seat of the car if you own one is the best option,

That or maybe a neighbor who has a balcony or a garden area on the ground floor

 

[josh797]

we don't have a balcony, or a car. The tree has been in the fridge for almost a month now, I spray it once a week and nothing has turned brown. the tree is a healthy green. the article I read said, the tree can stay in the fridge without sunlight. I just need to make sure it stays moist.

 

[rockm]

we don't have a balcony, or a car. The tree has been in the fridge for almost a month now, I spray it once a week and nothing has turned brown. the tree is a healthy green. the article I read said, the tree can stay in the fridge without sunlight. I just need to make sure it stays moist.

Be interested to see:
a) the article that advises this
b) what constitutes "healthy green"--junipers are notorious for staying green well after they'd dead.

 

[josh797]

I grew up around ever greens. I know what a dead ever green looks like

 

[Rodrigo]

I grew up around ever greens. I know what a dead ever green looks like

@rockm means that even though your juniper may still be green in the fridge for the last month, it could already be dead and it just hasn't changed colors to brown yet.

 

[rockm]

I grew up around ever greens. I know what a dead ever green looks like

You ever grow up around evergreens growing in a refrigerator? or observed the perculiar way they tend to die as bonsai? A dead juniper bonsai retains GREEN foliage that just gets brittle. It doesn't necessarily turn brown all at once, or heck AT ALL.

More than a few people who "Grew up around evergreens" whatever the hell that means, have been fooled by their dead evergreen bonsai.

 

[LanceMac10]

Why ask for "thoughts" when you apparently have it all figured out?

Must be a joy come holidays.....put some friggen beer in your fridge for cryin' out loud!!!!

You been smokin' some "evergreen"?