Ume flower buds

[junmilo]

Hi All,

Have a question on ume flower buds...so besides the cutting that I have..I have two (red/pink and white) ume... I noticed the red/pink ume flower buds are swelling up... But the white ume flower buds are still the same size as 3 month ago.... Should I worry?

Thanks

JZ

 

[leatherback]

I would not worry, but enjoy the show when it arrives. It is a bit early for them to start flowering though. If you have them outside I would let nature take its course. butthen.. I do not tend to worry to much about pants doing odd things at odd times,and let them sort it out themselves.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I would not worry, The cold will not bother the buds, especially not in the first half of winter.

But when it gets cold, they like to stay cold. Where Ume has problems is in January or February, a few warm days will cause them to start growing and quickly loose their cold tolerance. A couple warm days followed by a cold spell can cause flower buds to blast. Best is to get them frozen and keep them frozen so that they stay dormant until there will be enough warm days they can get through blooming without another frost.

 

[junmilo]

I would not worry, The cold will not bother the buds, especially not in the first half of winter.

But when it gets cold, they like to stay cold. Where Ume has problems is in January or February, a few warm days will cause them to start growing and quickly loose their cold tolerance. A couple warm days followed by a cold spell can cause flower buds to blast. Best is to get them frozen and keep them frozen so that they stay dormant until there will be enough warm days they can get through blooming without another frost.

Thank you... The temperature is fluctuating between - 2 Celsius to +14 Celsius... Some of its leaves have dropped or blown away... Still in green color.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Thank you... The temperature is fluctuating between - 2 Celsius to +14 Celsius... Some of its leaves have dropped or blown away... Still in green color.

When winter sets in, soon, perhaps by beginning of January, the best temp range will be -2 C to +4 C, you really need to prevent the temperature jumps above +4 C. Reason is that right at or slightly above +4C metabolism picks up enough for the tree to start growing. The jumps up to + 14 C will tell the tree spring is here.

This sensitivity to warmth can be used to time blooming. Beginning sometime around the middle of January, if you bring the temperatures above +4 C about 14 days before you want to display the tree, you can get blooms on time for your show.

Your low temperature of -2 C is warm enough that it will not hurt flower buds until flower buds are developed enough that you can see the color of the petals underneath the bud scales. Then keep the temperature above freezing, above 0 C.