Winter is has come to Las Vegas!

[milehigh_7]

Well folks it has happened... We are supposed to get down in the high 20's tonight (first time this year). I may even have to turn on the furnace. I did shelter my Texas Ebony seedlings, Lantana and the other really sensitive stuff.

 

[milehigh_7]

sheesh my grammar and proof reading skills are sad tonight!

 

[Poink88]

We are supposed to hit 28*F tomorrow...doing the TX 2 step tonight and shelter most of my less hardy trees. The ones that won't fit in the dining room will be sitting on heating cable outside and covered with plastic...2nd time it is done this year.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Good luck, and have fun.
29 here tonight, and everything is staying right where they've been all year.
All temperate, all the time. Best decision I've made in bonsai...grow what grows here.

 

[Dav4]

Good luck, and have fun.
29 here tonight, and everything is staying right where they've been all year.
All temperate, all the time. Best decision I've made in bonsai...grow what grows here.

You got that right...if it can't stay on or under the benches in my backyard, either in January or July, it ain't gonna last for long.

 

[Poink88]

...and everything is staying right where they've been all year.
All temperate, all the time. Best decision I've made in bonsai...grow what grows here.

I know...but I just have this affinity to tropicals. Maybe it is the Asian in me.

I will most likely shift my collection to more cold hardy species as I get older though. Lifting the big ones really gives me a workout...especially since there are lots of them.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Yeah stay warm. I was just looking at some weather maps and Flagstaff Az is at 0 degrees. Got down to 63 in my house last night and I finally broke and turned on the furnace. It's pretty cold when you have to use your furnace in Southern Cal.

 

[milehigh_7]

Good luck, and have fun.
29 here tonight, and everything is staying right where they've been all year.
All temperate, all the time. Best decision I've made in bonsai...grow what grows here.

LOL well Brian, 90% stayed out but the problem is, here in Vegas some of the trees that do the best when it is 120F and 3% humidity (May to October) don't do as good when it has been 50's at night all winter and it drops to the 20's for one night.


Viva Las Vegas!

 

[rockm]

FWIW, take it from someone who stores trees for the winter every year--plastic is an extremely poor cover for plants in frost conditions...

 

[Poink88]

FWIW, take it from someone who stores trees for the winter every year--plastic is an extremely poor cover for plants in frost conditions...

I am assuming this is for me.

So I've heard...but I use it more for wind protection and hopefully hold some of the added heat via the deicing cables. I feel it is much better than nothing.

This is just added precaution for the ilex & similar...which should be okay actually with just a few hours of this sub-freezing temps. The trops are all in the toasty garage.

Also note that we do not really go deep freeze here in TX either. 28*F is about the coldest I've seen and usually just for a few hours.

 

[rockm]

"Also note that we do not really go deep freeze here in TX either. 28*F is about the coldest I've seen and usually just for a few hours."

If that's the case, I'd just water everything well the evening before a freeze and let things be. Or just put newspaper or old sheets over the pots and water them down too. Water releases heat as it freezes and that can be enough to prevent roots from freezing in such shallow freezes.

Plastic can present problems for plants if used alone to cover their tops in freezing weather and it comes in contact with them as the condensation the plastic traps will freeze to twigs and leaves. It also transfers cold pretty easily, much more easily than fabric.

 

[Poink88]

If that's the case, I'd just water everything well the evening before a freeze and let things be. Or just put newspaper or old sheets over the pots and water them down too. Water releases heat as it freezes and that can be enough to prevent roots from freezing in such shallow freezes.

Plastic can present problems for plants if used alone to cover their tops in freezing weather and it comes in contact with them as the condensation the plastic traps will freeze to twigs and leaves. It also transfers cold pretty easily, much more easily than fabric.

I have limited plant protection from freezing knowledge so please bear with me.

Your statement above confuses me. You said water the plants to help it from freezing since water releases heat as it freezes...but the water from condensation is bad? Won't that "release heat" as it freezes too if the 1st statement is correct? Sorry but to me, the statements seem conflicting.

Since I use deicing cables, do you have info how plastic traps heat (if it does)?

That said, I will try to find old sheets and use them. Thanks!

 

[rockm]

"but the water from condensation is bad?"

Well, yeah, because condensation lacks mass. It freezes very, very quickly. Frost is frozen condensation. It can freeze literally in seconds or just go straight to frost.

The larger amount of water in the pot, since it has more mass, won't freeze as quickly and offers a "buffer" to descending temperatures.

"Since I use deicing cables, do you have info how plastic traps heat (if it does)?"

Plastic transfers heat and cold quickly. It offers very little insulation. In the dark in freezing temps, it transfers cold VERY quickly. Think about putting a piece of plastic alone on your skin in freezing temperatures, then a piece of fabric. Which gets colder quicker?

As for the de-icing cables, if you have only shallow freezes, they're not really necessary. I have consistently lower temps all winter. I have many of the same species you're using. I don't use deicer cables or anything to heat things up. IMO, Too much trouble not worth the return. Simple mulch.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That's exactly how got out of tropicals. In winter '00, first winter in our house in B'ham, I put my 3 tropicals (1 big bougie, 1 smaller one I'd had for 6 years, and a nice clump nerifolia I'd had that long too) in a poly tunnel I made with some PVC and zip ties. Filled the thing with straw, and pushed it against the house on the south side. Killed every one of them when it got down in the upper 20s. I might as well have left them on the benches.

 

[Poink88]

As for the de-icing cables, if you have only shallow freezes, they're not really necessary. I have consistently lower temps all winter. I have many of the same species you're using. I don't use deicer cables or anything to heat things up. IMO, Too much trouble not worth the return. Simple mulch.

I have limited space and cannot put them down and mulch....believe me, I wish I can. I have to move these on my concrete porch every time temp dips sub-zero from the elevated wire shelving. It is a pain but I am taking the extra precaution esp for the newly collected ones (= most of them at this stage). Once they are a year or older, I won't baby them as much unless it goes below 20*F.

Thanks!!!

 

[Poink88]

That's exactly how got out of tropicals. In winter '00, first winter in our house in B'ham, I put my 3 tropicals (1 big bougie, 1 smaller one I'd had for 6 years, and a nice clump nerifolia I'd had that long too) in a poly tunnel I made with some PVC and zip ties. Filled the thing with straw, and pushed it against the house on the south side. Killed every one of them when it got down in the upper 20s. I might as well have left them on the benches.

Sorry to hear that.

I won't blame plastic in this case, I think even if you used comforter...they would have died still.

As mentioned...all my trops are in the garage. I think the lowest it goes down there is around 65*F. I can always heat that area too if needed.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Good plan...I was just ignorant!

 

[mat]

I wish I had a garage (next house will for sure). Many of mine are coming in to the "Florida Room" tomorrow night. I made space for them this evening. Hopefully enough space; there are more this year than last year.

Predicted low tomorrow night of 35. Probably wouldn't kill much, but I think several of my plants will like it better in that room, which I can control at around 50 degrees F. Plus forecasts aren't always airtight; fluctuations of +/- a few degrees seem pretty common.

<1 hour carry in & about the same out is good effort x (risk vs reward) for me.

 

[Poink88]

I wish I had a garage (next house will for sure).

Mat,

That and a greenhouse (you can heat)!!! It will make your like so much easier.

A bigger backyard where I can build a greenhouse is the first on my wish list...IF we ever move again.

 

[Poink88]

Checked the plants this morning and everything looks okay still. We will see in a few days if the cold snap did any damage. For now...it is over again and we are not expecting close to freezing temps again until Christmas morning.