Winter Woes

[Cable]

Not that this thread is particularly woeful but most of us temperate zone folks are turning our thoughts to winter. Doing anything different this year?

Last year I wintered 6 or so of my trees in my root cellar and mulched in the rest. This year I'm thinking of just putting all of them in the root cellar. That thing worked great! Plus I don't have to deal with picking mulch out of my pots for half the summer like I did this year...

 

[Traken]

I'm definitely going to make sure I protect stuff better this year. Heh. The week of ultra-cold we had last year murdered a number of things that would have (probably) been ok, had I done more to protect them, at least for that period. I need to make sure everything gets mulched in properly this time, and for the more fragile stuff, drag it into the garage for the extreme cold periods that crop up. The tropicals came in last night, so they're good to go, thankfully.

 

[nrgizerrod]

I built a 10" deep mulch bed against the house for my winter protection this year, just in time for the 11 degree temps we had last night. Thankfully I have a good natural wind break, which is the real danger in my area. We'll see how it does!

I also upgraded my tropical set up in the house with better shelving and getting another T5 light soon. My setup last year was pretty janky, inside and out.

 

[amatbrewer]

Moved my greenhouse (aka cold box) to a shaded spot so I don't get the huge temp swings that result in trees breaking dormancy early.
Added a heat pad to my indoor tropical setup and plan to use @0soyoung's Hydrogen Peroxide trick.
Plan to mulch my pots this weekend rather than wait for snow to insulate them.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I have a house this year so next year I will be able to get some different stock.
I have an are under the back porch it will still be cold but out of the wind.
I think that may work as kind as I don’t let them dry out.
Hell my back porch is not heated so that would probably work also.

 

[mrt1]

A couple shelves in my attached Cleveland garage has been working for years.

 

[Cable]

Got my trees put away for the winter. The more sensitive ones are down in the root cellar and the rest are snuggled down behind a cinder block wind break and covered with leaves. I'm back to leaves this year. The mulch worked great last year but I spent half the year picking mulch out of pots. I think with the windbreak I'll have better results than two winters ago when I lost 8.

 

[coltranem]

@Cable what drove the decision for out side vs root cellar? The root cellar looks huge. I just have a few left outside. Most will be in their winter home tonight.

 

[Cable]

Mostly just that it is a pain in the butt to cart them up and down the stairs, not to mention keep them watered. Nature pretty much takes care of the ones outside.

The other issue, but it is debated, is that evergreens (and some deciduous) will photosynthesize some in the winter, when it is warm enough. Some people argue it is so little as to make no difference but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest it does. Ryan Neil mentioned in one of his videos that he has noticed trees wintered outside tend to show stronger growth the following year. So, for trees that can take all an Ohio winter can throw at them, why not go for the boost? The two junipers you see are only down there because I don't trust the pots their in to be frost proof.

So, I mostly have jap maples down there, plus my zone 7 plants that I just don't want to deal with. And my chinese elm air layer because I need it in February.

 

[Vance Wood]

The most important thing I do is to keep them shielded from direct exposure to the sun. The sun can in the right conditions cause the trunk to thaw, warm and cause the sap to rise. Often this event is followed by a 0-diget spat of temperature where the sap that has risen previously will freeze and expand fracturing the cambium layer and if not killing the tree it will create havoc with the branches and bark.

 

[Cable]

The most important thing I do is to keep them shielded from direct exposure to the sun. The sun can in the right conditions cause the trunk to thaw, warm and cause the sap to rise. Often this event is followed by a 0-diget spat of temperature where the sap that has risen previously will freeze and expand fracturing the cambium layer and if not killing the tree it will create havoc with the branches and bark.

Yep, that happened to one of my maples two winters ago.

 

[coltranem]

So if conifers only photosynthesize "a little" during the cold winter and most people store them on the shade. How much bbn photosynthesizing can they do?

I have left 2 pine outside this winter in a similar situation surrounded by leaves and out of the wind and sun. This was mainly to save storage space but we'll see if there is any other benefit.

I have seen the video by Ryan Neil but I thought he was comparing a tree stored under the bench (shade) to out in the sun. I like Ryan's online material a lot but it would be nice if he showed some examples from these experiments.

 

[sorce]

we'll see if there is any other benefit

Forgive me but, just as we'll never really know if it's true that, "the tree didn't skip a beat", we can't know if it wasn't a whole host of things that may or may not lead to more vigor in the spring.

We can measure fert applied but never uptake.
We can measure sun given but not photosynthesis.
Pests, water, etc etc....

We'll never know for sure.

The stuff he(Ryan) talks about in regards to roots still a growing in the winter is calculable, and can be proven true.

That is enough reason to know there is benefits to leaving the tree with light, or more accurately, as it would be in nature, since this is where we know we can witness winter root growth, naturally.

I reckon the only thing I'm winter that actually has the power to make for a better Spring, is a still active root zone.

As far as the "conversation" that happens in Spring, it doesn't happen all winter because the top is sleeping, but it still has "it's answering machine" on for the messages. So spring can pop off.

Sorce

 

[Bolero]

I am presently reading/viewing Morten Albek's book "Majesty in Miniature, Shohin Bonsai" and have discovered the majority of my Bonsai are Shohin, 11" or under, this is not by Design but Rather because I cannot afford Large Trunk Mature Bonsai...I also have a book named "Keshiki" by Kenji Kobayashi and he specializes in Mame , 4" or smaller...
Growing these Smaller Bonsai I tend to spend a lot of time being creative with the Ground Cover and giving them a Minature Landscape/Penjing look...
Just thought I would share...

 

[BuckeyeOne]

I am presently reading/viewing Morten Albek's book "Majesty in Miniature, Shohin Bonsai" and have discovered the majority of my Bonsai are Shohin, 11" or under, this is not by Design but Rather because I cannot afford Large Trunk Mature Bonsai...I also have a book named "Keshiki" by Kenji Kobayashi and he specializes in Mame , 4" or smaller...
Growing these Smaller Bonsai I tend to spend a lot of time being creative with the Ground Cover and giving them a Minature Landscape/Penjing look...
Just thought I would share...

???????

 

[Bolero]

???????

No Point here just sharing some Bonsai talk and experience...

 

[Cable]

The stuff he(Ryan) talks about in regards to roots still a growing in the winter is calculable, and can be proven true.

That is enough reason to know there is benefits to leaving the tree with light, or more accurately, as it would be in nature, since this is where we know we can witness winter root growth, naturally.

I think winter root growth is more a factor of temperature than sunlight. My root cellar stays between 30-40° all winter long so I should get some root growth when it is near that upper end. Early in the season it is closer to 45°. My outside plants will get some root growth until the roots freeze.