bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - How Do I Save My Trees From HARSH Winters?

Hi,
Some thoughts from someone who has 'been there and done that'. Do not discount the garage so quickly. I over winter my trees in an unheated garage. Yes, being unheated it approaches the outside temperature....I have used a remote probe and found it actually stays a few degrees warmer...not 10 but 2 to 5 degrees warmer. Second and very importantly it remains wind free. Drying due to winter winds is extremely bad for your tree. By being in a sheltered place be it a cold frame, green house, or garage, you are preventing this from happening. Something else that I found was the garage moderated temperatures. When the temps dropped over the course of the night, the garage was slower to drop and never reached the lowest outside temps...and equally as important, during the day when the outside temps 'might' go above freezing (and in the early spring into the 40's) the garage was slow to warm...keeping the temperatures below freezing. Why is this important.... prevent the freeze thaw freeze thaw cycle which is not good!

Also I have the trees in two groups, those hardy to my zone..and those although winter hardy, not capable of taking the sub-zero temps we can get. The more tender trees live on a shelf with a 'temperature moderator' I built. Under the shelf is a grid of copper tubing filled with automotive antifreeze. the grid has a plumbing heat tape on it, the kind that has a thermostat and is used to prevent your water pipes from freezing. It is not exspensive to buy and not exspensive to run. The heat tape keeps the copper pipe at about 40 to 45 degrees I believe. The pipe acts as a radiator giving off some heat which rises into the shelf above, by the time it gets there it keeps the trees in my garage from going below 25 to 28 degrees even during long spells of low single digits. Now the amount of copper tubing and electric heat tape will be different for different size shelves and different heat gain situations..but you get the idea...

good luck
Jay

3-Feb-2004	#3
Jay YOU CAN NOT RUSH TIME Join Date: Sep-2001 Location: Jeffersonville Vt Country: USA USDA Zone: 4 AHS Heat Zone: 3 Posts: 2,154	Hi, Some thoughts from someone who has 'been there and done that'. Do not discount the garage so quickly. I over winter my trees in an unheated garage. Yes, being unheated it approaches the outside temperature....I have used a remote probe and found it actually stays a few degrees warmer...not 10 but 2 to 5 degrees warmer. Second and very importantly it remains wind free. Drying due to winter winds is extremely bad for your tree. By being in a sheltered place be it a cold frame, green house, or garage, you are preventing this from happening. Something else that I found was the garage moderated temperatures. When the temps dropped over the course of the night, the garage was slower to drop and never reached the lowest outside temps...and equally as important, during the day when the outside temps 'might' go above freezing (and in the early spring into the 40's) the garage was slow to warm...keeping the temperatures below freezing. Why is this important.... prevent the freeze thaw freeze thaw cycle which is not good! Also I have the trees in two groups, those hardy to my zone..and those although winter hardy, not capable of taking the sub-zero temps we can get. The more tender trees live on a shelf with a 'temperature moderator' I built. Under the shelf is a grid of copper tubing filled with automotive antifreeze. the grid has a plumbing heat tape on it, the kind that has a thermostat and is used to prevent your water pipes from freezing. It is not exspensive to buy and not exspensive to run. The heat tape keeps the copper pipe at about 40 to 45 degrees I believe. The pipe acts as a radiator giving off some heat which rises into the shelf above, by the time it gets there it keeps the trees in my garage from going below 25 to 28 degrees even during long spells of low single digits. Now the amount of copper tubing and electric heat tape will be different for different size shelves and different heat gain situations..but you get the idea... good luck Jay __________________ A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49... Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing