Overwintering with a twist

october

So many ways to over winter..its mind numbing. I am somewhat paranoid when it comes to my evergreens not receiving any light in the winter if they are in a cold and dark enough place. Diciduous, I wouldn't worry...tropical..I have an indoor set up for that. Its my junipers that I would worry about. They are outside for a good portion of winter. When the temperatures start to drop to 20 or single digits, I usually put them in an unheated hallway with a few hours of moderate sun a day. If it is 20 degrees outside, the hallway is probably in the 30's or so. The bonsai nursery that I go to keeps their cold hardy trees in the same green house thoughout the year. The greenhouse is only slightly above the temperature outside, but still receives the sun like it normally would. Well, the days are much shorter, so not as much.
I have somewhat tried to mimick these conditions for my own trees and they are doing well. I noticed that as long as my junipers are in a winter temp of mid 20's to low 40's with a few hours of sun a day, they do well.
Does anyone else share my paranoia about keeping evergreens in a completely dark place?

Advertisement

nsmar4211

"In or out of bonsai pots?"

I'd have to say you'd need to do it in bonsai pots, just because that'd be more realistic. Now, that would present a variable... plastic or mica? stoneware or not? thickness of pot? etc.... but I think if you were to do them all in the same pot it'd eliminate some of that variable. A plastic pot would be quicker to cool down, but would also warm up quicker.....don't know about mica.....a ceramic pot would take a bit longer to cool but would also take longer to come up to temp (more stable an atmosphere).
This would definetly be a multi year experiment! Would be fun though

october

they are in bonsai pots. I should have been more specific. Half are finished bonsai ( so to speak ) and the other half are in training in terra cotta grow pots. I am apprehensive about leaving juniper bonsai, shimpaku's and japanese in a completely dark area, even if it is cold. I ususally leave them outside, but when it gets in the teens, I'll put them in a moderately sunny ( 3-4 hours a day ) cold hallway. This year I might try something different, I'll still keep them outside, for the most part, but when the temperature drops into the teens and single digits, I'll put them in a shed in the back yard. There are windows in the shed so even if the temperature stays in the teens or single digits for day, they will still receive a couple of hours of sun. Also, the temperature in the shed is probably 10 degrees warmer than the outside.

Joanie

October.... I think that you aren't aware that your post is on the end of a long thread about a particular overwintering idea. So nsmar is answering a question about the overwintering experiment, not asking you a question If you like, I can move your post off of this and start a new thread with it, then you can get specific answers. Just let me know.

Joanie

__________________