going dormant question

TinyTree

Hello all, I live in Colorado where at this time of year we have cold nights(below 40) and the day warms up to above 50. I have a few deciduous trees that will need dormancy. When do I take them completely out of light.(to the garage)

When do I know they are dormant?

If the nights drop to freezing and the days warm up to 40s-50s, do I take them in or wait until the temps drop below 45 for the entire day?

I hope my question(s) make sense. Its still early here........wheres my coffee?

Thanks in advance.

Tiny

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JDubinski

Your trees will be the best reference for this I think, from what I have read and what I have discussed with my teacher. You know that they are dormant once all of their leaves have dropped. I am not an expert though. My teacher said that it is okay if the trees do see a little frost over a night or two before moving them to a more controlled climate. I would suggest to do some reading to see how sensitive your particular trees are to frost/low temps. This will also help.

Good luck!

rockm

Temperate trees as bonsai anyway, are considered dormant when their leaves fall. Trees do have some root growth activity well into late fall.

I leave my trees (And htis can be a bit species dependent) out until the end of November. They get hit with alot more than one or two frosts. THey get hit by a dozen or so, along with a couple of hard freezes--as long as temps generally stay above 20 degrees for the night, I don't worry. Doesn't hurt them (including elms, Trident maples, Japanese maples, oak, bald cypress, native cherry and hornbeam). Short duration nightime autumn freezes don't freeze the rootball all the way through for the most part.

Frosts and freezes in the fall initiate chemical changes in the tree that harden them off for winter's deeper cold. Without frost exposure, many trees--even though they may lack foliage--aren't prepared to pass the winter. Storing them too soon can weaken them or result in "winter kill" as the temperature drop through December into deep winter.