It's funny how things that go around, come around. We are always giving advise to those who find themselves in a bind over how to acclimatize plants that are not hardened off or just slightly hardened off.
I'm experiencing the latter issue currently. I just got a shipment of plants from near Atlanta, Ga. and was told that they were all still dormant but found when I opened the box yesterday that some of them are indeed at least swelling and some broken bud.
All of them are Winter hardy for my area but I'm worried about their well-being if I don't protect them.
Here is a list of what I'm worried about:
Japanese Cryptomeria - these should do pretty well with a tad of extra care.
Abelia x grandiflora - really worried about these as they are popping.
Weigela florida - 'Minuet'
Pink Flowering Almond
Red Flowering Quince
These last three are also swelling or broken from a bud perspective.
I also got a Gardenia but I'll keep that inside as it will be fine until Spring in the house.
Now ordinarily I'd have no issues with this situation because we have a cold frame, however the stinkin' snowfall during the last storm broke three of the four panels so I'm in the process of trying to re-glaze them. We are experiencing another storm currently which is hindering that effort.
If I sound like I'm whinning..........I am.......sorry. The Winter has got me down.
Suck it up, Len!!
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Gnome
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Len,
You should try to keep everything dormant as long as possible, but you know that. Swelling buds aren't such a problem, if you can keep them cold it should slow them down considerably. Do you have a cold garage you can utilize since your cold frame is out of commission?
The only ones that sound like they will give you a problem are the ones that have broken bud. If only a few individual buds have popped maybe you can still keep the plants cold, sacrificing the few buds to save the remainder for spring.
Norm
You should try to keep everything dormant as long as possible, but you know that. Swelling buds aren't such a problem, if you can keep them cold it should slow them down considerably. Do you have a cold garage you can utilize since your cold frame is out of commission?
The only ones that sound like they will give you a problem are the ones that have broken bud. If only a few individual buds have popped maybe you can still keep the plants cold, sacrificing the few buds to save the remainder for spring.
Norm
Yes, I put them into a large training box and surrounded the little pots they came in with turface to insulate them. They will reside in my shed (attached to the house) at night and outside when the temps. close in on 40°.
That shed never went below 42° last night in the midst of the snow storm and occasional 50mph wind. Only problem......no windows for the Cryptomeria, but I'll work around that.
The little Quince and Almonds are my biggest worry. They are showing the beginnings of a few leaves.
This is the worst possible time for the cold frame to go bad on me. I should have the re-glazing done by Mon. and the issue will resolve itself.
That shed never went below 42° last night in the midst of the snow storm and occasional 50mph wind. Only problem......no windows for the Cryptomeria, but I'll work around that.
The little Quince and Almonds are my biggest worry. They are showing the beginnings of a few leaves.
This is the worst possible time for the cold frame to go bad on me. I should have the re-glazing done by Mon. and the issue will resolve itself.
Len....anything above 40 degrees will wake you plants...32 to 40 is the idea temp to keep them dormant without freezing. What Norm said is the best advice...keep them cold and sacrifice the buds that have opened.
Quince are a strange breed.......Mine are buried in snow except for some tips which are opening up....Quince will open earlier than any deciduous plant you have and handle the cold really well...so don't fret about those
Quince are a strange breed.......Mine are buried in snow except for some tips which are opening up....Quince will open earlier than any deciduous plant you have and handle the cold really well...so don't fret about those
Thanks Tom. Yes, I'm going to start leaving all of them out as long as it doesn't get below 32 degrees since some of them came from the Atlanta area. I'm trying to acclimate them and at the same time save as many of the buds as possible. Sort of the best of both worlds. As I mentioned, they are all hardy for my area so it's just a matter of that initial acclimation with as little damage as possible.Tachigi wrote:Len....anything above 40 degrees will wake you plants...32 to 40 is the idea temp to keep them dormant without freezing. What Norm said is the best advice...keep them cold and sacrifice the buds that have opened.