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Help!
Feb 27, 2008 17:58:06 GMT
Post by Brassleaves on Feb 27, 2008 17:58:06 GMT
My worse fears have been realized. I moved from SC to CT this winter and was afraid my plants would come out of dormancy on SC time. I looked today and the hibernacula on my D. filiformis are open. It's still about a month and a half- two months away from the last frost here. I have a unheated cold frame outside, but at night it could reach as low as 20 degrees F inside of it. What should I do? Only about half of the plants are waking up. Should I just wait it out, or put them under lights, or in the cold frame? Help!!!
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Help!
Feb 27, 2008 18:05:15 GMT
Post by Brassleaves on Feb 27, 2008 18:05:15 GMT
I should mention these plants are in my unheated garage and get very little light. It never gets colder than 35 degrees F and never hotter that 50 degrees F.
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Feb 27, 2008 18:26:57 GMT
Post by Aidan on Feb 27, 2008 18:26:57 GMT
Tricky... Mine are just ermerging from hibernacula now. On a sunny day the temperature may hit 80F though some nights still drop below freezing, but the plants are used to it. I would hesitate to put them in the cold frame as with temperatures falling so low it could be a substantial shock and so I think you have no choice but to light them indoors. A cool windowsill would do until the weather warms up.
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Help!
Feb 27, 2008 21:22:27 GMT
Post by jfoley on Feb 27, 2008 21:22:27 GMT
I'm in Connecticut. My dormant plants are in a unheated garage, temps there vary between 45° and 55°. They are waking up also, which is typical for them. I do keep a light on them in the winter (2 T8's) and I start to lengthen the photo period now. It's way to cold in Connecticut to put them outside now, even in a cold frame. On nicer days I move some in and out, like a week ago I had the sarrs sitting in the pouring rain. I would probably put them under an inexpensive light fixture till later in April when they can go outside.
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Help!
Feb 29, 2008 5:02:05 GMT
Post by Fred P on Feb 29, 2008 5:02:05 GMT
I live in southern MI and have a huge collection of Sarrs and some D.Filiformis. They are all in an unheated garage and will remain there until April sometime. They are in complete darkness and stay that way all winter with absolutely NO ill effects to any of my plants. Even when my D.Filiformis starts to break it's dormancy, I leave it in the garage as long as possible. The trick is to keep the temp as low as you can day and night without freezing (although mine have been frozen solid for days before we get a warming trend to thaw them out). When the temp starts creeping up toward the 50sF consistently, many of my plants start to wake up. I always keep the garage door open on days when the outside temp is 38F or higher and close it toward evening. I play that game from about now till April but it works well for me. Then in April, they all go from a dark garage to a sunny backyard.
Good luck, Fred
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