Freeze in Bama- JBP?

[ml_work]

Saturday the 2nd I saw we were getting some cold temps around 25F. I moved my trees according to time invested and money invested. The project trees went into a storage building that has a air gap between the roof and wall. But no direct wind comes through, no heat just closed door. My JBP and other evergreen were moved into the garage, closed on 3 sides but no door. The back wall is my house so I figure some heat there. At the time I did not know how cold it was getting or it would be this long. As of today the high was 35F and going to 22 tonight. About the same rest of week except Friday night will be 10F. I check the JBP today, one is in bonsai pot and the other 3gal nursery pot. Both are frozen at the top. I have read JBP can take 10F ? I do have one last place I can move a few of the trees to, unheated but closed in and can put heat if needed. Any suggestions on what to do for the trees?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[banzaibonsai]

How big is the tree and pot? If it is a medium sized or larger tree it should be fine... jbp are tough trees, but if it is a shohin it may need some insulation around the container to protect the roots... I heel my smaller pines into the ground in a shady spot for winter and they laugh at 0 degrees F...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I'm a little concerned too, in B'ham it's supposed to get down to the mid-to low-teens for the rest of the week. Everything is under the benches, mulched in with pine straw about 4" deep, protected from wind and big fluctuations in temperatures and showing cold through ugly-colored needles and curled leaves on the azaleas and camellias (see photos from this AM), but everything is still ok.

I am much more concerned about pots cracking and the drying effect a freeze has on the trees. I have always been fine with my overwintering arrangement, but it is a little unnerving. I will be hoping for some snow on Thursday, and possibly adding more pine straw to bury them a little deeper...then just holding my breath.

If you're really concerned, bring them into your unheated final option. It will not hurt your trees to bring them inside for a night or two here and there, but I suspect your carport will keep your ambient temperature several degrees warmer than outside. Good Luck!

 

[Dav4]

My JBP has seen temps below 0 F and done fine...the tree was heavily mulched and out of the sun. Since moving to GA, I was actually thinking of leaving the tree, along with other conifers, on the benches throughout the winter...that is until I heard lows may fall into the single digits. I pulled all my trees off the benches once temps got down to 20F...most of them are under my deck and mulched with leaves. As long as the roots are protected from severe cold (my tree's rootball was frozen solid for 3 months straight every winter, by the way), your tree can easily handle 10F.

Dave

 

[ml_work]

Thanks for the replies. These are not shohin, about 12-18 inch. It got up to 45F today and back to 25F tonight. I left the trees were they were today and tomorrow, I will move as many as will fit into the small room tomorrow night. Friday is the low that I keep hearing 15 to 9F and not above freezing until Monday. I did water them tonight to keep the roots from bursting when they freeze back.
Have A Great Day!
Michael

 

[rockm]

One of the most important things to learn about overwintering is to keep your trees' roots from getting dry. Water acts as an insulator against cold--see what citrus growers in Fla. are doing to protect against deep freezing? They spray water over their trees--or irrigate the roots.

Water gives off heat as it freezes and as it changes from a solid to a gas. This can benefit overwintering trees even under mulch. Water surrounding roots freezes before the roots too, acting a bit like insulation.

The processes are explained here:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ch182

The bottom line is don't let roots dry out in storage. The converse is also true--don't let them stay soggy or submerged. Keep them moist...

 

[ml_work]

Thanks for the conformation about the watering Rock. I thought it was a help in freezing weather.
As of now it seems the snow has passed us, but as I have said before we are a small rural town that very seldom gets snow . When it does snow the town shuts down and we use trash can lids as sleds and make snowmen from the 1/4 in or 2 foot of whatever we get. Schools let out half day today and what the heck, close for tomorrow just in case we do get some snow.
The temp is dropping so I moved the trees in the garage into the small room with a light. I figure they would be OK where they were....but if any of them did get damaged I would be very put out that I did not take the time to move them another 10 feet.
Thanks to All for your time and information.
Michael