Great Tropical Plant Migration is Over

[penumbra]

I usually wait until solid 40's at night....but maybe I should pull them in now....
I think I pulled them in in September last year.
Still rocking and rolling out there now though and we're heating up this weekend.

No problem with your methodology at all. That is what I have done in the past. I just have to make hay when the sun shines. Never sure about what tomorrow will bring.
So trying something new ..... its done now.
Time to finish my outdoor preps.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

No problem with your methodology at all. That is what I have done in the past. I just have to make hay when the sun shines. Never sure about what tomorrow will bring.

For the record... no problem taking tropicals inside if you have a grow set-up. For that matter, if you have a grow set-up you can leave them indoors 12 months out of the year.

However I want to banish the weird perception people have that ficus or cacti or succulents can't take cold temps. ALL my tropicals stayed outside all year in SoCal - with regular night-time lows in the 40's and high 30's. If we got below freezing with a strong wind, my ficus and citrus would drop outer leaves... and that was about it. 50 degree lows? They couldn't care less - because seven months of the year the AVERAGE low temp in LA is in the 40's and 50's. Do people understand it SNOWS in the low desert... and there are extended periods of freezing temps in the high desert? I just looked up the record low for Joshua Tree National Park - where it is so hot in the summer they close the camp grounds from June - Sept - and the record low is 10 degrees F. Average low in January is 37. Make sure you tell the cacti they're not supposed to be alive!

So bring your tropicals indoors in Sept if you want... but in Virginia I'd suggest you are jumping the gun by at least two months.

 

[just.wing.it]

For the record... no problem taking tropicals inside if you have a grow set-up. For that matter, if you have a grow set-up you can leave them indoors 12 months out of the year.

However I want to banish the weird perception people have that ficus or cacti or succulents can't take cold temps. ALL my tropicals stayed outside all year in SoCal - with regular night-time lows in the 40's and high 30's. If we got below freezing with a strong wind, my ficus and citrus would drop outer leaves... and that was about it. 50 degree lows? They couldn't care less - because seven months of the year the AVERAGE low temp in LA is in the 40's and 50's. Do people understand it SNOWS in the low desert... and there are extended periods of freezing temps in the high desert? I just looked up the record low for Joshua Tree National Park - where it is so hot in the summer they close the camp grounds from June - Sept - and the record low is 10 degrees F. Average low in January is 37. Make sure you tell the cacti they're not supposed to be alive!

So bring your tropicals indoors in Sept if you want... but in Virginia I'd suggest you are jumping the gun by at least two months.

View attachment 400578

We're all a bunch of scaredy cats!

 

[Carol 83]

I'm trying to figure out if there are bulbs that can be used in a living setting that don't fry your eyeballs off after too much exposure.

A few folks have some great shelving setups, I'm just curious about other options. I'm assuming that's a pipe dream though.

All my trops are in my kitchen, where I spend a significant amount of time. I started with the blue/pink lights, yuk. Last year I switched to T8 LED lights, that are white. They don't hurt your eyes, well I guess they would if you stand in front of them and stare at them. But just being in the room with them is fine and my trees like them so much better.