My coldroom is stuffed full of all sorts of wintering plants including hardy conifers ... no light is required during winter.

Terry

No more suggestions? Everybody agrees?

Terry wrote: "no light is required during winter". But for the correct understanding we need a definition - what does the term "winter" mean.

Terry, which temperature is in your coldroom?

I guess - there should be a temperature threshold, e.g. 0 or -5C or smth like that. Below this point, conifers are fully dormant and need no light. But - if above...?

That's cold kleckas. In Fahrenheit, -5C = 23F and 32F is freezing, 23 being colder than freezing. You couldn't have a more perfect situation. And Terry is right, no light is needed.

Just be sure you acclimate them to the outdoors at the proper times, and bring them indoors if buds break and cold temperatures are expected. Just like you'd do with any other potted, "plant."

Dax

kleckas - Be careful with the roots dying. That's pretty cold for a small 4" pot, a quart, gallon, etc -. Seems a bit dangerous to me. Then again I used to overwinter gallon pots on my garage floor with no problem for several years. Then last winter, I lost a few.

At the very minimum, I'd keep the larger plants outside the circle and the smallest in the middle. Maybe stuff newspaper or some other insulator between them as well.

In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to insulate them as best as you can.

Best -

Dax

I am really amazed by the statements here that a conifer can spend the winter (or part of it) in the dark and come out fine. I am not a botanist and my amazement is therefore very subjective.
Again I probably know very little about conifers.

Gomero

Hi Gomero,

Think of conifers which grow north of the Arctic Circle - they get no light at all for a couple of months, and very little for two more months.

In prehistoric times (about 55 million years ago) when the earth was warmer, there were no ice caps, and some conifers (in the family Podocarpacae) grew at or near the South Pole, where they got no light at all for 6 months. Experiments have shown that many species are still capable of surviving this, if they are kept sufficiently cool during the dark winter period.

Resin

kleckas, ideal winter storage temperatures are from +1 to +5C. I agree that I would NOT want to see the soil within the containers freeze, as it's sometimes surprising the damage the root system can sustain.

"I guess - there should be a temperature threshold, e.g. 0 or -5C or smth like that. Below this point, conifers are fully dormant and need no light. But - if above...?"

... as long as the plant is dormant and kept relativity cool, I don't think it would suffer much without being exposed to light.

Gomero, I have very long winters here, and plants happily spend five months tucked away in dark and cold (+4c) of my stoage room.

Terry

Terry keeps conifers 5(!) months at positive temperatures w/o light and they survive - the answer to my question is clear and approved.

Concerning +1..+5C: the problem is that 80% of my plans stay in pots only for 1-2 winters. Afterwards they are moved into "permanent location" - are planted and grow in natural conditions. I don't want that they loose resistance to cold. Anyway, down to -5C I never noticed any damage.

Thanks - Kleckas

Kleckas, good to hear your container plants have faired well when exposed to -5C. Don't worry about your hardy species losing resistance to the cold ... it's in their genes! .... THOUGH, and a very important though, it's necessary that they become well rooted in before winter, and many benefit from some form of SUNSCREENING those first couple of winters. Otherwise, I've had some plants turn to toast! My winters can throw just about anything at me, but the very worst are those mild sunny windy winters when the ground is frozen solid and evergreens can't draw up moisture and thus become very desiccated. This winter is probably just about ideal here, lots of early and continuous snow cover.

Terry

Hm... genus is genus, habit is habit, but additional training is always useful.

For example, genus = homo sapiens, but we have different varietes. Peasants, aristocracy, Hoolywood stars. Their resistance is quite different, isn't it?

Concerning screening against winter sun, we have similar problems in February/March. My timeframe - at most 3 years. If a plant must be protected during this timeframe and does not develop kind of resistance against sun - not my problem. It is moved into some other area (complete shadow/debris/etc). This happens mainly with Taxus and Chamaecyparis, but my main interests are - Picea, Tsuga, Pseudotsuga. In general, I am far from the approach that human beings must spend lots of their time taking care about plants. If they (plants) disliked given conditions - there always is an option: to grow or not to grow. From my side, such attitude is called "cannot play against nature".

Kleckas

"For example, genus = homo sapiens, but we have different varietes. Peasants, aristocracy, Hoolywood stars. Their resistance is quite different, isn't it?"

Despite living in a climate with long cold winters, I have poor resistance to the cold, and I also do poorly in the heat of the summer. I often wonder how southerners fair when exposed to such cold? ... acclimatize or pray to go back home? Indeed, just like plants, we are all very different.

Yes, there comes a time when we must decide whether or not it's worth the effort to grow certain plants. If I can not provide the necessary conditions for them to flourish, then it's time to say goodbye!
Terry