Wintering Hen & Chicks

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I have Hen & Chicks in a clay strawberry pot. Someone in zone5a (Tekamah, NE) said she leaves them in her clay strawberry pot all winter outside. She put the entire pot in a 5 gallon bucket and then puts leaves around the inside between the bucket & pot & leaves on top of the bucket. I tried that last year & lost all of the Hen & Chicks. I'm wondering if she covers the top of the bucket to prevent moisture from getting in. I left them on our patio with the bucket uncovered. We are a zone 4 (51031). Does anyone else have any suggestions? Thanks. Janice

Featured Answer

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

7 years ago

IME there is very little that will stay alive unprotected in a pot in zone 4. Moisture is an issue for the plants (cold and sodden isn’t good for the hens & chicks), and freeze thaw cycles are an issue for the pot. But I can’t imagine that something as small as a 5 gallon bucket filled with leaves will provide enough insulation to make a difference In zone 4. You could try something larger such as a lidded plastic trash barrel filled with leaves and stored against the house, but I wouldn’t hold my breath as far as success. I haven’t found that they overwintered in a rock wall, but they do in the ground because the snow provides insulation and the ground is a heat sink. Have you considered planting the H&C in a weatherproof pot (plastic) and heeling that in?

If you want to leave them in the pot you want somewhere that will be just a warmer and a more even temperature than outside and ideally where they can get some light such as in front of a window in a well insulated garage.

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Comments (9)

User
7 years ago
I'd be more worried about the pot. Clay pots with soil do not winter over well here in zone 7 at all... they chip, flake and often crack in two due to freezing and expanding soil. I grow cactus in pots and either set them under the carport to stay dry or bring theme indoors. The common type of chicks and hens in that pot are very hardy, they just need decent drainage.
milney_51031 thanked User
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milney_51031
Original Author
7 years ago
Would it work if I put them in the basement? It is heated though & quite warm. Thanks.
yeonassky
7 years ago
Perhaps you could dig a hole and put a much bigger plastic container in and then put your hens and chicks pot in and pile that with leaves and put dirt over it. Just make sure there is a way for the water that's going to get in there to get out. The basement might be too hot.
milney_51031 thanked yeonassky
peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
No, I would follow the advice given by NHBabs. Do you have a well insulated garage with a window to give them light?

Edited to add: The other option is to dismantle your very lovely pot and put the H&C in the ground for winter and replant in your strawberry pot in spring.
milney_51031 thanked peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
Nancy Tomazin
7 years ago
I am in Zone 6A and have 2 large stone planters filled with chicks and hens. I plan on digging a hole and sinking them in the ground. I’m very fond of them and pray they survive.
milney_51031 thanked Nancy Tomazin
milney_51031
Original Author
7 years ago
Our garage is unattached. It gets down to about 0 degrees in there when it’s 20 below outside. If I‘d put them in a covered trash barrel & insulate with leaves, they don’t need water or light them? I could put them in a protected patio at the back of the house. It still is cold there. Thanks everyone. Janice
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
peren trumps all again .... dump them out of the pot ... throw them in the veg garden ... cover with light mulch.. and forget about them ... store pot appropriately ... repot in spring ...

they are not house plants ...

zero degrees means nothing to them ... the garage would be fine .. with a zone appropriate plant.. temp is rarely the issue in winter ... its the pot warming and heating during warm spells.. bringing stuff out of dormancy.. or accumulating water like you note ... desiccating winter winds.. freeze drying them.. or the roots.. etc ... the best example of this might be that.. if it was covered by snow all winter .... it would be insulated from all the other bad variable...

if you have so much faith in your friends method. .. ask her to take care of your pot for the winter .. in trade for a batch of muffins or some such ... you might find out she may have stretched the truth.. lol ...

big city name would help us.. i dont have all zip codes in mind .... with my MI and 40 years of experience.. i would have no expectation of a clay pot not exploding or falling apart.. just dump them out .. and be done with it.. the H&C themselves are nearly impossible to kill .... if you treat them as ma nature would ... rather than dreaming up all these plans with pails.. and leaves.. and muffins.. lol

ken
HU-562937284
3 years ago
I don't know how you lost them due to cold unless it was becasue they were some how laying in water or getting root rot some way! They love cold weather, that's where they come from high in the mountain regions in Europe!