You know it's not as if I didn't know summer was ever going to end. ....%$#@ I do this every year!
I'm scrambling to get everything in as the temperatures are supposed to drop into the 40's at night this week. Naturally I don't have everything ready so I'm plotting my priority order. How much cold will my EEs take? I only had one plant last year and it seems to me that I didn't bring it in until right before the first frost, but I don't want to take the chance if I really shouldn't.
Will somebody please take pity on this poor procrastinating soul? Should I make them a priority even if they have to take over the dining room table tonight?
How far can I Push the Temperature for EEs?
I would say it depends on what kind of EE they are. I believe most go dormant when temps go below 40 degrees. I had some that dropped to the ground when temps got to 32 degrees and I had others that did not drop to until 20 degrees. I would say most Colocasias could take temps down into the mid 20's and would only die to the ground. You could dig them up at that point. But I would say you don't want the ground to freeze solid either. I don't think the Alocasias can take that cold of temps. I would bring them in before freezing temps. Hope that helps.
It does Paige, thanks very much. I hope to be able to get everything in this week and since the forcast doesn't call for anything below 40° I should be OK. I'm very relieved...thanks again!
Jane, I leave mine out here every year until THE day of suspected frost. I have mine in pots. The chilly nights before make some of the large leaf load die off pretty quickly. By the time I bring them in I will only have a couple newer leaves left on each plant and it makes it easier for me to find a spot for them. I then just keep them barely growing over the winter for a fast spring recovery.
Or when the temps drop and the leaves turn to mush you can dig up the bulb and save it over winter
Wow that's a beauty too Lavender. Space is defininitely running at a premium here so that's a good tip.
Ironically I really did wonder about just saving the bulbs but I was afraid that might be a bit tricky for me. There is just so very much to learn regarding hardiness and what can and can't go dormant. I'm also a first timer with brugs, begonias and my new banana so I'm really struggling to learn all the whos whats whens and wheres.
Life was so much simpler when I grew nothing but zinnias and petunias. LOL. (But it was a heck of a lot more "blah" too.)
;-)
Thanks!
jane I am tropical addicted too. Gingers, EE's, jasmines. I love them all. When I let my EE's go completely dormant in the pots, it took too long to get large leaves that summer. When I keep them growing slowly over the winter I get large leaves fast.
Hello all, I've taken my EE to the office. They have plenty room to over winter there, very large window space. I had leaves 42x28 this year so I wanted to keep them going. My question is when do I take off a dead leaf? Is it when they whole leaf is yellow or do i wait for the stem to die back also?
My opinion is it's a matter of taste. I think the different colors add personality, or plantonality.
A friend of mine (although not as high as a zone 5 - or low?- she's in zone 7) takes her potted EE's in when the first frost is announced. She puts the pots in a the large black heavy duty trash bags, packs them to the top with all of the leaves she's raked up, closes them up, and sticks them in her basement until late spring.
Don't know if it will work for a zone 5 or not....I think it would depend on how cold your basement gets...freezing? ...just chilly?...etc....
I let mine die and dry in the summer but when I bring them in gotta keep em neater so when they have the new leaf clear of the stalk and start to droop I cut it off.