Desert Rat
Yamadori
I'd like to take better care of my tropicals this upcoming winter than I have in previous years. Some trees have been brought inside the house, some stayed outside unprotected, and some were moved up under the covered patio. I did lose all of my Bougainvillea last year, to a few nights of 28 degrees. My larger "pre-bonsai" (patio trees in gigantic pots) seemed to weather the cold well enough, but the smaller potted Ficus were lost.
I have two things going for my winters here in Phoenix: warm daytime temperatures (highs in the high 60's to low 70's), and an un-heated south-facing garage that stays anywhere from 75-80 degrees throughout the night.
What would be my best plan of attack? I've thought of three things: 1) Moving the plants in every night after work to the unheated garage, and back out before work in the morning. 2) Building a rack in the garage, illuminated with daylight LED's. 3) Setting up a PVC and plastic sheeting greenhouse with a propane heater. Here's my foreseeable problems: with setup #1, I have to set them out before sunrise, which can be close to the night time low. #2, the daylight LED's may not be bright enough (for a reasonable expense). #3, open flames.
I know that the best solution is to grow plants that survive all the seasons easily. However, tropicals grow extremely well here in the summer. Very fast and very aggressive.
I have two things going for my winters here in Phoenix: warm daytime temperatures (highs in the high 60's to low 70's), and an un-heated south-facing garage that stays anywhere from 75-80 degrees throughout the night.
What would be my best plan of attack? I've thought of three things: 1) Moving the plants in every night after work to the unheated garage, and back out before work in the morning. 2) Building a rack in the garage, illuminated with daylight LED's. 3) Setting up a PVC and plastic sheeting greenhouse with a propane heater. Here's my foreseeable problems: with setup #1, I have to set them out before sunrise, which can be close to the night time low. #2, the daylight LED's may not be bright enough (for a reasonable expense). #3, open flames.
I know that the best solution is to grow plants that survive all the seasons easily. However, tropicals grow extremely well here in the summer. Very fast and very aggressive.
