will a Larch grow well in California?

BoostedBonsai

BoostedBonsai

Mame
Messages
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Location
Central Valley California
USDA Zone
10?
i been interested in buying a larch but i have heard they need super cold winters in order to survive and it gets down to 26 degrees here at the most and i heard thats not enough, is this true? id like to know more bout them because i really want one
 
My understanding is it’s not specifically how low the temperature gets but how many “chill hours” the climate sees — https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_requirement

In central Portland we have USDA zones of 8 and 9, which is similar to much of California, but we have more chill hours. My peers and I are able to keep larch quite successfully.

That said, all anecdotes I’ve heard say you will not be successful.
 
Last edited:
parhamr said:
My understanding is it’s not specifically how low the temperature gets but how many “chill hours” the climate sees — https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_requirement

In central Portland we have USDA zones of 8 and 9, which is similar to much of California, but we have more chill hours. My peers and I are able to keep larch quite successfully.
Click to expand...

ahh okay, yeah were zone 9 but shit almost zone 10
bummer ): maybee if i come across a cheap seedling to try to see if it survives ill try
 
USDA zones are silly. They measure LOWEST average temp for the year. There is not a good USDA heat index. The problem with larch in Fresno is not the winter, but the summer. Our lows are OK and we probably have adequate chill hours. It's when it gets to 105 for three weeks in a row that the tree folds up. You would watch those beautiful little lime green needles drop daily till all that was left were brown crispy twigs.....
 
Smoke said:
USDA zones are silly. They measure LOWEST average temp for the year. There is not a good USDA heat index. The problem with larch in Fresno is not the winter, but the summer. Our lows are OK and we probably have adequate chill hours. It's when it gets to 105 for three weeks in a row that the tree folds up. You would watch those beautiful little lime green needles drop daily till all that was left were brown crispy twigs.....
Click to expand...

damn what a bummer 😭
thanks for your reply
 
Smoke said:
USDA zones are silly. They measure LOWEST average temp for the year. There is not a good USDA heat index. The problem with larch in Fresno is not the winter, but the summer. Our lows are OK and we probably have adequate chill hours. It's when it gets to 105 for three weeks in a row that the tree folds up. You would watch those beautiful little lime green needles drop daily till all that was left were brown crispy twigs.....
Click to expand...
And if you manage to keep them in a cooler place for the whole summer?
A shaded area under big trees and a misting system might provide temperatures 5 or more Celsius degrees cooler than normal. Still not enough?
Or a cellar, maybe after some early morning sun or using lamps
Just stupid theories I have in mind
 
Look up golden larch (Pseudolarix amabilis) they are similar in appearance to larch but are a different member of the pine family (Pseudolarix amabilis) that can take more heat.
 
FedericoMelis said:
And if you manage to keep them in a cooler place for the whole summer?
A shaded area under big trees and a misting system might provide temperatures 5 or more Celsius degrees cooler than normal. Still not enough?
Or a cellar, maybe after some early morning sun or using lamps
Just stupid theories I have in mind
Click to expand...

yeah i was thinking the same, worth a shot on an inexpensive larch
 
Yeah I have a shohin Japanese larch that does fine. But I am in the fog belt on the coast south west of SF.
 
Shoshinsha said:
i been interested in buying a larch but i have heard they need super cold winters in order to survive and it gets down to 26 degrees here at the most and i heard thats not enough, is this true? id like to know more bout them because i really want one
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if Merced, CA has a similar climate to yours but @vancehanna has a larch forest on a slab that he "raised" for years in SE MI but has moved to CA and it is looking at its first winter soon. He seemed to think it is doing OK. Maybe you can contact him for updates....
 
Mayank said:
I'm not sure if Merced, CA has a similar climate to yours but @vancehanna has a larch forest on a slab that he "raised" for years in SE MI but has moved to CA and it is looking at its first winter soon. He seemed to think it is doing OK. Maybe you can contact him for updates....
Click to expand...
Here is a link to the actual weather in Merced for the last couple months. You can use the arrow at the top of the page to scroll thru the last few months and look at the temps. Merced is a tad cooler than Fresno, because of the delta and some of the SF breeze making it's way into the county. I don't think the winter will be the problem, but the summers are murder. It will be interesting to know how it fares. Being retired helps.

 
Shoshinsha said:
yeah i was thinking the same, worth a shot on an inexpensive larch
Click to expand...
I will experiment with some other conifers, my climate is quite similar to yours!
I know of some people that successfully keep maples (i know its not a conifer) and on summer they keep them full shaded, misted and on a bed of wet gravel. Might wanna try that.
I have a wine cellar that stays decently cool on summer, the lack of light has to be solved tho
 
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