Would artificial light at the wrong hours mess with trees starting to break dormancy?

[FiggieSmalls]

Hey folks,

Here in St. Louis we get a lot of cold & rainy days. As you'd imagine, things tend to stay quite wet in those conditions. Last year I believe I made a critical error by not doing anything about it, so most of my trees that were starting to show signs of spring activity never fully broke dormancy and just died...

SO, I was thinking about bringing my trees inside on rainy days when they don't need the water, but I'm wondering if the artificial light inside would mess with them? These are mostly maples by the way, but I'm wondering about deciduous trees in general. I don't have a garage or anything like that so in all likelihood they would be just sitting in like a living room area where there would be artificial light during nighttime hours. Or taking it to an extreme, what if I just put these semi(?)dormant trees straight into a grow tent with my tropicals, where they'd suddenly be getting 16hrs of light per day? Anything wrong with this?

Thanks!
Figgie

 

[Bonsai Nut]

The only time I think you would need to protect maples from too much "cold and wet" is if you had just repotted them(?) They don't like their roots to sit in water, but otherwise I'm not sure you have to give them any special care.

But to answer your question directly, they should not be "harmed" from being brought indoors for a day or two, as long as that artificial lighting isn't too bright.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

The only time I think you would need to protect maples from too much "cold and wet" is if you had just repotted them(?) They don't like their roots to sit in water, but otherwise I'm not sure you have to give them any special care.

But to answer your question directly, they should not be "harmed" from being brought indoors for a day or two, as long as that artificial lighting isn't too bright.

In rainy old England they commonly protect their trees during persistent rainy periods. And you can always just turn the lights off or put them on a cheap timer. When I move my trees into the garage for freezing nights like tonight I don’t bother with lights, they can do fine in the subdued light for a couple of days.

 

[FiggieSmalls]

The only time I think you would need to protect maples from too much "cold and wet" is if you had just repotted them(?) They don't like their roots to sit in water, but otherwise I'm not sure you have to give them any special care.

But to answer your question directly, they should not be "harmed" from being brought indoors for a day or two, as long as that artificial lighting isn't too bright.

Well, I am considering a repot for at least one of them actually. And I just repotted a cherry that I did bring inside because I'm willing to risk that one... lol

But you're saying it actually would be an issue if it gets a lot of light outside of the typical daily period? Would it just come out of dormancy faster or would it actually risk failing to come out of dormancy because it's confused or something? Trying to think like a plant... lol

Thanks for the reply!

 

[FiggieSmalls]

In rainy old England they commonly protect their trees during persistent rainy periods. And you can always just turn the lights off or put them on a cheap timer. When I move my trees into the garage for freezing nights like tonight I don’t bother with lights, they can do fine in the subdued light for a couple of days.

Yeah, the thing is I have other plants under lights inside on a schedule that I wouldn't want to disrupt (although I guess it wouldn't hurt if only a couple of days).

I do have a little outdoor closet connected to my deck that I could use for temporary storage but it's kinda dusty and gross in there so I would feel a little bad. I guess the plants wouldn't mind though...

Do they actually need to be protected from light outside of the normal daylight hours though? It sounds like the implication is yes. Or is it just that you aren't sure, like myself, so you don't mess with it?

For me the issue is there isn't really a convenient way for me to shelter them from both light *and* rain. Except maybe that closet (and I might have to move around some things I've got stored in there)

Thanks for the reply btw!

 

[Paradox]

I would find a way to get them out of the rain and keep them outside. If too much rain is the actual problem, you need to take a look at your soil composition and change it to one where that isn't a problem. Do not put them in a warm, tropical tent. That is just asking for trouble

 

[JOELO]

I start my seeds under my 1000W light and yes I have tried this. I brought some trees in from cold storage thinking I'll get a head start.. it was extremely detrimental. The less encouraging you give them the better, they are on a very specific schedule. Protection is one thing, just don't encourage them! Hope that helps

 

[FiggieSmalls]

I start my seeds under my 1000W light and yes I have tried this. I brought some trees in from cold storage thinking I'll get a head start.. it was extremely detrimental. The less encouraging you give them the better, they are on a very specific schedule. Protection is one thing, just don't encourage them! Hope that helps

Yes, thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for in terms of understanding that I need to respect the cycle. That makes sense to me! I was definitely thinking that I could give them a little boost lol

 

[FiggieSmalls]

Also forgot to mention the other reason I considered bringing them inside... friggin squirrels man! I know they're digging in pots at least... But it seems like they straight up attacked a number of my trees, slashing up a few trunks and totally decapitated a few smaller trees. Or maybe that was a bird or something, not sure. But I am moving in a couple months to Montana. Minimal squirrels there.

 

[Zac]

As for the light in not sure I only bring my tropicals inside over winter. For blocking the excess rain could move under eves of house or just lay something over soil during long periods of rain. I had issues with chipmunk digging my trees out of pots so I bought a toy rubber snake and laid it up on bench around trees I move it around every couple of days so think it's moving it's seamed to have fouled them haven't dug any since