Zone 7 Cold Snap. Leaves out! HELP

[Underdog]

Teens the next two nights. I came North too early this year. ugh I have learned enough in 7yrs to leave 'em set. I dug two and repotted and have them in the shop just above freezing but otherwise everyone is where they were in November. They look happy.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Call someone! Quick!

I texted a neighbor. He's gonna hook me up!

 

[Underdog]

My neighbor has been awesome. Past years we've facetimed and he walks me round the garden while I ask him to stick his finger in a pot or water those but not these... LOL This winter we were covered in snow and Ice for over 6 weeks straight. Then flooding rains above average after that. I've not needed him to do anything, but nice to know he would

 

[rockm]

We weren't taking about bald cypress, that thing is nearly subtropical. Of course that's a different situation.
I've got quite a bit of experience with pot grown plants, less with bonsai. Where I live it's much less of an issue apparently. What might be a substantial difference is the temperature profile. Here the minimum temperature is reached before sunrise but this time of year that doesn't last long. So even if the minimum is 25 F/ -4 C it doesn't do much to the pots as most of the night is above freezing.
Higher temperatures and sun warm it up quickly after sunrise.
Your weather pattern is clearly different.

Bald cypress is not subtropical. It grows up into Delaware and Illinois--it's listed as hardy to Zone 4 in ground up to Zone 10. It's been planted as far North as Southern Canada. It can take cold temperatures as well as hot--it's a very adaptable tree.

I've had BC for a very long time here in Va. My first BC has made it through temps as low as -8 F. However, it's the timing of the cold that can make a difference. The extreme low was at the end of Jan. The tree was dormant and mulched. The one that died was the same, BUT the cold snap that killed it came in late Feb. when the tree was just beginning to bud out. Top froze but the roots remained alive since they were protected and the tree was in a cold pit.

That is why I bring trees in during late freezes. It's a crap shoot. The same can be true with other species as well. All of the trees I brought in this Sunday were well along with leafing. Freezing periods that last more than a few days are quite dangerous early in the spring. The forecast calls for nighttime lows near 20 F. Intracellular death (when water freezes inside root cells and destroys them) can begin occurring at 25 F. Given that the lowest temps are forecast for the middle of the freezing period, pots will most likely already be partially frozen through as daytime thawing will be at a minimum. That means there is great potential for roots to reach those killing zone temperatures.

 

[badatusernames]

I have this for my protected area - any time it drops below 40 it kicks on. Had it set for 35 over the winter but now that things are peeping I’m being a little more judicious, I may want to crank it to 45 even. First time playing around wuth

Palma Greenhouse Fan Heater 110 V, incl. Digital Summer / Winter Thermostat

Greenhouse heater ✓ Floor-standing heater ✓ Very inexpensive to operate ✓ Now with Thermo 2 digital thermostat ✓ IPX4 splash-proof ✓ 163 m³/h air circulation ✓ Cable length 1.9m (approx. 6.2ft) ✓

biogreen-products.com

the more important trees I’m not taking chances on now that it’s touch-and-go season and bring them inside under lights if it goes under 40.

Only lost one tree due to rodents. I’m glad I met some folks who thoroughly warned me of this time of year, it really sounds like THIS is when trees can really get hit - just when you think you’re out of the woods in spring and feeling all smart about yourself.

give me about a month and we’ll see how smart I’m feeling I think…. I’ll be feeling safer about it come late April I think. The person with a lot of experience who warned me the most has a hole with a giant cooler he keeps his in so he doesn’t even look at em til late April - he was very clear that it wasn’t keeping them warm that tended to be the problem, it was keeping them cool enough in spring during this cycle so they wouldn’t leaf out early only to get nuked by a late freeze.

and it’s snowing today!

 

[Underdog]

17 this morning and again tomorrow morning. Then 70 LOL Spring is our "silly season". Trees will be fine I think but I am worried about my unwinterized boat engines. Yikes! May have to put a heater in the bilge.

 

[Mikecheck123]

"I'm not dead yet!"

The cold snap damaged these seedlings the worst, but there is still hope, it seems.

 

[IsaM]

Out of interest, people tend to recommend an unheated garage as opposed to bringing trees inside. I've got a shed which is very much a temporary building i.e. is probably only a degree or two warmer than outside and therefore you still have risk of it being freezing in the shed. Is there any reason not to shuffle trees into the house overnight and back out in the morning? In London we've got a cold snap that means we will have frosts for the next few nights, all my maples have already leafed out.

 

[rockm]

Out of interest, people tend to recommend an unheated garage as opposed to bringing trees inside. I've got a shed which is very much a temporary building i.e. is probably only a degree or two warmer than outside and therefore you still have risk of it being freezing in the shed. Is there any reason not to shuffle trees into the house overnight and back out in the morning? In London we've got a cold snap that means we will have frosts for the next few nights, all my maples have already leafed out.

All my maples have been in full leaf since before last week. Freezes and frosts will kill new foliage, possibly the roots of such trees...

The problem lies in WHEN you move the trees back outside from inside protections. The temperature has to have recovered from freezing and below freezing before my trees go back out. For instance, all my trees are still in the basement where they've been since Saturday night. Today temps are supposed to climb well above freezing by midday and stay above freezing for the next couple of days. This morning, however, it was 30 F at 7. Supposed to be in the 30's until just before noon or so. I won't take the trees back out until the temp is 40 or above. It's a precaution to avoid temperature shock. Going from 70 inside to 35 outside may not kill things but I wouldn't think its a great thing for the trees....

 

[CarpenterDiaz7]

I am loving this forum! Anyways, I had a JM shipped to me from Chicago, I live in New Hampshire took 4 days to arrive. When it left it was budding and had very minor leafs on it, when it arrived it had bloomed! Now because I placed it outside it was doing great for a couple days, I watered it and then the next morning we had a temp frost for almost 3 days now.
So my tree appears to be dying, I’m willing it’ll make it if I just leave it be, I’ve it brought inside my house to where temps are 68°-70° and honestly I see two new buds so I am very optimistic of it making it. Next winter proper prep and two step shuffle when temps get right.

 

[Scorpius]

I've got a tree coming in the next few weeks. We're holding off on shipping till the leaves harden and hopefully the cold goes away.