briangifford

Hey there.
I was looking at the long term forecast her in Central KY.
The Temps are supposed to go down to 38 and 39 next week (42 this Thursday).
i have a Manzano in the ground that has shot up to 15 or more feet (tallest leaf ). and some Dwarf Cavendish (I think). Should I go ahead and dig them up or wait. The Temps are then supposed to go back to mid 40's and even 50's at night. This will be the first time I will overwinter them in the garage and with the Manzano so tall I really want it to survive for best chance to fruit next year.
Anybody able to give me advice on what to do? I am just wanting to not mess it up.

mari@adams.net

I am in the same situation here in Illinois with temps, about like yours. I have basjoos that I want left in the ground for winter but with rain/fluctuating temps (such as yours) don't know when to mulch. Have a feeling the experts here would say 'take yours in now', but I am not an 'expert'.

briangifford

Yeah. Last Year I waited until first actual frost to cut down my Basjoos. Than Mulched really good. That worked well for me with those. They came back really strong.

mari@adams.net

Thanks, that's what I have read, but not for sure....did you put plastic or anything on the soil before mulching to keep the soil dry during the winter, before mulching? I plan to do a chicken wire cage to hold the mulch then put a plastic tarp over the mulch to keep it dry so would surely keep the soil from getting any wetter than what it is, but don't want to root-rot the plants. Any help/advice you can give me will help. We have had a lot of rain here and more to come.

briangifford

No I just put a ton of mulch on them. I threw some shredded leafs on there too do decompose before I added the Mulch. In spring when temps started to go up and there was just a slight chance of frost for one or so days occasionally I uncovered them and covered them with a blanket (or towel) and tarp to keep dry and protect from any light frost. That worked great for me. But maybe some of the more experienced growers have better Ideas. They regrow fast once it warms up.

mari@adams.net

Great advice, if it worked for you, it should work for me. Thanks so much. By the way, how much did you cut down before mulching? l foot, 2 foot? from ground?

briangifford

Last year I went very close to the ground (6 inches max). They will still push a bit of growth (a could of inches) once you cut them down. so keep that in mind when you mulch. My pile was very big (somewhere between 1-2 ft).
Also, Just before I cut them down there were a few new pups that started to poke through. I left those alone and covered them. They made it through the winter perfectly intact (Had some nights of -5).

mari@adams.net

Great advice, thanks. Tried and proven. We are supposed to have a mild winter, but wet. Whatever that means.

briangifford

It was fairly mild starting februarry and it rained like there was no tomorrow (especially in march). Snow was on the lighter side but. I think After January it was never colder then 24 and often above freezing. I uncovered mine early April.

cincinnana

Do you plan to overwinter bareroot or do you plan to pot them up?

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briangifford

Bare Root storage in the Garage.

cincinnana

I will start moving plants indoors when the night time air temps are consistently in the upper 30's.
So you have a few weeks or more left


Keep in mind your ground temperature will be 10-20 degrees warmer...so you can eek out little more grow time even though the air temps are lower.

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