I grow all of these plants - P.vulgaris and D.rotundifolia are very
common here abouts and I treat them all the same as follows:
> I need some advice about growing temperate pings. I recently got ahold
> of a few specimens of P. vulgaris and P. grandiflora, and now they've
> produced their winter buds and are starting to lose their last summer
> leaves. My plan is to winter them in the bottom of my refrigerator
> in a styrofoam box at about 1 deg C, but there's a few of things I'm
> still wondering:
If you are growing them outside I would let them become a bit
drier, and leave them outside. I wouldn't worry a bit about them.
They'll take any amount of ice. I wouldn't worry either about a
Catalan winter being too warm - one of my P.vulgaris has been a
winter bud for at least a month now and we are still getting temps of
almost 20C. Locally here winter temps stay just above freezing
most days with night frosts down to -5c in extreme winters.
If they're inside (where there is central heating) then I would say
placing the buds in the fridge should be a good idea. I believe the
roots only serve the hold the buds inplace thru the winter so I
wouldn't worry too much about them whether you remove them from the
soil or leave them in the pots. I would wait until the winter starts
before putting them in the fridge. Any cool palce would do as well
though.
SUMMER:
> I'm also curious to hear if anyone has any interesting ways of keeping
> these plants cool during the summer (their average summer daytime
> temperature should be around 16 C, and 11 C at night).
<SNIP>
> My usual summer air temperatures are between 25 and 30 C, but if the
> soil is cool, the air surrounding the plants will be slightly cooler,
> but I don't know if it will be enough. Has anyone tried this in
> similar conditions ?
In Ireland they take alot more than 16C, summer temps here have been
above the 20C (to 32c!) these last two years and my plants love it
(I have them in a sun trap in a south facing area). And yes
evaporation from the soil helps alot. Use a large pot. If they are
likely to fry/dry out in the 30Cs perhaps mid-day shade might help,
growing them in a east facing area, etc.
hope this helps,
Seosamh
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