Over-wintering bamboo/ other plants

[stevelau1911]

I am in the process of building my over-wintering bed where I keep everything else that I can't fit in my greenhouse and is at least semi-hardy. It was created along the south-east side of a large maple tree at least 2 leaf bags high all around that are packed tightly and the whole thing will be at least double-tarped once temperatures start falling into the teens. I will also add large pieces of wood to weigh down the tarp. This is much less work than trying to bury pots into the ground since leaf bags weigh next to nothing. My greenhouse is also surrounded by leaf bags and insulated on all the sides except for the southern side where I want light to get through and i just closed the door for good as it shouldn't warm up that much anymore.

Here's the over-wintering bed where I keep my palms, divisions, moso/heteroclada seedlings, a few extra blueberries, yuccas, etc.




Here's the finished product for my banana plant protection. I have the pictures of the rest of the steps in the link.
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I don't think any of my in-ground bamboos will need any tarping this year given the warmer than usual great lakes, and heavy snow expected, but if I do see sub-zero in the forecast and the groves are not completely covered in snow, I might consider just tarping the moso grove.

[philippe smets]

good idea and nice job

have a good day

ph

[Iowaboo]

Looks good. I've been putting my potted bamboo in the basement today, because of the cold weather that is going to hit.

[Alan_L]

I've got one more day (well, half-day) to move my pots into the greenhouse before the temp drops. I'm planning on doing it tomorrow morning.

At least I learned something last year and the greenhouse, although not pretty, is sturdy. It made it through some torrential rain and very strong winds already.



More details on how I built it are here:
http://www.itsnotworkitsgardening.com/2 ... house.html

[foxd]

Looks good. I've been putting my potted bamboo in the basement today, because of the cold weather that is going to hit.

A fellow keeper of bamboo in the basement for Winter! I moved the last of the pots into the basement yesterday. Just some divisions that I'm not sure are alive anyway and the horribly pot bound Canna. (There is no soil, only Canna roots, but it lives!)

[Alan_L]

I loaded up the greenhouse in the rain yesterday morning. That was fun.

[ghmerrill]

Look at all that room! You can fit TONS more in there!

[Alan_L]

If I can figure out how to make some pots levitate, yes, there's plenty of unfilled volume. It's floor space that's the limiting factor.

[needmore]

If I can figure out how to make some pots levitate, yes, there's plenty of unfilled volume. It's floor space that's the limiting factor.

At the junction point between 4 pots in a 2x2 set you can set a 5th on top. I have somewhere around 350+ pots in my ghouse and they on average are 14" pots with 6-8 foot tall culms. That leaves my Yellow Groove again this year to a plan 'B' as yet unplanned.

[foxd]

Then again you have to leave space for growth during the Winter. It may fit now, but along about February you may suddenly find it packed solid and no where to grow.

[needmore]

I've never seen any signs of real growth other than some leaf buds going off and they hardly get going. I think mine stays cold enough that everything mostly sleeps - except the aphids. I usually try to leave a full '0' path so that I can easily access all of the roof with a push broom to knock any snow off from inside. This year I have more of a 'C' and hope I can reach enough roof.

[bambootony]

I have a question about wintering and watering...
If you are storing potted bamboo in the basement "Un-heated fruit cellar" or like Brad does outside,
Do you need to water them or just leave them for the winter?
P.S. I just got back from Savanna Ga.
I should have contacted the guys here to see about a visit. But I forgot....
I only saw 2 small groves and took photos of one.
I will post a photo here later.

[stevelau1911]

Here's an update on my over-wintering.

After 1ft of snow, nearly all my in-ground bamboos have been completely covered with snow and the tarped bed looks well insulated. The greenhouse still hasn't dropped below 32F yet which is pretty good considering it has gotten down to around 20F for the last few nights.

Tarped bed.


Solar greenhouse. Notice that the moso next to the greenhouse has literally disappeared under the snow pack which will likely keep getting thicker through the winter.

[Alan_L]

Is it better to keep the snow on top of the greenhouse for extra insulation even though it's blocking light, or would it be better to clear the roof so it can heat up?

I'm thinking "clear the roof", but don't really know.

[bambambooboo]

.