Winter protection in Belgium

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This area is for Reference and discussion of plant hardiness, overwintering methods and tips, and planr protection.
Conifers
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Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by Conifers »

shusui wrote:The benefits of the wall in the ground are:
Warmer in the winter
Cooler in summer (for the cool growing Orchids)
And more hight, for bigger plants.
Not much fun if you get floods, though! icon_aaargh
shusui

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by shusui »

That's not a problem, our garden is on a (little) hill side, so when it rains very hard the water always float away. The wall is a little higher than the ground level, and the profiles are connected waterproof on the wall.

And the groundwater level here never reaches this hight.

So we keep on dry feet :D
kata

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by kata »

Its sounds and looks great Sven

Belgium seemed flat on my last visit...obviously not all of it......... icon_sunny icon_sunny
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Dave Brown
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Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by Dave Brown »

Very interesting read Sven icon_thumright Seems you have temps like many parts of the UK got last winter,but in an average winter for you. Here I'm hoping it was 1 in 100 year.

Much rather you than me lugging those large plants down and then up those steps :ahhh!: although I had to lug the big 'Montbeliardii' down 3 steps in the garden.

Are the greenhouse and/or polytunnel double glazed? Bubblewrapped etc?
Best regards
Dave
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Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
shusui

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by shusui »

The heated greenhouse is made with polycarbonate plates of 4mm thick,and on the inside it's bubble-wrapped.
I'm heating the greenhouse to a minimum temperature of 10°c , so the isolation must be quite good.
Else I can't pay the electricity bill at the end of the winter. :wink:

The polytunnel is just 1 layer of good horticultural greenhouse plastic.
The polytunnel is unheated, i use that for plants in pots like shrubs, tree seedlings, bamboo, big leaves Rhododendrons, some palms, Acacia dealbata and melanoxylon, herbs, Eucalyptus,...

Plants that are hardy, but could not resist the combination of frost and wind when growing in a pot.

In that greenhouse it is always a little bit warmer, and there's no wind chill.
For example in the -21°C winter , the coldest temperature in the polytunnel was -12°C.
shusui

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by shusui »

Exotics by night:
Last night I 'have lighted the garden the first time this winter.

Image
Left to the right: Butia capitata, Dicksonia , Phoenix canariensis, Washintonia robusta, Butia eriospatha, Phoenix canariensis

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Left to the right: Dasylirion serratifolia, Dasylirion longissimum, Yucca carnerosana

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Yucca carnerosana
kata

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by kata »

Love it,

You belgians are smarter than you make out......... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
acphm

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by acphm »

Hello Sven,

your work protecting the garden is excellent.
I have the same problems, but with different plants and different temperatures.
In my garden de red line begins with temperatures below +5ºC. I have planted Spathyplillums, Agaves, Plumerias, Philodendrons, Costus, Marantas, etc that don't dead in a hard winter here (not below -1ºC and only some hours) but their leaves are damaged. For only 1 or 2 hours I need 2 or 3 months to recover, then is better to protect the plants.

I use heating cable for outdoors, 30W/m and metal mesh for protection with a working temperature of 40ºC. I install a few meters at the plant's base and all wrapped with a very thin transparent plastic. Inside the air is more hot and the plastic is like a balloon. The PROBLEM: A sunny day I have to open the plastic because I can have cooked plants very fast.

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Also I have a heated greenhouse for most tropical plants (Heliconias, Alpinias, other Philodendrons, Tahitian Hibiscus, some Calatheas, etc). These plants for a good growth need temperatures 18-20ºC at night and 28-30ºC by day year around (the sun really helps to reduce the electricity bill). Normally in October or November I have to bring these plants in the greenhouse.

The greenhouse has a wood (Iroko) structure and double glazed. The windows have a system for to open/close automatically with a sensor temperature, here these is very important because the sun is strong and the temperature goes up very fast. Now in january is not a problem but in march it can have 40-45ºC very easily. Also I have a shadow system to protect the plants.

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shusui

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by shusui »

Hi Albert,
Very nice garden , greenhouse and plants!
I can only dream of it with our climate.

A greenhouse like that was also ideal for warm growing Orchids like Phalaenopsis, Vanda, Cattleya (btw: nice one in your greenhouse)
But because of the very cold winters here the electricity costs for more heating are to expensive.
Heating at 10° is quite expensive in a strong winter. This year we're lucky with a verry soft winter and just a few nights with freezing temperatures till now.
For example last winter: then we've had snow and freezing temperatures from 20 november...

Maybe you could cooling your greenhouse when it's to hot in spring and summer?
I'm gonna make a cooling system on my greenhouse this year.
For my cold growing orchids like Masdevallia , Restrepia, Dracula,... They don't like temperatures above 25°C.
I'm gonna make a system based on evaporation cooling.

Something like this:
http://www.estexpert.com/image/mypic_cu ... -Works.jpg

At the front side , just under the roof, there comes a stong electric fan to blow the hot air out of the greenhouse.
At the back side of the greenhouse I gonna take 1 window out and place the cooling system in. Through the cooling pad cooled air comes in. Trough the cooling pad constantly circulates water.

So the greenhouse gets cooler, and gets a higher humidity.

Sven
acphm

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by acphm »

Hello Sven,

the cooling systems by evaporation are good for dry climates, here in Barcelona the humidity is usually between 60% and 80% and these systems reduce the temperature very little. To raise the humity the best system is nebulization with a high pression water pump 100 bars, but the cost is expensive (1000€ aprox) and if your climate is dry it can lower the humity up to 10ºC. In Spain we use these systems to outdoors.
There is a mixed system less expensive combinating a normal air pressure pump (150€ aprox) and water 4bars.

My greenhouse is full in winter but in summer is empty, in autumn and spring I only use 30-70%.

In the past I had more orchids but the last years I have reduced their number and I prefer nice plants all year, not plants to expect a flower and impossible to use in the garden. Now I have only a few phalaenopsis, dendrobiums, vandas, cattleyas and brassavolas, plants I can hang in the trees several months. Also I have a lot of cymbidiums planted outside all year round.

I saw a platycerium in your greenhouse, is it a Superbum? I have 500 platycerium spores germinating. Also I have Asplenium Australasicum spores.

Regards.
shusui

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by shusui »

You could maybe also grow some epiphytic Orchids outside like Dendrobium kingianum and nobile (they can handle some lower temperatures) ?
Here outside I have frost-hardy orchids like Cypripedium, dactylorhizia, orchis, Bletilla and Calanthe, they survive cold winters without protection

The Cymbidiums and some dendrobiums and Cattleya's go outside in summer, and go back to the greenhouse before the first frost.

The Platycerium on the picture is a superbum, for the moment he has a fertile leaf with spores (totally different to other ferns). I also have a P. bifurcatum.

That plant in your greenhouse with white striped veins , is that a Anthurium regale ?

Sven
acphm

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by acphm »

shusui wrote: That plant in your greenhouse with white striped veins , is that a Anthurium regale ?
It's a Philodendron Gloriosum.
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acphm

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by acphm »

Hello Sven,

what about your plants in Belgium last days?
Alexander

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by Alexander »

About Musa Tibet, peope always think that Tibet is an cold high altitude area. Most of it is, but some parts in the southeast are warmtemperate and even subtropical. In Chayu at 2200 meters they still grow bananas. That town lays in the Bramaputhra valley at 2320 meters and latitude is 28 degrees north. I have noticed in Munsyari bananas are also grown till arround 2000 meters. The fruits are harvested in autumn and ripend indoors.
Below 1800 meters bananas are commonly grown in villages in the Himalayas.
And do not forget the warm microclimates in those mountains! Combined with the latitude.

Well people grow bananas in those areas certainly not for ornamental purposes.

About Chayu you can find it oon google earth, including a picture of Musa in that town. Maybe its that Musa Tibet.

Alexander
shusui

Re: Winter protection in Belgium

Post by shusui »

acphm wrote:Hello Sven,

what about your plants in Belgium last days?
Sorry for my late reaction.
With the plants it's not that good…
The lowest temperature we had was -19,5°C in our own garden, a professional wheater station in our region noted -19,2°C. The temperature was 15 days continuously below 0°C. And 7 nights where below -10°c.
There’s a lot damage in the garden, especially with the bamboo and palms.
The heated plants (Dicksonia , Phoenix, Butia’s , Washingtonia) have no damage.
In the 2 greenhouses is no damage.

Here are a few photo's.
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A real surprise is this unknown Trachycarpus sp, without any damage. This one gets protected with pine needles at the base , and horticultural fleece and a plastic bag over it.
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For example: this T. fortunei grows at 2 m distance from the previous one, and gets the same protection , but has a lot more damage.
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An unprotected young Trachycarpus fortunei
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One of the frozen stems of Gunnera manicata . I never had this problem previous winters. All the big stems are dead, but normally it will regrow from young sprouts.

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Phyllostachys vivax ‘Huangwenzhu’ the good part was covered by snow…
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Another surprise: Chamaerops humilis ‘Cerifera’ this one gets protected (not heated) and has no damage.
Image

Eucalyptus pauciflora ssp. Niphophilla has a little or no damage , so do 2 debeuzevillei’s and a parvifolia. Image

For more photo’s of the winter damage (especially for the bamboo species), look at my new album with 133 photo’s:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/sli ... 5507yVjufL

Kind regars,
Sven
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