Hardy Tropicals UK

I've got pots all over the house now& still some to bring in. What i'd like to know is how wet or moist should i keep them. I doubt they will grow much in thr house. karl.

All depends on what you have, some will want to be constantly stood in water while others will want to be dry and some in between, there is no general rule

Adrian wrote:All depends on what you have, some will want to be constantly stood in water while others will want to be dry and some in between, there is no general rule

Adrian, in the house waggys, fortunei, Cycas revoluta, robusta,Brahea amarta, Chamerops volcano, Chamerops cerifica . karl.

What sort of sizes ?
Pics would be better .

The Cycas is the only one of that list that Ive ever had in doors, the Washy in a greenhouse but others as long as they are bigger than seedlings outside.

Adrian wrote:What sort of sizes ?
Pics would be better .

The Cycas is the only one of that list that Ive ever had in doors, the Washy in a greenhouse but others as long as they are bigger than seedlings outside.

Adrian, some pics;

If you are keeping them in the house then avoid putting them near radiators and dont let them dry out.
Depending on how your medium drains I would water between once a week and a fortnight.
Let the soil dry on the top before watering again.

A good bet would be to buy a moisture meter, you can find these anywhere, GC's or DIY sheds.
Never leave the meter in the soil but you can check the moisture at different levels in the pots and you will get to know how often you need to check

Karl, unless you have a sunny conservatory I would not leave them in the house all winter.
They are better left outside and come in just for hard frosts.
Without proper light they will still grow all winter, put out soft fronds, be infested with red spider mites and other pests and when you put them out in spring will suffer sunburn.
You will end up going backwards with them.

Maybe others have different experiences but aside from a few rare seedlings on windowsills I gave up with bringing them inside to accelerate growth because it did more harm than good.

Nigel wrote:Karl, unless you have a sunny conservatory I would not leave them in the house all winter.
They are better left outside and come in just for hard frosts.
Without proper light they will still grow all winter, put out soft fronds, be infested with red spider mites and other pests and when you put them out in spring will suffer sunburn.
You will end up going backwards with them.

Maybe others have different experiences but aside from a few rare seedlings on windowsills I gave up with bringing them inside to accelerate growth because it did more harm than good.

Nigel, i'm more confused than ever now . The pics you see are night shots & in the daytime that room is full of light with double french doors & a big velux rooflight. The bonus is its got a big voulted ceiling & theres not a radiater in sight. I've got about triple that amount of palms to bring in inc the big capitata & Jubea. surely if this lot is left out they will be toast. I can't see it being practical to bring this lot in and out. karl.

Karl the general rules is leave palms out and protect with fleece when it gets really cold.

Why would you bother dragging everything inside? If you don't get temps below -5c you'll be kicking yourself for letting your palms go leggy, risking root rot and mite infestation and struggling to maintain correct frequencies of watering.

Chammies, Trachys, Jubaea and Butia won't bat an eyelid over night frosts and subzero temps as long as theyare not prolonged. If it is warming up again during the day they'll all cope fine, even with them being in pots.

Drag them into warm corners, up against the house or under tree and shrub canopies and keep an eye on the temps.

Alternatively you could decide to do exactly what you are talking about despite the advice of members who've been doing this for years and let us all know how things went come spring. If that's what you want to do then you may as well consider this thread closed.

GoggleboxUK wrote:Karl the general rules is leave palms out and protect with fleece when it gets really cold.

Why would you bother dragging everything inside? If you don't get temps below -5c you'll be kicking yourself for letting your palms go leggy, risking root rot and mite infestation and struggling to maintain correct frequencies of watering.

Chammies, Trachys, Jubaea and Butia won't bat an eyelid over night frosts and subzero temps as long as theyare not prolonged. If it is warming up again during the day they'll all cope fine, even with them being in pots.

Drag them into warm corners, up against the house or under tree and shrub canopies and keep an eye on the temps.

Alternatively you could decide to do exactly what you are talking about despite the advice of members who've been doing this for years and let us all know how things went come spring. If that's what you want to do then you may as well consider this thread closed.

Goggle,thanks for your input, & apart from the Cycas revoluta i will probably put most outside again & buy some more fleece bags.Not sure i like the tone of your last few sentences, but i'll turn a blind eye as i'm sure you meant well . karl.

Lets have another look at them....
The Washy definately needs protecting and will be ok inside for winter without taking in out in out.

The Cycas might be outside but its a plant that would be better off in your conservatory.
The Brahea will be the one that you bring in only on the coldest periods
The Trachys will be best left out under overhead cover of other plants if you have them.

All this said about any plants inside over winter will be coated in Red Spider Mite or whatever is rubbish, my conservatory has palms in it all year round,
theres a roebelenii in there thats right up on the ceiling thats never had Red Spider Mite or meally nor scale,
Theres a 5 foot Chamaedorea elegans with three trunks thats never had them,
Theres a 6 foot Lytocaryum thats nothing short of perfection,
Theres a variegated Rhapis excelsa thats not a target.

They get coffee watered into the compost now and again and a yearly dose of Provado as a soil drench.

Not to say I dont have problems, I have lost a cracking Lytocaryum and a very big Howea fosteriana through meally that I couldnt see until it was too late, another Howea had scale so bad that it had to go outside.

Maybe that confuses things even more, its all down to you and trial and error, a part of the learning curve.

Karl has valid concerns. Many experienced gardeners lost 100s of small palms last winter outside and in unheated polytunnels. If we get a poor winter again palm seedlings are likely to die outside in pots. There are drawbacks to keeping seedlings inside as pointed out above but perhaps the best of two evils? In my opinion the palms in Karls photos are best in a garage or unheated greenhouse as they are a decent size.

No offence meant Karl, just trying to distill some perspective with the intention of helping you make an informed decision.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you are this winter. Lots of new plants, first winter where I've knowingly needed to protect and only indorrs with heat.

I keep a list of everything I buy and do a bit of research via HTUK and GGoogle, usually before purchasing. I keep a note of temperatures which will cause damage and will be bringing inside everything that won't survive a -5 as I can guarntee I'll get at least that being in the North.

I would think in your position a -5 would be less likely in a normal winter but certainly not impossible so whereas I'll be keeping an eue out for -8s to -10s and fleecing up palms when they approach I'd consider that you will need to worry much less in this respect. I can imagine lots of wrapping/unwrapping going on here but down south it may well turn out to be only the odd occasion if at all. I know there are plenty of palms planted around Leicester and Coventry that made it through the last 3 winters.

That said, preparation is everything but as long as you have the tools to do the job I don't imagine you'll need to worry too much.

Simbas's Cycads spent weeks wrapped to the max outside last winter so I wouldn't worry about the light they'll get indoors either. Popping them outside for a few hours of plus temps at the weekends should be more than enough to keep them happy.

Thanks for all the advice. I understand it can be trial & error as it is with many things. Just that when so much time and effort is put in we all like to think were doing the right thing. No offence taken Goggle, you can be in my gang again now . karl.

What about greenhouse? i have put some seedlings and bananas in the greenhouse recently but i keep the doors open a most of the day.
Gabriel