Hi there. Located in zone 5 with winters that
can get to -30.C. Expecting about (20) 1ft tall apple ane cherry trees come fall time. Whats the best way to store them so they dont freeze during winter? I have a basement that stays cool but not a lot of light. Hoping to keep them in pots.
The basement should do fine if it gets cool enough. You want to get them into dormancy and keep them there. If they start pushing new growth to early, they will die if they dont get enough light.
Not sure on the conversions, but around here people want to get their potted plants into somewhere between 40 and 50 °F. That should be low enough to keep them dormant. Just dont water to much, as they really arent using any water while dormant.
Depends on what “cool” means. My basement is too cool to hang out in, but at 55-60, too warm for a dormant tree.
Do you have a garage or yard? I’ve mulched around the pot with leaves and just left them outdoors, and had that work pretty well. I’m in zone 7, though.
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let them get dormant in the fall then lay them down and mulch them or if you get enough snow you can let them get buried and they will be fine that way. thats what i do and it has got to -40c here.
Thanks. I might just make a plywood container on the back deck to protect from the wind but allow for the cold weather.
