Tree Fern

Out of interest, when will my DA start to lose its leaves? The lowest temperature in the conservatory is 10 degrees at night. I'm still watering the fern, but every other day now.

 

Hi Kezzie , this is mine outside in November



after a -7c



and this is this morning



your one will not lose the leaves , keep it always wet and don`t cut the leaves untill the new one are out .

 

Leaves will go brown and wither (like the one on the right of Sal's last photo), and then you can cut them off. More will come from the crown.

IME they don't all go brown at once (well, they probably would if they got badly frosted ...), so new ones come in the Spring, and sometimes several times during the Summer, and the old ones die off when they have done their job.

If you keep them frost free I don't see any reason for them to die off prematurely.

 

Wow... that's amazing how the fern bounced back after the frost Sal. Will you have to move it over winter?

Thanks Kristen... hopefully once I've done a whole year's cycle with the conservatory plants, I'll have a better idea what I'm doing!

 

It can stand -10c , I`ve just wrapped in banana leaves and any other leaves available , and most important the crown is protected , it would be impossible to move it , the roots are really deep down the soil .....

It`s more easy to lose one this tree if it dry down that by the cold .......
so far so good .

 

At the local 'big house' they first wrap the tops with fleecy scarves (pic taken 8 days ago):



Then they trim the leaves and put waterproof hats on them (pic taken Feb last year):



It went down to around minus 15 degrees C there last winter, but they all seem to have survived OK, although I have noticed (when comparing the pics) that those that weren't protected last winter also don't seem any leaves on this autumn. Must check those out next summer.

 

It went down to around minus 15 degrees C there last winter, but they all seem to have survived OK, although I have noticed (when comparing the pics) that those that weren't protected last winter also don't seem any leaves on this autumn. Must check those out next summer.[/quote]

Sorry Scrunge, don`t get me wrong , love your pictures but......

I thing just 3 out of 20 are still alive , if the crown freeze the plant is doomed and as I was reading , the bigger the stronger , if you notice just the big tress are still alive , overall there are lots of seedling on the left hand side.

cutting the leaves and wrap the head is an old way of winter protection , been reading the is best leave the leaves on as it will protect the plant.