What Happens To Hardy Tropical Plants When It Gets Too Cold?
By Thomas Fyrd Many people love to put their houseplants outside for the summer. A problem arises when they forget to mark the calendar and bring the plants inside before the temperatures begin to drop. Plus plants need to acclimate to the new surroundings. If the plants go through a night thats just a little too chilly the leaves may turn brown and start fall off. Does this mean the plant dead? Will it recover? Plants drop leaves for a variety of reasons - seasonal, stress or just dying. Depending on temperature, length of exposure and general plant health, all play a factor to determine if houseplants like spider plants and peace lilies showing burned leaves only will recover or if it is time for the compost pile. When houseplants are subjected to long periods of cold exposure many times the leaves become discolored and dark. Some varieties such as Dracaena massangeana show black tips and leaves, others like the chinese evergreen show leaves, which appears greasy. Cell collapse is what is happening to the leaves. Stop for a moment and think of what happens when people become sunburned - skin starts to peel after a few days, the cells have been burned. Plants drop leaves their skin. What about when a plant loses all of their leaves and the only thing left are branches that dont look good. Its possible the plant may be too far gone! If you want to try and revive the plant go ahead youve got nothing to lose and lots of experiments to try. But first, pull out the clippers. Begin by scraping the bark high on the trunk. Youre looking for a part of the plant that is all green inside. If you find any brown at all keep moving down the trunk until you find green, you will know when you find it. When you find that green on the stem or branch, remove everything above that growing point on that branch or stem. Now go through every trunk and branch. The plant may stand some chance of coming back - looking tropical again may be a long shot. DO NOT run out and start fertilizing the plant and watering heavy. In fact, you probably should reduce the quantity and frequency of watering. After extreme exposure to cold temperatures most tropical plants have a very difficult time in re-growing to their old shape and stature - even under optimal growing conditions. The energy you put into saving a plant suffering from extreme cold temperature damage may be better directed at replacing and caring for a new one. The best action to take is to mark your calendar and bring your plant inside early, before any signs of cool weather. Better yet, keep your plants indoors all year round. With 25 years of houseplant growing experience Thomas Fyrd reports for http://www.plant-care.com Read more on cold temperatures and plant growth from the pros. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Fyrd http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Happens-To-Hardy-Tropical-Plants-When-It-Gets-Too-Cold?&id=329719 british we schoolboy by fetish from club well boy much incest your fastest it girls came in both school well watch another daughters been fuck her dad have
