zinniasjm

Keep us posted on how the hay does over the winter. I've been debating this for some time. Bark seems to hold air spaces throughout the winter which might have more insulation. I used to put bark over my agave outside and it did fine for two winters. Then I forgot to do it and it froze. I live in zone 5. I wanted something that wouldn't hold a lot of water. The large bark chips seemed to let a lot of water run off.

chong

bark chips pack when they get wet, too. why not try styrofoam peanuts? they're great insulators. the ones used for filling packages. just don't use the tubular kind - they shrink when they get wet and get sticky. use the one that's kinda s-curvy shaped with peanut shell texture on them. mostly, they're white, but comes in green and pink, also. they don't have any weight to them so they won't crush your leaves, if you want to keep them. and they are re-useable.

wim

Some people stopped using styrofoam pellets because of the mess when cleaning the whole thing up in spring. Your garden can be littered with hundreds of those chips when it is windy the day you remove them form the plant (or put them around it in autumn).

You can also use these pellets under in the pot to keep the drainage holes free of dirt. But you must never use the colored styrofoam chips. They are colored with a dye that is poisonous to plants. I found this out the hard way with some expensive carnivorous plants. After being transplanted, they would grow just fine for one or two years and then all of a sudden rot and die. I never could find the cause. Until I heard of the poisonous dyes. I checked the plants and the plants that grew healthy had only white chips at the bottom or their roots hadn't penetrated the colored chips yet. The dying plants all had roots that were penetrating colored chips. The poison does not seem to seep out of the chips just like that, the roots first had to penetrate it.

Since I only use the white chips, I haven't lost a single plant.

__________________
With kind regards
Wim

chong

Thanks WIM,
'Tho I don't think I've ever had a problem with colored styrofoam chips at the bottom of the pots, I will not use those again based on your explanation. No need to take any risks. Besides, the whites cost the same anyway. I will observe any differences in those I have that have color vs. the whites, as far as growth. I know that the tubular foam "pellets" do shrink and become very sticky when they get wet. So they must have some chemical that will be released when this happens.

For removing the foam peanuts, I use a shop vacuum cleaner lined with a clean plastic bag to suck them all up. Then I collect them into a larger bag for storage and future use. I think ithey're a lot less messy than bark or straw, myself. And a lot cheaper and more convenient because they're lighter. When filling up the plant's protective cover in the fall, I just open the storage bag a little and push the opening down as far as i can into the cover until the bag is empty, or the cover is full. then I close the cover. When it's too windy, common sense will dictate whether to proceed or not depending on how strong the wind is.

Thanks again for the tip.

Chong

zinniasjm

Great tips and very informative. Thanks!

Naughty Bit's

I started (20 years ago) using Bark Mulch, in stucco wire cages lined with plastic. Of everything I've tried it has been by far the best. I live near the end of a valley that is prone to hellish high winter winds that can create some serious Wind Chill. I have found this to be the only sure fire method here in zone 6.
However, I stopped doing it years ago because I was spending over two solid days protecting them. 10 'high missile silos way a ton when full and need to be staked well or else gravity takes over. Filling them takes forever as it involves many trips up and down the ladder with a shovel or bucket. I tried using Hay one year( Nightmare clean up ).

I protected 26 Bananas last year (my most to date) using two systems. All Bananas under 6 feet I dig up and stack like cord wood at the side of my house buried under 1 yard of Bark Mulch. Bananas come out looking pristine and the bonus is you can re plant them where you want to.

Everything bigger gets a waxed cardboard tube (Used for cement forming) lined with plastic thrown over my burlap wrapped Bananas. Before capping the tube with a bucket I stuff balled up newspaper in both ends and throw a tarp over the works. Hope this helps someone .........