- Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:57 pm
#301695
What is Dormancy, you ask? Good question. Dormancy is a state in which a plant exhibits little or no growth and in which most, if not all, metabolic activity ceases for a period of time. There's two ways dormancy occurs in plants, predictive dormancy occurs when a plant enters a dormant phase before the onset of adverse conditions. For example, photoperiod and decreasing temperature are used by many plants to predict the onset of winter. There's also consequential dormancy which occurs after the onset of adverse conditions, such as winter. Our plants use predictive dormancy, but I wanted to make you at least aware of consequential dormancy and the difference between the two.
Now onto the two types of dormancy. First up is endo-dormancy. Shortening days and colder temperatures will cue the plant that its time to enter this phase or type of dormancy. As the plant enters this phase it will count chilling units. Chilling units are hours of time the plant spends above freezing. I know, sounds backwards right? The hours of chilling units will vary depending on the species of the plant, it can range from less than 500-1500 hrs. Warm weather will not "wake" the plant up until it has counted the appropriate number of chilling hours. Also, not all hours above chilling are equal either, between 40-50°F are ideal. If it goes above 60°F, that can actually have an negative effect on chilling hours. During this phase plants also become cold hardy, this hardiness will vary from species to species. As long as the plant is dormant and the temps stay below freezing the plant should be able to adapt.
Once the plant counts the appropriate chilling hours, it enters the second phase or type of dormancy eco-dormancy. This is where the plant gets ready to start growing, but environmentally something isn't right. Still to cold, not long enough daylight hours. Once everything is good and it's growing again it loses the ability to be cold hardy.
So will freezes kill your plant? No, not as long as the plant isn't freezing and thawing repeatedly. It will handle being frozen just fine if it is dormant and stays frozen. Would I recommend leaving your plant frozen for months on end? No, but I can safely say they can be frozen for a couple weeks with no ill affects.
Hopefully this helps clear up any issues you may have about what dormancy is.
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Now onto the two types of dormancy. First up is endo-dormancy. Shortening days and colder temperatures will cue the plant that its time to enter this phase or type of dormancy. As the plant enters this phase it will count chilling units. Chilling units are hours of time the plant spends above freezing. I know, sounds backwards right? The hours of chilling units will vary depending on the species of the plant, it can range from less than 500-1500 hrs. Warm weather will not "wake" the plant up until it has counted the appropriate number of chilling hours. Also, not all hours above chilling are equal either, between 40-50°F are ideal. If it goes above 60°F, that can actually have an negative effect on chilling hours. During this phase plants also become cold hardy, this hardiness will vary from species to species. As long as the plant is dormant and the temps stay below freezing the plant should be able to adapt.
Once the plant counts the appropriate chilling hours, it enters the second phase or type of dormancy eco-dormancy. This is where the plant gets ready to start growing, but environmentally something isn't right. Still to cold, not long enough daylight hours. Once everything is good and it's growing again it loses the ability to be cold hardy.
So will freezes kill your plant? No, not as long as the plant isn't freezing and thawing repeatedly. It will handle being frozen just fine if it is dormant and stays frozen. Would I recommend leaving your plant frozen for months on end? No, but I can safely say they can be frozen for a couple weeks with no ill affects.
Hopefully this helps clear up any issues you may have about what dormancy is.
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Last edited by hollyhock on Wed Aug 23, 2017 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Important topic