Hello All,
I’m quite new to growing daffodils and I’ve been reading about the need to plunge pots for frost protection before moving them to a cold greenhouse for flowering. As an alternative to some of the plunge materials I’ve read about (peat/sand/soil etc) I decided to use a blanket of leaves. I’ve created a web page to show what I’ve done, the link is shown below:
www.chrysanthemums.info/aber-daffs/mydaffs2013-pot-protection.htm
I figured that leaves are a lot lighter and cleaner than peat, sand or soil – and they are free and renewable!
I’m sure this is not a new innovation so I would appreciate any feedback from growers who have tried this approach.
Regards,
Paul Barlow (Aberdeen)
Paul, I have used this method for a number of years, using a mix of oak & beech leaves. 8 – 10″ deep on top and around the sides. However I do not cover with glass frames, the “clamp”, which is in a wire cage, is open to the air at all times thus allowing rain / snow to perculate through the leaves. Of course Norfolk is much further south than you are and we don’t get so much snow but temps can go below -15C and I have not noticed any harmful effects. Snow on the clamp acts as an extra insulation.
Depending on the weather, I gradually remove the top layer from mid-February (Valentines Day) but leave the sides intact for a couple more weeks. This allows for the leaves to green up before moving the pots inside. The spent leaves are transferred to the compost heap.
Hope this helps, it works for me
Mike Brook