Plant dormancy occurs with deciduous plants/trees, succulents, cactus, tropical and other plants during winter months. In addition, periods of drought and high temperatures causes plant dormancy too.
Dormancy is a period in an organism’s life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. The plant greatly reduces growth and defoliates – its metabolic activity slows down to conserve energy. Dormancy usually is closely related with environmental conditions such as shorter daylight, cooler weather, extreme heat and low water.
Watering During Plant Dormancy
If you obtained a plant during dormancy period please make sure you know what to do. During dormancy plants drop their leaves (most of the time 100%) so your plant may arrive leafless. During plant dormancy you need to reduce watering to prevent root problems and other issues. The majority of plants, not all, that go dormant still need to be watered once a month. Some plants need additional care including warmth and protection from cold weather.
Pruning Cropping Transplanting during Plant Dormancy
Dormancy is a great time to transplant plants into larger containers or refresh the soil. During plant dormancy many types of plants that grow vines or canes are pruned. Remember this is not the time to prune/crop all types of plants.
Here is a partial list of plants from Epic Grower LLC Company:
- Christia Vespertilonis – Re-pot but DO Not trim branches.
- Dwarf Flamboyant Plants – Trim branches and re-pot during this time. These are evergreens in most tropical areas. In other areas we are still testing.
- Pseudobombax – trim branches and re-pot.
- Fruit Trees – Trim them during dormancy. There are many articles on this on the internet.
- Honey suckle – Trim old growth in fall or winter. Check your area and the internet for more information.
- Berry plants – Trim and in some cases cut out old canes. Check internet on which berries will not product on old wood/canes. Goji berry grow on old wood and new wood.
- Butterfly Plants – trim and cut back old growth. There are a few that will produce on old wood so check your variety. They are evergreens in tropical climates. Other areas they may drop leaves and go dormant.
- Brazilian Grape – These are evergreens. Trim during main growing season. Growth slows keep very warm and soil slightly moist.
- Cinnamon, Green Tea, Miracle Fruits – These are evergreens. Do not over water. Keep warm and in a sunny location.
Watering Part 2: Dormant Plants still need water. Epic Grower LLC reduces watering to 1-2 times month depending upon plant type instead of every week. This stresses the importance in doing your research on the plants in your garden or containers. Every growing environment is different. The articles here are for general growing. In your area you may need to treat the plants differently. ***** WINDOW areas: Unless the plant sees the sun through the window this is NOT DIRECT SUNLIGHT. Many clients put inside homes tropical, desert plants and other plants that need DIRECT Sunlight throughout the year to survive. Repeat: This is NOT the correct growing environment for the plant and it will suffer and may die. If you plan to grow plants inside that require many hours of direct sunlight then you should get grow lights. Epic Grower LLC use LED grow light in our nursery during winter in Northern Georgia when its too cold.
Know Your Plants Life Cycle
Many plants go dormant in one growing environment while not in others. In SE Florida tropical environment, the Red Butterfly – Christia vespertilonis is an evergreen. Areas north of central Florida they will drop all their leaves. It important to know your environment and do your research.