When winter comes, we must ask ourselves if we should protect the plants that we have on the balcony from the cold, since they are delicate, that is if your resistance to cold is low or zero, it will be very important to take measures not to lose them. But which ones?
A balcony can be an ideal place to put a few pots, even if it is a very narrow pot; Now, when it comes to taking steps to ensure plants don’t have a bad time during the winter season, it can sometimes be tricky.
Cover the soil with mulch
Mulching or padding in Spanish is a technique that It consists of covering the surface of the earth with something like: pine bark, volcanic clay, pruning remains, dry leaves, etc.. This is very useful, because in doing so they keep the roots at a temperature a little higher than that of the external environment. But when you have them in pots, you have to choose very carefully what you are going to use to “stuff” the soil, because not everything will work.
And it is that if fresh pruning remains are used, or land that is not new (but has already been used for other crops), there is a risk that the plant you want to protect will end up get sick. Because? Because this stuffing could be contaminated with viruses, bacteria, spores, eggs of pathogenic insects or bacteria. For this reason, When you want to mulch potted plants, I recommend using this:
- substrate for orchids (pine bark)
- volcanic clay
- gravel or gravel
Protect them with an antifreeze cloth
The anti-freeze fabric It is a solution when you have plants that you do not know if they will be able to withstand the frost, either because they are still very young, or because it is the first winter they have spent with us. It’s also useful when you want to “test” the hardiness of a specific plant, but I only recommend doing this in specific cases where you know that, yes, it can handle the cold, but perhaps it is very limited in our region. .
For that, it’s good to wrap pots and plants with this cloth, because it is very light, easy to put on and also quite cheap. Also, you should know that it lets water through but not the wind, so if it rains your pots will be watered.
Put plants that cut the wind
If you have a large balcony, or large enough to be able to put plants of a certain size, it is very interesting to take advantage of the space to put one or more. AND no, I am not talking about trees or palms, but rather other types of plants that can be grown in containers, such as shrubs. There are even many dwarf conifers that could be beautiful on the balcony, such as the smaller fir trees that I mentioned in this article.
Evónimo, boxwood, polygala, cotoneaster,… There is a wide variety of plants that can be used to protect others. But yes, It is very important that everyone – protected and protectors – receives the necessary amount of light.
Put a shading mesh as “roof”
You would be surprised how many shade nets can protect you. I have one myself as a roof in the patio, and it protects my more delicate palms (Calamus, Dypsis); but yes: it does not work miracles either. It will be a good idea to put it as a roof if these plants can withstand the cold a bit but you want to protect them more; If they are very, very chilly, it will be best to wrap them in an anti-freeze cloth.
Of course, and although it goes without saying, this should only be done if possible, and if it is safe.
Get or build a greenhouse
If you can, and you have very sensitive plants that you need to protect but they won’t make it home, you can choose to put them in a greenhouse. It doesn’t have to be a typical greenhouse: if you have a shelf you no longer use, especially if it’s aluminum, you can convert it into a single one. just put a plastic on it.
Now, if you want, you can also choose to buy one, like one of the ones we recommend here.
Buy plants that are resistant to the climate in your area
This is not a trick to protect plants, but rather so that you don’t have to.. The best thing, especially if you are starting to grow plants on the balcony, is to bet on those that are resistant to the temperatures that exist in your area. Thus, you avoid having to buy anti-frost canvases, greenhouses and the like.
The fastest way to find out if a plant is resistant to the climate of the place is to see what the neighbors have, or the plant nurseries outside the greenhouses. So feel free to take a look at the above.
Were these tips helpful to you?