Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 12:19:25 PST From: Glenn Rankin <rankin@saiph.hpl.hp.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg339$foo@default> Subject: Freezing Drosophyllum
As some have reported on this list, it got unusally cold here in the
SF bay area the beginning of last week. Those of us who have most of
our plants outside got a chance to test them for cold hardiness. :-(
One of mine that showed especially interesting behavior was
Drosophyllum. It is about 2 years old with 20-25 cm leaves. It got
below freezing for two nights: -5C the second night, but not so cold
the first. The morning after the first freeze, the plant was wilted.
I've seen that before when the soil gets too dry, so I watered and
sure enough, the plant returned to its original posture. Well, the
next morning, it was wilted even more, but I knew it wasn't for lack
of water, so I brought the plant into the house to warm up. In about
15-20 minutes the plant had recovered! :-) I then remembered that I
watered the previous morning just as the sun started to warm things
up, so it looks like warming the plant induced it to stand up straight
on both days.
In the period since, no permanent damage has become visible. I guess
this species is adapted to short excursions into subfreezing
temperatures. The speed with which turgor returned upon warming was
quite surprising to me. It was also a big relief to see that I hadn't
killed the plant.
Glenn Rankin
rankin@hpl.hp.com
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