I am in zone 9, last night we had lows in the upper 40's but will end up in the 60's. We are expecting rain this week and the temps will be in the low 50's and upper 60's and cloudy for the most part. I have brought most in but would like to know if this is correct. Once inside (where the temps will be 60-70) how often should I water? The plants haven't looked this good all year long, lots of shiny green leaves.

Thanks

anole,
It is probably best to bring them in as you have. Rather than take a chance on losing them. With low 50's they would need to be completely dry and just not worth it. For me anyhow.
With them inside if they are receiving strong sunlight still, they should remain in leaf. If the light levels are lower you may notice leaf drop and even with the change from outside to inside this could still happen (leaf drop).
As far as watering goes, it will depend on sunlight, temperatures, etc. Monitor them and watering will reduce, but if they are still growing and in leaf, do not let them dry back too much. This can induce dormancy and lose leaves.
All of this is dependent on the above variables. Leaf drop and dormancy is not a bad thing. They will just not require much water until spring when they start showing signs of growth. Then start watering in moderation until actively growing.

I hope some of this helps and does not confuse issues.

Rick

Rick, thanks for the input, last year I had only 1-- now I have over 20 plants and they are all quite healthy. I want to keep them that way for next year. I will bring in and monitor them.

thanks again.

Anole

Wow, John! That's quite an increase. Where are you going to keep all of them? Do you have a greenhouse?

with Rick. As he stated, when you bring them indoors, some may go dormant and lose all of their leaves. Remember this rule that was shared with me--no leaves, no water. There is no photosynthesis taking place. If you water your plants at this time, you will develop root rot, as the plant can not assimilate it. Others will go semi-dormant and retain their leaves. These will grow very slowly during the winter, due to decreased sunlight and heat, and will need very little water. If you provide sufficient light and heat as Doris does in her sunroom, they can continue growing and even bloom for you in the winter. I have 1 or 2 that do.

These plants are amazing, and I'm still learning about them. For the last 2 years, I kept 3 plants that went dormant on a plant stand sitting on my unused fireplace hearth in my den. Each year, in late January or early February, these plants would begin waking up. And I say Hey wait!! No, not yet! It's not time!" There doesn't appear to be an increase in the amount of light or heat in the room, nor are they sited near a window. But, they will unfailingly start to wake up and put out new leaves. That's when I give them a little water and/or mist the leaves and move them to a brighter spot. Watch them closely and let them tell you how to treat/care for them. Congrats on your new collection/addiction/hobby and Happy Growing.

Well said Debbie.

Debbie, thanks for the info, I bought my first one at the local nursery and planted seeds for 11 of them. I got the remaining 9 from Lowes as they were over-watering them. They were on sale for $1.50 each-- I bought all of them and brought them home. I posted this earlier this year on this forum and received some great advice on how to save them. They have come along quite nicely. Thanks again for the info.

Anole

I remember your post and photos of your great haul. I would have bought all of them too. Only thing is I wouldn't have them long. Every time a friend or relative stops by my house and sees them, they automatically want one. First timers only get young seedlings.

I brought mine in tonight. We are expecting wind and rains early in the morning and I didn't want them drenched. They sit on a shelf in the greenhouse that gets the most sun.

I have brought in my Adeniums too right after our first cold rain in November. I let it get that rain, since it has been quite a very long time since we had rain, then allowed it to dry out after it stopped raining and temps returned to the low 60's then, afterwards indoors they went by our south facing window. It is often the overnight temps that concerns me, as we started to go colder overnight after that and at one point getting a sudden frost warning. Glad it was indoors already by then. My usual threshold to bring them in is if I see our overnight temps starting to go below 50F. When it is colder there is increased humidity, and too cold and wet is not good for Adeniums, it can easily rot them.

Right now my plants still holds on to it leaves, and is getting good sunlight by our south facing window so it is growing some new leaves, while dropping older ones, so it is not yet ready to sleep. But usually come late Dec to Feb it stops doing anything, still holding on to some remaining leaves, but it is dormant at that point. I wait for any sign of new leaf growth before I attempt to resume normal watering and I prefer to do that once I have it outdoors again to enjoy the sunshine, usually this would be in late April to early May. It has enough stock up water in its caudex, at least for my plants, so am not too worried it will dry up.

However, my plants are a bit older. As I understand it the younger ones, may require a bit more water than usual, since it has not formed a good caudex yet.

I brought them all in this weekend, they are all looking good. I just have to control myself when watering--most still have nice green leaves and a couple had a flower or two. The temps were down in the 30's last night but it will warm up this week with highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's-60's. I also brought some of my smaller cacti, euphorbias, and plumerias. The next challenge will be the larger plants. thanks for the info.

Anole

I want to say that winter is usually the time where I should enjoy not watering much my succulents, but it is actually trying to avoid watering them that is oftentimes hardest to do.

I rely on the rain, so I have to remind myself to water my container plants if I notice that we had not had a good rain for 3 days. What's amazing is that when I finally get around to hand-watering, it never fails but the rain comes that very night or the next day.