Watering

[mickthecactus]

On Sunday I gave the Aloes a light watering, their first since November in most cases. The speed with which last year's seedlings took it up was remarkable. 24 hours later they looked like different plants altogether.

[Geoff]

Aloes normally LOVE water (though prefer rain water over tap water)... this time of year most species of aloes particularly crave water ... hard to overwater an aloe this time of year.

[mickthecactus]

I think I would still be wary here for another month.

[Spination]

Oh, definitely...big difference between UK right now and California weather-wise...

[Paul S]

... for most of the year, to be fair...

[Spination]

True, but I was looking at the 5 day forecast for Hertfordshire, and seeing a 28 F low...and highs in the low to mid 40s. Today, our low is their high... If that were the case here, I wouldn't be watering much either yet.

[Paul S]

The problems for growing c&s in the UK are as much about what happens in our summers as what happens in our winters. Or, perhaps more accurately, what doesn't happen in our summers Generally our summers are cool and dull when compared to hot and sunny climates these plants come from and/or are grown over your side. The lack of heat/sun means that some of the necessary changes within the plant that help them withstand cold don't take place which in turn means that often plants which can be recommended for growing in your z7, for example, might perish over here because they just rot without the inbuilt 'anti-freeze'. My climate is 'mathematically' z9a (the USDA system is number crunching absolute lows, after all, and nothing to do with plants per se), as are the Shetland islands north of Scotland! Think of a z9a over there - very different!

[Spination]

Such is my understanding of UK weather in general, and it's a great credit to the many of you who successfully grow an array of genera and species and do a great job of it to. I think, no matter one's climate, if you don't actually reside where the plants actually grow naturally, it's all about trying to understand the needs of the plants and doing one's best to adapt within the parameters of what one has been dealt weather-wise.

[mickthecactus]

Thanks Spiny. Appreciated.