On 23/08/17 15:44, Derek wrote:
On Wed, 23 Aug 2017 00:07:45 +0100, Jim S wrote:


NEVER let a fuchsia EVER dry out entirely. Hanging ones can dry, but on the
other hand you cannot overwater them.

True in the summer, but a basket watered and then frozen during the
night, will suffer, keeping the basket on the dry side, during the
winter, but not bone dry will keep it warmer.

Not true, I'm afraid. Water has the highest latent heat of fusion of any
substance, so it would take a lower temperature, or a longer time at a
fixed low temperature, to freeze water than an equivalent weight of
anything else, including soil.

It is possible that a drier compost may lead to less damage when frozen
as there may be air spaces in which the roots do not get crushed when
the compost freezes. This is, however, a very unlikely situation.

--

Jeff