Morning everyone.  First thank you so much to the members here for sharing wisdom, cuttings and plants with me.  Now I am trying to decide what to do with the new trees from cuttings started last spring.  We do get a couple of weeks with nights into the teens here in the Verde Valley of AZ and it always warms up 50' or more during the day.  Would keeping the young plants in their 1 to 5 gallon pots buried in the ground covered in a hoop house be enough protection?  Last year I put them in the garage and opened the door every day, it was just a dance with the bugs and I notice such a difference in the plants that are in ground even in a pot with holes.  Your esteemed advice is so welcome and appreciated.  The garden is my peace, Jodi

Hi Jodi,

I'm in zone 8b and anything left on my porch unprotected did not suffer any damage regardless of pot size. If in a windy location away from walls or hedges, you might get some damage.
None of my five gallon pots or larger are protected, but they are adjacent to a wall or a hedge in the open. They get sun when the sun comes out offsetting any potential damage that might result from dips in temperature during the night.

I think it depends on what the hoop house covering is. If covered in clear greenhouse poly it will be way too hot during sunny days and still as cold as outside at night. If covered with heavy duty frost blanket then in my opinion the plants would be much safer.

I'd say being outside uncovered in a protected area would be better than a poly covered hoop house. I think that's what Sas is saying as well.

I use two of,them. Just open them up in morning close at night. Put a heater and lights and they will grow a lot over the winter. I do this for my trees in pits that need growth instead of fruit. I have a 1000 watt MH LIGHT. WORKS REALLY WELL

[QUOTE=Sas]Hi Jodi, I'm in zone 8b and anything left on my porch unprotected did not suffer any damage regardless of pot size. If in a windy location away from walls or hedges, you might get some damage. None of my five gallon pots or larger are protected, but they are adjacent to a wall or a hedge in the open. They get sun when the sun comes out offsetting any potential damage that might result from dips in temperature during the night.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your comments and interesting difference SAS.  I wasn't so lucky last year. I lost several small trees last winter trying to keep them on the porch, covered and with a light.  Maybe our zone number is not correct. We have an extended period of low teens in January, February. What are your coldest temps?  

[QUOTE=fignutty]I think it depends on what the hoop house covering is. If covered in clear greenhouse poly it will be way too hot during sunny days and still as cold as outside at night. If covered with heavy duty frost blanket then in my opinion the plants would be much safer.

I'd say being outside uncovered in a protected area would be better than a poly covered hoop house. I think that's what Sas is saying as well.[/QUOTE]

Ah thank you I am seeing the difference here.  So maybe planted in pots with holes, close to a wall, covered?  

The lowest that I've seen it was 18 degrees at night, but it always warm up during the days. The longest freezing period is usually about three days, with all freeze gone by noon.
If you are perhaps 8a then you are more exposed. What I would do is put all the small pots in a large cardbox and cover with mulch for the winter. its probably better than a blanket.
I prefer air circulation. I tried using foam pipe insulation to cover individual branches before and it did not work. They still suffered from freeze damage, so now I don't cover anything as long as it is sheltered from wind. The base of tree in ground is what I protect with mulch on small trees too. If your porche is facing south then it's best.

Ah yes SAS I tried the foam pipe insulation too and it didn't seem to do any good and one tree actually molded inside the tubes. We probably are the colder part of zone 8 as we are at the bottom of a river valley. I am just fussing with this as I am very attached to these trees! Spent 3/4 of a year babying them! LOL! Can't wait to put them in ground next year. Thank you for your help. Warmly, Jodi

Hi Jodi,
What is the size of the trees ? How many pots ?
Would they all fit in an 80 liters trashcan ? ...
You know the rest ... Put holes at the bottom of the trashcan. Put the trashcan under a porch so that no water can turn the trashcan into a swamp. Put them all in the trashcan, fill with loam.
Unmold in march :) .