We have really started to warm up and i want to start putting some of my plants outside but some nights still get quit cool.As long as the temp doesn't get low enough to freeze or we get a frost,can these plants go outside? Jade,pencil tree/fire sticks.

Epi's can't tolerate temp's in the low/mid 40's, they it need to warm up some more, correct they are tropical plants?

Thank you for any help with this i can get!!!

I'd err on the side of caution and wait until the nights are reliably above 45.

It's been in the low to mid 40's and i thought maybe the jades would be ok maybe turn a little or a lot red but they are pretty like that.

This morning weather man said a cold front is coming in so gotta (got to/have to my crazy southern accent slipped out) my moma would have said it was simply bad grammar but she was from England so...

I accidently left my capitella 'campfire' out last night it got down in the low 40's but should be ok.I left it out one night & it got below freezing.I had to cut off 2 pieces that were hanging over the side & pinch off a few tips but it's come back great you can't even tell.Now i have the piece i cut off sitting on top of a pot of potting mix rooting (one to share) just had to cut off one mushy section of the stem then above it & below it was fine!!

Thanks Hetty,

Agree with Hetty, especially if your plants have really been indoors all this winter and are still very young. My succulents stay outdoors so they can ably tolerate the swings in temps. From what I have, Crassulas like jade plant, capitella campfire, they have endured up to low 28F as long as they are not too wet. The succulent euphorbias I have, are struggling, actually the candelabra died early on during the early onset of Fall rains. I was surprised with my Epi newport, it has survived its first winter outdoors very well. Winter this year is really drier too, so it could be a factor. I also notice if the succulent have not developed that bark like texture on its stems, it will have low tolerance to cold. So younger succulents really have tough time during winter and eventually die.

The only succulents that I have kept indoors all winter long, desert rose, sansevieria, lithops, split rock, and plumeria.

My general rule is if you are tied to it emotionally or it is not easy to find to replace, I would not take the chance. And when I have something outside that I am "iffy- sure" about, I at least put a shade cloth or frost cloth over it so that I can sleep that nite. And it is all my new collection of echeverias I am "iffy-sure" about and would hate to look for them all over again.

My Jades and the C.campfire is really what i was wanting to put out the most.I'm not sure about young or not last summer wasn't there first summer & i left them out until i HAD to bring them in.The campfire and jades had turned that pretty red they do when exposed to colder weather.

I've decided to wait because we have a cold front coming through and usually i would say that the beginning of April would usually be safe to start taking some out during the day & leaving the hardiest and of course watch the weather faithfully for a couple of weeks but our winter is pretty much wrapping up,we are already having days in the high 70's & a couple 80's.


This last one looks young but I've had it a while,not sure of it's name exactly but it was labeled a miniature.You can see (i think) the stem has begun to get woody looking .

I separated one last summer and ended up with a good many to share this spring.One of them didn't come from the separation of the one plant,i think it may be at the bottom of the picture.

I couldn't find many more pictures of my jade plants,i lost all my picture taken before Sept. on the computer i put them on when the computer crashed & burned,think it has a virus & my pictures.

This last one is one of my fav's it's C.ovata 'minima' & she gets really pretty colors & is a tough little plant!!

Have a nice day tomorrow and always thanks for the advice.

Jojoe, If you put them out for the day with warmer temps but take them in for the nites, that is a good approach unless you know for sure that temps will drop day or nite, then need take precaution. I think people lose plants when the weather conditions get away from them or take for granted weather will be steady. I remember having invited people to my wedding in mid April and it was the most beautiful day. Weather forecast to be a beautiful sunny weekend in Santa Fe and the next day my younger guests were running around in the snow while the older guests were wondering how they were going to keep warm in the Spring clothing they brought for the wedding weekend. All unexpected...

Our weather is definitely something not to be taken for granted!! My daughter got me to thinking yesterday when she said my granddaughters B-day party was in 10 days & they were calling for a 60% chance of rain,it had been forecasted sunny for that day,we had been keeping on eye on it because we rented one of those bouncy castle thingy's (not cheap).

I am keeping all plants inside until this cold front has passed.Then again last year the baby was born on March the 30th.we sat in hospital room watching snow flurries.

If it were mine, and in your weather as you describe it, I will keep the plants indoors just for another month more. It would be sad to be blindsided by the cold and wet combination after all the effort of keeping them alive indoors the whole winter season. Unless, you have a patio overhang that can reasonably keep them dry while it is cold, then it is okay to bring them out. But otherwise, the plants will suffer cold damage on the tissue level leading to rotting.

Tarev,it's been getting in the low 40's at night and only getting to high 50's during the day and raining a cold rain for the last 2 days.The weather has made that discussion for me!!!

Thanks for the advice,we have had quit cool Easter's so i will revisit the thought in 2 weeks about starting with jades.

I have been meaning to ask a question i know you (or anyone who can help) have/had a Capitella 'campfire'.What type of fertilizer do you use on a C.'campfire' an even NPK ratio or does it need more of one than the others ? Also what turns it's foliage red cold or sun.It was the last plant to come in last fall and it was turning a lovely red color but it was newly potted & also in the sun but it did bloom when it started turning cold,it was in full bloom when i brought it in last winter. It turned back green fast when it came inside.

I have not given any fertilizer to my C. capitella campfire. My succulents do not get any, to be honest. They seem to thrive well on their own. The red foliage occurs when it gets stressed by cold, it is really very prominent during winter when outdoors. Once it gets warm enough again, it goes back being green. In my garden I get the blooms out around June.

Maybe mine bloomed this fall from being stressed the cold,just being potted.If you remember i started out with a poor,pitiful looking piece of a plant.I started rooting the biggest healthiest pieces and when new shoots came out of the stem(they came out at almost every place a leaf was or had been attached) I let them get a few inches long removed them & rooted each one until i had almost filled a pot.They root so fast and grow so good it didn't take any time before it filled the pot on it's own.

I have heard plants can bloom,reproduce or produce offsets from being stressed,maybe thats what happened the end of last fall?
I have knocked pieces of it off & just a day or 2 ago laid them across some damp soil & stuck some of the off sets that was on the bigger stem in some damp soil.

I will have plenty to share should anyone want some!!!!