Hime seikai growth rate and care

[huiray]

You're on the Jersey shore. This means you get COLD periods in winter. Perhaps you do not have any place in your house which could get cold during winter? Say, a spare room with sunny windows where you can shut off the heating vents?

If this is so, then - yes, you will have issues with blooming stuff like himeseikai and seikai.

In winter I keep my himeseikai and seikai in a breezeway between my garage and kitchen. I actually need a portable heater in there (I use an oil-based wheeled radiator unit to keep the temp above freezing at the least during winter) The temps in the breezeway regularly reach around 40+ Fahrenheit in winter, but also often in the 50's range. This is for several months. I also let them dry out - and, in fact, shrivel somewhat --- then rejuvenate them by watering them copiously and standing them in saucers of water.

So far this year I count about six spikes on my hime-seikai and 4-5 spikes on my seikai.

ETA: I also keep the colder-growing stuff in this breezeway --- Holcoglossums, dendrobium nobile derivatives (e.g. Dend. Ise), cold-growing Epis, cold-growing vandaceous types, that sort of thing.