Posted by Gus on 11/8/2008, 6:16 am, in reply to "Please help with my Eucalyptus Globulus" Link: Eucalyptus globulus: Cold hardiness
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About temperatures, E. globulus seems to start reducing its yearly growth rate when temperatures go regularly below 10ºC. If by day they do not go over some 5 to 7ºC, it almost stops. But it can take light frosts without any problem even in such a case, to -3ºC at least, especially if those drops do not last long. Below that there will be frost damage to the broad juvenile leaves (they will turn purplish, "wine colour", and some will develop burning). Below -5ºC frost damage gets generalized.
The browning and shriveling is very likely caused by keeping it away from light, these type of eucalypt loves it. It is either that, or that the roots have already filled all available space in the bigger pot, which means water uptake becomes difficult.
You put it inside the birdcage? 
If you did, it will disappear quickly, the keets are good "pruning" eucs 
Look at what they did to those E. gunnii branches!
Some ideas:
Idea 1: You could leave it outdoors during winter and bring it inside only when predictions of harsh frost are issued. Only nights below -3ºC should worry you, or day temperatures not going over 0ºC. Place it in as sunny part of the yard as possible. This way next year you could have a bigger plant (up to 5 meters is possible in such pots!). Much of this depends on your winter patterns for temperature and your micro-climate in the garden.
Idea 2: Assuming you leave it outdoors except for the worse of frost events, you could at any point of winter let the birds "prune it back" to the main stem/s. But after that it is better not to bring it inside to comfortable temperatures (+15ºC all day and night) or it will try to re-grow, and will fail because of too little light. Keeping it "in the cold" except in case of snow or very bad frost until spring should do, and it would re-sprout then as it already did this year.
Idea 3: You could cut small to medium sized pieces of the lateral branches (better leafless, but you can try both) or even of the main stem (leaving a branchless pole some 2 feet height in the pot) while it still is "fresh" and store the pruned pieces without much delay in airtight zip plastic bags in the freezer. That way they stay fresh. And you have some extra funny food/toy for the birds for a longer period. The tree will still resurrect by spring.
Idea 4: Any option involving harvest/"bird pruning"/loss by frost of this year's growth will give you the chance to perform root pruning next spring without huge risk of dessication (no leaves to dessicate!). Not a too severe pruning of the roots, and trying to work out where the fine roots are first, so as to leave a good chunk of them. But enough as to remove the thickest roots. This way you can keep the plant for a longer time in a container, as you give some room for the root system, and you add some new susbtrate and some nutrients for it. But if this is done, the plant should not be planted out later and let grow to tree size, or might have stability problems (you remove the "main anchorage" roots with the root pruning).
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