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[JMZ]

Hey everyone, I haven’t been here in a long time. As my khat plants get bigger, I’m tempted to put one in the ground at some point. I live in Zone 8A. I don’t think it likes frosts, so I was thinking about pruning it to the ground and covering with leaves for the winter? Any input would be appreciated. 

[MadPlanter]

I live in zone 8b and mine cathas handle decently here with minor protection. Idk about full blown out in the open though. They fare better than a lot of stuff like Psychotria and caapi. Figure if you tucked it up against the South wall of your house or another large object with thermal mass and also mulched it good it should be OK. Worth a try if you have more than one.

[JMZ]

I plan on putting one in the ground in April. We’ll see how it fares next winter.

[jbz711]

I'm in 8b, and have one in the open under an unheated glass cloche. Every time it dips into the mid- twenties, its outer leaves turn dark and then die, but throughout the winter the plant continues to put out new leaves to replace the dead outer ones. On particularly cold nights I've found it effective to place a pillow case over the cloche for extra protection. I'll try to post a recent picture tomorrow.

[jbz711]

I'm not dead yet, it's just a flesh wound.