Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Gout Plant (Jatropha podagrica)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Gout Plant, Buddha Belly Plant, Guatemala Rhubarb, Tartogo.

More about gout plant

About Gout Plant

Jatropha podagrica · also called Gout Plant, Buddha Belly Plant · tropical

Gout Plant is a striking, slow-growing succulent shrub from Central America notable for its swollen, knobby grey-green caudex trunk — giving it a bonsai-like silhouette. Long-stalked, peltate leaves emerge from the tip, and coral-red flower clusters appear throughout the year. It is an excellent bright-window container plant but all parts are highly toxic.

Cold limit: USDA 10-11 · RHS H1b (15 to 35 °C)

Watch for — Leaf drop and dormancy: In winter or when temperatures drop below 15 °C, the plant typically sheds its leaves and enters dormancy. This is normal — reduce watering and keep the caudex in a warm, bright spot until new growth resumes in spring.

What gout plant's hardiness rating actually means

Gout Plant is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10-11 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Gout Plant has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for gout plant as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can gout plant go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when gout plant can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Gout Plant hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is gout plant cold hardy?

Gout Plant is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Gout Plant can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-11); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature gout plant can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Gout Plant has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is gout plant?

Gout Plant is rated USDA 10-11 and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can gout plant survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to gout plant below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.