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Re: Regarding "frost warning" help

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

The deal is that by misting the orchards the frost will form on the outside
of the plants, and since freezing is exothermic---(it liberates heat)  the
plants will get a little warmth from this, and also will be protected by the
ice sheath from wind and dehydration that may accompany the even colder air
that follows.

The Encyclopedia Brittanica discusses this and I looked it up, a year or so
ago, when the question of why lakes don't freeze all the way to the bottom
came up....

Water---it is wonderful stuff, and life depends on it!

Frank---from relatively balmy Montreal (compared to chilly Ottawa....:-)

-----Original Message-----
From: Diane Streine <DSTREINE@BAIGLOBAL.COM>
To: 'Towey, Brian' <cbt4489@glaxowellcome.com>; sqft@listbot.com
<sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Wednesday, June 16, 1999 5:11 PM
Subject: RE: Regarding "frost warning" help


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>Orange growers in Florida have been known to encase their trees in ice
>to prevent frost damage.  I can only imagine that they know what they
>are doing.  Do any list members live know any more about this practice?
>It seems like the same idea to me.
>
>Diane Streine
>New York's Hudson Valley
>Zone 6
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Towey, Brian [c*@glaxowellcome.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 1999 5:04 PM
>To: sqft@listbot.com
>Subject: RE: Regarding "frost warning" help
>
>
>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>> Regarding a suggestion that was given to Lisa:
>> Getting up early (b4 the sun rises in my area) to water spray my
>garden in
>
>> order to prevent possible frost warning damage is something I will
>> definitely try NOW & in the fall. It sounds like the easiest possible
>way
>>for me (& clever!), but I'm inquisitive----how does this process
>prevent
>the
>>damage?
>
>As far as I can tell, this spraying-water business is based on the
>mistaken
>idea that ice cannot get colder than 32 degrees F.  Ice, of course, can
>get
>as cold as its surroundings, all the way down to absolute zero in places
>like Ottawa <grin>.
>
>If somebody has a good reason why frozen fog is more damaging than
>frozen
>tap water at the same temperature, I'd love to hear it.  Of course, if
>the
>water is warm and it warms up the plants so that they don't freeze at
>all,
>that would be different.  But, I have known people to encase their poor
>plants in solid ice cubes trying to prevent freeze damage.  As far as I
>know, it doesn't work.
>
>-BT
>
>
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