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Re: Is 38 degrees harmful?

>> Other usable stuff is any sort of cloth or paper, but the best material
>> at all is aluminum-coated plastic ("astronaut's coat", snobs take the
>>gold-coated one...) because it reflects the infrared radiation from the
>>ground, which is escaping in space otherwise; the latter being the main
>> effect for frost. Transparent plastic is _not_ a good material
>>for frost prevention.

>Why is transparent plastic not a good material to use for frost
>prevention?
>Richard (zone 6) who is using clear plastic! Oh no!

I really have nothing against clear plastic and use it a lot to prevent my
tomatoes from too much rain and cold winds,
but regarding frost protection, astronaut's coat, black plastic, cloth
or paper are simply much better. The reason is that clear plastic lets
through radiation, the visible one (for good during daytime!)
and the infrared, which cools out the ground during nighttime.



Andreas

PS: OK, it's not that simple, gosh. Depends on the material, thickness,
additives, and texture of the foil. But even the scientific literature
is not "clear" about this. After all, the worst you can get with some types
of thin Polypropylen foils is having a deeper frost under the plastic
then without...


-------------------------------------------------
VIVIANI Comp   CH-8833 Samstagern    Switzerland
E-mail: viviani@active.ch  Dr. Andreas Viviani
Tel: +41 1 786 11 16    Fax: +41 1 786 11 25
Homepage:  /http://www2.active.ch/~viviani
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