Re: Freeze

I have read the postings on the freezing weather this morning, and am
very sorry for those of you having to deal with such questions as "Will
they still be alive in the morning?".

I know my advice will come too late for most of you, as what's done is
done, but there are certain effective ways of dealing with early
freezes. For mild freezes, where the temperatures will not dip below
22-25F, covering with plastic/reemay/sheets/plastic containers & tubs
etc. works very well, and they usually receive little harm. We have to
use this method every September to mature the last of our vegetable
crops. The only drawback to draping with materials is that if the
temperature does get close to that bottom edge, the plant leaves
touching the plastic sheeting may freeze. Plastic containers for
individual plants works better as they do not drape the plant.

All of the methods mentioned for light freezes in Florida, i.e. spraying
the plants, moving the air, smudge works well when the temperatures are
just going to dip down to into freezing, but it isn't effective for
deeper freezes. These options aren't used here, just because of the
impracticality of spraying one's whole garden, running several large
fans all night, etc! Draping is just as effective as those for the
smaller gardener. You have to be set up for most of those techniques.

For temperatures below 25F, blankets and insulated coverings becomes
more practical, just so you don't chance freezing the plants. I have a
pile of old cast off blankets which I keep for spring/fall freezing.
Blankets are heavy, so I usually pound small stakes on each side of the
bed I'm covering, just to lift the weight slightly off the plants. Don't
use tall stakes, as you want to keep the covering close to the plants &
ground. For individual plants I use anything & everything insulated -
old bathroom towels, winter coats, old sleeping bags, once even my
winter boots with felt liners turned upside down over an individual
plant. (I was kind of desparate, but it worked okay) I'm not sure how
low a temperature blankets protect against, as at that point I abandon
the garden to the inevitable, but I would say close to 10F. 

A lot depends, with both sheeting and blankets, on how long the freeze
lasts. Most freeze warnings (where it is cautioned the temps will dip
down into the high 20's) are short term, and in my area, invariably
happen in the early morning just before the sun starts rising. The
rising sun, stirring the air, and warming things up, dispels these type
of freezes quickly. That is the very typical late spring/early fall
freeze and simple covering as I described works well. We never have any
problems with it.

One other thing - I'm not sure how much cold is in your ground come
spring time. Where I garden, there is much cold in the ground in spring,
and much heat in the soil in the fall. For a fall freeze, I don't bother
to remove coverings until things are well warmed up in the day, as the
coverings hold in the heat from the ground. In the spring it is the
reverse, and it is best to remove the coverings as soon as things start
warming up, if you have very cold ground, as you would inadvertantly be
retaining the cold around the plants, and insulating against the heating
air!

Moving air was mentioned as a frost protector, and someone questioned
how this could be, when wind is more damaging in the cold. It is a
matter of degrees. For a very light freeze, a slight wind produces just
enough air friction to actually heat things slightly. But a stronger
wind dispels that small advantage, and becomes destructive as it
dessicates plants. Likewise with colder temperatures - the small warming
of a light wind will not be enough to overcome a lower temperature.

I hope you people who are having such fits with El Nino this winter will
have wonderful summers to make up for it!

Kathy Haggstrom
Anchorage, AK
Zone 3
hagg@alaska.net
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index