Re: CULT: freeze damage
- Subject: Re: CULT: freeze damage
- From: L* M*
- Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 22:31:30 -0800
From: Linda Mann <lmann@icx.net>
Donald Eaves in Texas wrote:
> - this morning I got up
> to a 31 degree morning and everything covered by glittering frost.
> ...... Leaves in the center of the fan in many
> irises are laying over and soft where they emerge from the fan. ...
> That fast growing, soft center seems to be where the most damage
> occurred and that is precisely where those buds sit. Maybe it's not
> how cold the temps get, but what kind of freeze and what stage of
> growth the plants are in. ..... The outer leaves on the fans do not
> appear to have suffered as much.
Condolences Donald - I thought of you when I saw the forecast map with
that big U-shaped front sitting with it's ?locus? ?centroid? whatever
that point in U-shaped curves is that determines the radius of the....
Anyway, it looked like Texas/Oklahoma were going to get nailed. None of
the Alberta clippers for the last 2 months have come straight down to
Florida over us, which is when our damage is worst. By the time fronts
that go straight to your house slide east, they've usually lost a lot of
their punch.
Somewhere I have read how many days of cool/cold temperatures it takes
to harden off plants vs how many days of warm temps it takes to
"re-tenderize" them. Seems like it was something dreadful like one day
of warmth will undo 2 weeks of chilling/hardening off. So that's one
factor in how likely plants are to be damaged.
Another is what stage of growth they are in (as you've noticed).
Another is how long they stay at a damaging temperature. Too late for
this advice to do any good this time around, but if it happens again, a
light frost on sensitive foliage can often?sometimes?always? be
short-circuited by spraying cold water on the plants first thing in the
morning - basically lightly hosing off the frost. It will safely warm
the plants back up to slightly above freezing thereby making sure they
don't stay cold as long & are less likely to be injured. One of my
ole-timey neighbors taught me that trick 20+ years ago for salvaging
tomato plants hit by unexpected late frost. Showering them with a
watering can works for me. A really hard freeze (low 20s F) is a lost
cause, but heavy frosts (barely to 32oF) to light freezes (~30oF) can be
salvaged.
It has been consistently cold (usually well below freezing) most nights
here keeping the wee iris plants at my house tough.
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA
Mar 10 is always the date of first blooms open on bloodroots. This
year, there are not even any signs of plants poking thru the leaves
yet. So in spite of the mild winter, our season is late.
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