Re: CULT: freeze damage
- Subject: Re: CULT: freeze damage
- From: L* M*
- Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:10:22 -0800
From: Linda Mann <lmann@icx.net>
> > 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.
>
> What's the trick here? .... it has never worked. Sometimes when I've tried this, the
> water
> freezes in sheets on the plants and made everything appear to be worse
> than if I'd left it alone. Too late? Too cold? Not watering long
> enough?
I'd say probably all of the above. Those apparently above freezing
heavy white frosts are the ones that I've been most successful with, but
I confess I've only used this technique on tomatos. I have long since
quit fussing over irises that are foolish enough to routinely produce
lush foliage or flower buds at a time they are likely to get hit with
freezes. My experiences have been like this last one for you - haul out
load after load of coverings, put them on at night, anchor them with
rocks, take them off in the morning before leaving for work, time after
time, then, one supposedly overcast night with wind, the skies
unexpectedly clear while I am peacefully sleeping and temps plummet just
long enough to eliminate bloom once again. 'Tain't worth it.
My suggestion if you are determined to grow a few things that routinely
are going to be likely to experience this kind of damage - build some
kind of simple coldframe/greenhouse, attach some kind of thermostat &
ventilation system to raise the lid or turn on a fan so it won't get too
warm & you won't have to be there. If you make it light-weight enough,
you can carry it out of sight once the blooms are open.
I made some highly effective, very ugly covers for my rebloomers that
worked well for light to moderate freezes - drove 4 ft sections of rebar
at the corners, arched pieces of 1/2 inch plastic pipe (the kind that
comes in big rolls) across the ends, covered the whole mess with one or
more layers of Reemay. I took it off when it was really warm out, but
otherwise left it on all the time except when I was looking at them.
Also, I've found that water-filled 2 liter cola bottles make excellent,
very tacky looking, cold protectors for buds that haven't emerged from
the rhizome yet (or maybe they are barely out down in the base of the
fan) - also protects the central fan. I lured HELLO DARKNESS into bloom
last year with them. I put three of them in a triangle around the fan.
Left them there all year. We'll see if it works two years in a row.
The cola bottles have worked well as extra heat/cold sinks for small
tomato plants under Reemay keeping them rapidly growing at air temps
down to the upper teens.
I experimented with green beans one year - the plants were fall planted,
about 2 ft tall. The ones covered with 3 layers of Reemay were still
producing beans when temps were in the low 20s, but it was too cold to
take the covers off and pick them! Plants under single or double layers
died.
If bloom stalks are way up in the air (like my reblooming TBs) it's
harder to protect them (too far away from the warm earth). Also, it's
critical that their be air space between the plant and the cover. The
idea is to keep the warm air under the cover above freezing, and the
Reemay itself will be colder than the air underneath and can conduct
cold to the plant. It is not as good a conductor of cold as other
coverings are - plastic is really bad (good at conducting cold), but is
better than Reemay at keeping in warm air. Some folks (Anner?) use
Reemay covered with plastic for max protection.
Well, all this advice after the horse is out of the barn....
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA
20o F here this am....hard to believe this is the middle of March. The
'wild' daffodils all over the front yard have been in full bloom for
what seems like 2 months. And the early forsythia is now in full bloom,
but apparently has maintained enough antifreeze because of constantly
cold nights that it hasn't been damaged by these dips into the low 20s.
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