Protecting flowers from freeze
Frost Covers & Cold Snap Care
Whether you fell under the spell of some eye-catching color at the garden center or just wanted to get a jump on the gardening season, planting too early can create a crisis when a cold snap threatens. Helping your seedlings survive the big chill isn't impossible, but it does require some preparation.
In most cases, you can count on makeshift methods to protect plants when the thermometer dips. But for larger plantings, such as a vegetable garden, you'll need to arm yourself ahead of time with the right gadgets to guard plants against frosty mornings.
Know The Limits
In order to understand what steps to take when freeze warnings threaten, you need to know the point at which treasured greenery fades to frost-burned brown. The general rule of thumb is that most plants freeze when temperatures remain at 28°F for five hours.
Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Seedlings, with their tender new leaves, often give up the ghost when temperatures dip to 32-33°F. Tropical plants have differing low-temperature thresholds. Some keel over when temps fall to 40°F; others crumble at 35°F. Other plants are just hardy by nature and can withstand temperatures as low as 18-20°F. To find the threshold for your plants, search garden books and online resources.
Quick Fixes For Frost Warnings
Pick It Up – The easiest cold-protection scheme is to move plants out of harm's way. This works with seedlings in flats and potted plants. Moving plants under a deck, into a garage or shed, or onto a porch with a roof often offers ample protection.
Count On Water – Water soil just before sundown to raise overnight air temperature around plants as the water evaporates. Fill gallon jugs or buckets with water and place them in the sun during the day. At night, move them near endangered plants. The water will moderate air temperatures; if it freezes, it will release heat. For greatest effect, paint a few water-holding containers black to maximize daytime heating.
Keep Air Moving – Cold, still air does the most damage to plants. Stir a breeze all night with an electric fan to keep frost from forming on plants. Remember to protect electrical connections from moisture.
Cover Plants – Protect plants from all but the hardest freeze (28°F for five hours) by covering them with sheets, towels, blankets, cardboard or a tarp. You can also invert baskets, coolers or any container with a solid bottom over plants. Cover plants before dark to trap warmer air. Ideally, coverings shouldn't touch foliage. Anchor fabric coverings if windy conditions threaten.
In the morning, remove coverings when temperatures rise and frost dissipates. Heat from the sun can build beneath solid coverings, and plants can die from high temperatures.
Break Out Blankets – Keep gardening blankets, often called row covers, on hand. These covers are made from synthetic fibers or plastic in varying thicknesses. Lay row covers directly on plants, or create a tunnel by suspending them over a bed using stakes.
Turn On Lights – An incandescent light bulb generates sufficient heat to raise nearby air temperature enough to protect a plant from the deep freeze. Bulbs must be close to plants (within 2-3 feet) for this technique to work. (Fluorescent bulbs don't generate enough heat for this chore.)
Protect Individual Plants – Install hot caps – rigid plastic containers with venting holes – over individual seedlings at planting time. Hot caps act like cloches (mini greenhouses), but venting holes eliminate the daily chore of placing and removing the covering. Create the equivalent of a hot cap using plastic two-liter bottles or gallon jugs with bottoms cut off and lids removed (but saved). Replace lids at night when cold temperatures swoop through.
A twist on the hot cap idea is a Wall O'Water tepee, which encircles individual plants with a sleeve of water-filled tubes. The water absorbs the sun's heat during the day. At night, as the water slowly freezes, it releases the stored radiant heat of the sun, keeping air inside the tepee frost-free.
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Best Way To Cover And Keep Plants From Freezing
Home › Problems › Environmental Problems
Environmental Problems
By: Heather Rhoades
Image by travelview
Gardeners plant flowers, shrubs and trees that can survive in their garden during typical weather. But what can a gardener do when the weather is anything but typical? Unexpected freezes can devastate landscapes and gardens. They can leave a gardener wondering how to protect plants from freezing, and question what is the best way to cover and keep plants from freezing.
At What Temperature Do Plants Freeze?
When cold weather comes your way, your first thought will be at what temperature do plants freeze, in other words, how cold is too cold? There is no easy answer to this.
Different plants freeze and die at different temperatures. That is why they are given a hardiness rating. Some plants produce special hormones that keep them from freezing, and these plants have a lower hardiness rating (meaning they can survive colder weather) than plants who produce less of this hormone.
That being said, there are also different definitions of survival. A plant may lose all its foliage during a freeze, and some can regrow from the stems or even the roots. So, while the leaves cannot survive a certain temperature, other parts of the plant can.
How to Protect Plants from Freezing
If you are only expecting a light freeze, you may be able to protect plants in a freeze simply by covering them with a sheet or a blanket. This acts like insulation, keeping warm air from the ground around the plant. The warmth may be enough to keep a plant from freezing during a short cold snap.
For added protection when you protect plants in a freeze, you can place plastic over the sheets or blankets to help keep warmth in. Never cover a plant with just plastic, however, as the plastic will damage the plant. Make sure that a cloth barrier is between the plastic and the plant.
Be sure to remove the sheets and blanket and plastic first thing in the morning after an overnight cold snap. If you do not do so, condensation can build up and freeze again under the covering, which will damage the plant.
When protecting plants in a freeze that’s longer or deeper, you may have no choice but to expect to sacrifice all or part of the plant in hopes that the roots will survive. Start by heavily mulching the roots of the plant with either wood mulch or hay. For added protection, you can nestle gallon jugs of warm water into the mulch each night. This will help drive off some of the cold that can kill the roots.
If you have time before a freeze happens, you can also create insulation barriers around a plant as a way how to protect plants from freezing. Tie up the plant as neatly as possible. Drive stakes that are as tall as the plant into the ground around the plant. Wrap the stakes in burlap so that the plant appears to be fenced in. Stuff the inside of this fence with hay or leaves. Again, you can place milk jugs of warm water on the inside, at the base of this fence each night to help supplement the heat. A string of Christmas lights wrapped around the plant can also help add additional heat. As soon as the freeze passes, remove the covering so that the plant can get the sunlight it needs.
Watering the soil (not the leaves or stems of the plants) will also help the soil retain heat and can help the plant’s roots and lower branches survive.
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Effective methods of saving plants from recurrent frosts
With the approach of spring, all summer residents and gardeners begin preparations for the new sowing season. One of the main activities at this time is the preparation for return frosts. A sharp drop in temperature in May and early June is a common occurrence for Russian latitudes. The situation is dangerous because trees, shrubs, sown vegetables, planted flowers and berries can die from a cold snap. Heat-loving crops are especially affected. Consider how to protect plants from spring frosts. What to do to enjoy a rich harvest in the fall.
Which plants tolerate frosts more easily
Crop name | What low t withstand, about C |
Peas, legumes, celery, garlic, parsnips | Seedlings are able to survive a drop in air temperature and on the ground down to -5 without consequences. |
Raspberry bushes | Within 2-3 days, it will withstand the onslaught of frosts up to -3-4. On the third day, do something urgently. Otherwise, the bed cannot be saved. |
Strawberries and strawberries | You will be able to survive the temperature drop to -9 painlessly. |
Carrot, parsnip, parsley Radish, cabbage, horseradish Spinach, onion, rhubarb and sorrel | Able to withstand and not die when t drops to -5-6. |
Blackberry, raspberry | Rarely affected by frost attacks. Saves shrubs late flowering. |
Cold sensitive crops
- Early flowering stone fruit, especially planted in lowlands, away from water bodies. Also weakened and sick specimens, which are the first to be at risk.
- Apricots, apples, plums and cherries are considered cold sensitive. Also cherry, pear.
- Grapes, gooseberries and blueberries do not tolerate frost well.
- Easily freezes early planted seedlings of vegetable crops. These are eggplant, tomato and pepper grown from seeds.
- A sharp cold snap is detrimental to strawberries, strawberries, gourds. They begin to suffer from cold when the thermometer falls to -1 about S.
- Even if the berries grown from mustaches or seeds were strong, the consequences cannot be avoided. After freezing, the bushes stop growing, leave for a long time and painfully. But still, part of the crop can usually be saved. This is due to the fact that the culture has a fairly long flowering period. Even if the early flower buds suffer from the cold, fall off, after resuscitation, the plants will again throw out the flower stalks and delight with ripe berries.
- A number of heat-loving varieties of garden flowers also suffer from spring cold. Drop in air and soil t to -2 about C causes a halt in growth and development. As a result, even if the flowers do not die, flowering is still delayed by about 1.5-2 weeks.
- Perennial salvia and rose do not tolerate spring cold. Annuals dahlias, nasturtiums, chrysanthemums grown for seedlings from seeds of marigolds and zinnias. It is recommended not to rush to transfer them to the ground. It is better to wait until the threat of May frosts completely disappears.
Food for thought! The degree of susceptibility to sudden changes in temperature largely depends on what stage of blooming the buds are in. The ovaries withstand temperatures down to -1 o C. The buds fall already at a frost of -3 o C. Blossoming buds die at -3.3-3.5 o C. Blossoming buds darken and fall off if it gets colder to -2 o C. In the flowering stage, plants become the weakest, most susceptible. Fruits will not set if a fading tree, bush or flower had to survive a frost of up to -1.5 o C.
How to protect the beds from return frosts are no longer scary. However, it is not.
- First of all, there are regions in Russia where the spring is protracted and the years are short and do not come soon.
- Secondly, today the climate is changing rapidly. Even the southern regions are not immune from sudden changes in temperature, night cooling.
What is a return frost? This is when at night the temperature drops for a certain time, falling to 0 about C. Basically, such surprises occur at night or in the early morning, before sunrise.
How to protect the beds, especially those that are sensitive to cold? There is a set of measures that have proven useful and effective in practice:
Event | How to organize, conduct |
Mulching | Ideal for garden beds.
Mulching helps conserve heat by reducing soil heat transfer and increasing moisture above the soil surface. When to line? Best in the evening, after watering. For greater effect, a layer of agrofibre should be laid on top of the organic mulch carpet. Then the beds will not be afraid of any frost. |
Hilling | Mostly used for potatoes.
|
Covering materials | A simple and effective way to save almost any vegetable garden. It consists in creating a mini-greenhouse from special covering materials, any bottles, boxes and containers that are at hand.
Any type of shelter will reliably protect the beds from harmful contact with the outside world. Important! When constructing any protective devices, using covering materials and containers, try to keep them less in contact with the leaves, tops of plants. Therefore, mini-greenhouses are built for relatively tall seedlings, young bushes and trees.
Only use transparencies! Black and any dark ones will not let heat through to the roots of seedlings. |
Fertilizer spraying | Preparing potassium-phosphorus top dressing.
The resulting mixture is sprayed on trees, shrubs, flowers and other horticultural crops a day before the predicted frost. |
Root applications | Landings are watered at the roots with fertilizer solutions with a high content of potassium, phosphorus. Top dressing will help if they are applied 10-11 hours before the frost hits. |
Smoke | The easiest way, but has some peculiarities. The essence is as follows:
Smoke creates a curtain, an obstacle between the cold and plants, warms the air by several degrees. What are the features of the method? It will help with frosts not lower than -4 about C. This method of protection can cause indignation of the neighbors if the smoke is blown into their garden. |
Sprinkler or irrigation | The method is more convenient, more efficient than sprinkling, therefore it is considered quite popular. To do this, you need a hose with a nozzle for watering. Ideal if the site has a stationary irrigation system with sprinklers. What are they doing.
What does it do? The moisture that has fallen on the seedlings at minus begins to actively evaporate. As a result of active evaporation, the air around is warmed up, not allowing the cold to fall close to the ground, where the roots of the plants are. The method is effective, it saves even in cases where it gets colder to the mark of -5-7 about C. The main thing is to water a few hours before the cold snap. Otherwise, the moisture will begin to evaporate early, all efforts will be nullified. |
Heavy or wet irrigation | The method is applicable to all plants, for example, seedlings from vegetable seeds, young and mature berries, etc. But it is especially effective for shrubs and trees.
The protection method works similarly to the previous one. Moisture begins to evaporate, warms the air and prevents plantings from freezing. |
Green manures | Green manure seeds are sown in advance between rows, in areas where vegetables, flowers, berries, any heat-loving varieties are planted. Green manure with a living wall will protect plantings from extreme temperatures. After, when warm weather sets in, they are cut off, leaving between the rows like mulch. |
Landing planning |
|
Weatherman himself
It's good to be interested in the weather forecast, but we all know that meteorologists often make mistakes. Not because they are incompetent. It's just that often they give out data not for a single region or city, but in general, for the region. That is why the weather varies so much in individual places located in the same region. What to do? Learn on your own, determine what the weather will be like in the coming days. Become a weather forecaster and do everything to prevent freezing of plants.
Nature and folk wisdom will help
Sign, natural phenomenon | What will happen (probable course of events) |
Early spring, warm first half of the season | In May, the threat of cooling is great. Moreover, a significant drop in temperature is likely to occur closer to the end of May, beginning of June. |
Early spring, warm | Expect return frosts May 1-5, 15-20. In addition to freezing of the soil, wet snow is possible. |
Warm during the day, cold in the evening | Wait for cold weather if a sharp drop in temperature occurs against the background of such factors:
The probability is especially high if at 19:00-20:00 the temperature begins to drop sharply, and by 21:00 the thermometer already shows +3-4 about C. |
Moon yellow like a head of cheese | Expect frost in the air and on the ground. |
Sparrows sit silently, ruffled and hiding their tails. | High chance of rain with sleet. The cold will come soon. |
The weather is cloudy, but it clears up closer to the night | Cooling will be for sure. |
The fish does not bite and goes to the depth | A sharp cold will come in a day. |
The frogs have stopped croaking, they are silent | There will be a cold snap, frosts on the ground. |
Water lilies on ponds raised leaves | No more cooling. You can start planting heat-loving crops, sowing seeds of flowers and vegetables in open ground. |
Viburnum blossoms in a riotous color | The threat has passed. There will be no more cold snaps and frosts. |
Red willow blossoms | The earth is ripe, there will be no sharp drops in temperature. It's time to go to the field, sow the soil. |
Willow and aspen blossomed | It's time to plant carrot seeds in the garden. At the same time it is already possible to sow:
|
Maple blossoms | It's time to plant the beet seeds. |
Lilac and rowan blossoms | It's time to sow cucumber seeds outdoors. Plant seedlings:
|
It's time for cherry plum, cherry and blackthorn to blossom | Time to sow corn seeds outdoors. |
The cuckoo has flown in and is calling | Heat-loving crops can be sown outdoors. |
Oak blossomed | It's time to sow peas. |
Three frosts in May | When bird cherry blossoms, when apricot blossoms, the temperature drops especially when oak blossoms. |
This is interesting! The people noticed. If March is dry, April is damp, and May is cold, expect a rich harvest in autumn.
Calculations help predict the weather
In one of the issues of the magazine "Country Secrets" a note was published by our compatriot, an experienced gardener Yu. M. Alekseev. Based on personal experience, he told how you can determine whether there will be frost in May.
- To do this, you need an ordinary outdoor thermometer, which is hung out in a shady place where the sun hardly gets.
- To predict changes in the weather, you need to fix the thermometer readings at 13:00 (afternoon) and at 21:00 (evening).
- After you need to find the difference between the received numbers.
- Check the final number with the data given in the table.
- Thus, to find out how likely the threat of the return of frost.
Factors affecting forecast accuracy
Forecast accuracy depends on a number of weather factors. They focus on changes that occur mainly in the evening or at night. What factors indicate that there will be no cooling, even if the thermometer shows otherwise:
- The wind increased, became gusty and cold.
- Cloudiness has sharply increased.
- Clouds of fog came out of nowhere.
- Dew fell on the grass and leaves of the trees.
Good to know! In cities, on hills covered with vegetation, the ambient temperature is usually 2-3 o higher than in hilly areas and in lowlands.
If the seedlings and seedlings are still frozen
Unfortunately, not all crops will be able to survive the cold snap. Even strong plants sometimes cannot stand frost and freeze slightly. What to do in this case? Is it possible to somehow revive the garden and vegetable garden?
- Seedlings, frozen trees and shrubs should be covered with hay, straw or rags. They will warm up, slowly thaw. There is hope that they will fully recover.
- Frozen seedlings and crops will help save the following method. In the morning, before sunrise, spray the damaged plants with a solution, where 2 g of boron, potassium permanganate and copper were thrown into 10 liters of water. Spray completely every bush! The water should be cold, not warm.
- Experienced gardeners advise to fluff up frost-bitten beds, water the root zone of damaged plants with a weak solution of complex fertilizers. This method is good for grapes. And the tomatoes will help, albeit partially. Frozen tops are unlikely to come to life, but with 100% certainty we can say that powerful side shoots will grow.
- Wait a day after the frost, then water the bed with tomatoes and cabbage with water at room temperature. How much to pour? Under each bush 1 liter. Before watering, it is recommended to trim the damaged tops and leaves to a healthy, undamaged tissue.
- One day after watering, spray frozen seedlings with any growth activator. Suitable Kornevin, Epin, Epin-extra, Heteroauxin or analogues. Prepare the spray mixture strictly according to the instructions on the package. How much will be needed? Based on the calculation of 75-100 ml for each bush. The same solution is recommended to water the soil near the plants. Pour about 175-200 ml under each seedling.
- After 3-4 days, it is recommended to fertilize with 10 liters of water, where 1 tbsp. l. urea.
- After about a week, 8-9 days, feed the affected crops with a top dressing with a high content of potassium. The solution is prepared based on 10 liters of water 1 tbsp. l. fertilizers. Under each bush, approximately 175-200 ml is poured.
- If frosts have affected potato seedlings, it is also worth trimming the tops and leaves to living tissue. Then spray each bush with a growth stimulator. In parallel with this, reinforce the seedlings with nitrogen fertilizers. To do this, prepare a solution of 10 liters of water and 20 g of ammonium nitrate. Pour 150-180 ml under each bush.
How to reanimate seedlings of vegetable crops
Here is how experienced gardeners recommend reviving seedlings of vegetable crops beaten by the May cold snap:
Comprehensive treatment, sanitary pruning will revive frozen seedlings. Solutions of stimulants and dressings will strengthen and help you recover faster from the stress experienced.
Good to know! Antidepressants will not help resuscitate peppers and eggplants. Cultures are capricious, hypersensitive to any stress, temperature extremes, and especially frost.
Each climatic zone of our country has temperature peculiarities. It is difficult to say which of the above methods will meet expectations. It will be the most effective and will help protect or reanimate damaged seedlings. You will have to choose. There is consolation in the fact that if forewarned, then forearmed. You should not despair. Take our advice into service and do not hesitate, the harvest will be saved!
Protection of plants from frosts in spring
A sharp cold snap in spring does not bode well - a drop in temperature is detrimental to heat-loving crops. Protecting the garden from frost is an essential step in maintaining the viability of plants. Do you know how to save plantings?
Spring weather is deceptive - today the warm sun is shining, and tomorrow - the earth is again bound in chains of cold. That is why you should not relax during this period - follow the signals of mother nature.
Which crops need protection?
Not all plants are afraid of frost. Parsley, carrots, celery, spinach, dill easily tolerate temperatures down to -5 ° C - you don’t have to worry about them. But most of the garden and garden crops react negatively to a sharp cold snap. These include:
- cherry, cherry, plum, apricot, peach;
- blueberries, gooseberries, strawberries, strawberries, grapes;
- tomato, pepper, eggplant;
- gourds;
- annual flowers - dahlias, chrysanthemums, marigolds, kobeya, zinnia.
The level of susceptibility to frost depends on the stage of development. The ovaries painlessly tolerate cold snaps down to -1 ° C, buds - up to -2 ° C, blossoming buds - up to -3.3 ° C.
How to protect the garden from frost - we develop observation skills
Forecasts of weather forecasters often do not correspond to reality - observation and knowledge of folk signs will help protect plantings from frost in a timely manner.
- If it is cloudy during the day, and in the evening it is quiet, cloudless and windless, then expect a cold snap.
- The frogs stopped singing "songs" - a warning about imminent frosts on the ground.
- The fish went deep - it will be very cold tomorrow.
- Sparrows fluffed up and hid their tails - it will rain with snow.
- The moon has turned dark yellow - there is a high probability of a sharp drop in temperature.
- Early spring is a sure sign of late return frosts, which are the most dangerous for horticultural crops.
Have you noticed dew on the grass, puffs of fog that appeared out of nowhere, flowering of viburnum or red willow? Wonderful! This means that there is a high probability that there will be no frost, even if weather forecasts promise the opposite.
Protecting plants from frost - effective methods
There are many ways to protect plantings from recurrent frosts. Consider the most effective.
Mulching
Helps retain valuable heat by maintaining moisture and reducing soil heat transfer. As a heat-saving mulch, use compost, straw, dry grass, sawdust, pine needles. To improve the result, lay agrofibre over the mulch layer - plants will be completely safe under the double “blanket”.
Smoke
The essence of this simple and very popular method is to create a smoke screen that warms the air. Bonfires 0.7 high and 1.5 m in diameter consist of several layers. The lower layer is formed from well-smoldering materials - straw, dry branches, paper, the upper one - from wet sawdust, rotted leaves, fresh grass, tops.
The resulting hill is covered with earth, not forgetting to provide a hole in the center for smoke to escape. This method of protecting the garden from frost has one big disadvantage - the neighbors do not like it.
Irrigation
The most effective way to fight frost. Abundant watering from a hose with a spray is especially useful for fruit trees and berry bushes.
When the water freezes, it evaporates and releases heat, which helps the plants survive the difficult period for them. The best time for sprinkling is late at night, because severe frosts occur before dawn. Ideally, you need to do the procedure twice a night. The operation, known as “Ice Shell”, saves plantings from temperatures as low as -7 °C.
Fertilizing
Foliar application is a proven method of protecting plants from frost. For spraying, a phosphorus-potassium solution is prepared - 75 g of superphosphate is dissolved in 1.5 liters of water, infused for 4 hours, 15 liters of water are added and 25 g of potassium nitrate are added.
Epin Extra proved to be excellent, which protects against frost and restores damaged plants. Fertilizers should be applied at least 10 hours before frost.
Construction of shelters
A mini-greenhouse will save crops from sudden cold weather. For the manufacture of the frame, wire or thin pipes are used, for shelter - film, spunbond, burlap, cotton fabric.
Seedlings can be hidden in cozy houses made of plastic buckets or bottles. By and large, anything is suitable for creating a protective cap - cardboard boxes, paper bags, disposable cups, glass jars.
How to revive plants?
What if the frost protection didn't work and the plants got frozen? Start resuscitation immediately!
- Cover frozen bushes with rags or hay. It is possible that they will warm up and recover.
- Pour frostbitten garden plantings with complex fertilizers - there is still hope for survival.
- Spray plants with Heteroauxin, Kornevin or any other stimulant the day after frost.
- Potatoes can be saved by cutting off the top tissue, followed by spraying with a growth promoter and applying nitrogen.
- Tomatoes and cabbage are well affected by watering with warm water at the rate of 1 liter per bush.