Frost protection

[jmsieglaff]

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Good luck to all battling frost and freeze tonight! See you on the daylight side!

I’ve done what I can, now I’ll hope for the best. Thoughts are:
-Foil above leaves around the cage top to reflect heat coming up from the ground
-Towels around cages to retain heat and keep wind out
-Drop cloths and sheets hopefully act like a tree canopy to reflect additional heat

All in an effort to hopefully gain 2-5F above what nature yields tonight.

[MissS]

They look to be well tucked in for the night! Good job!

I was also laughing to myself and thought that we could get out our families winter jackets and put them over the tomato cages. The gardens would look like little people were out there all night. I bet that it would work too.

[pepperhead212]

I hope everyone's plants are making out in these late cold spells!

[MissS]

Everything is fine here even though it got down there. Today looks like a beautiful sunny day but on the chilly side.

[jmsieglaff]

37.8F on my wx station! The winds stayed up just a touch, Madison, about 14 miles from our house was 33F, I imagine around the airport they had frost. Everything is uncovered and looking great!

[brownrexx]

Record breaking cold here too but only down into the upper 40's so no frost risk.

[MissS]

Well after all of that, I had frost last night. It wasn't bad but it still happened. I will have to wait a couple of hours to see just how much damage was done but hopefully it wont be too bad. This one caught me un-prepared and so nothing was protected.

[bower]

We had a frosty night here last week and the greenhouse temperature went to 40 F. Nothing was covered, and there was no harm or sign of stress except that the new shoots near the top of the plants turned purple the following day. But they're still good.
Those plants had been transplanted 5 or 6 days before so they weren't having transplant stress at the same time.
Patti I sure hope there was no frost around your tomato patch!

[jmsieglaff]

Well after all of that, I had frost last night. It wasn't bad but it still happened. I will have to wait a couple of hours to see just how much damage was done but hopefully it wont be too bad. This one caught me un-prepared and so nothing was protected.

Last night ended up colder by me too! A good 4-5F colder than expected. I think we stayed just warm enough that it was dew, at least no frost when I got up at 715am. A quick walk around the garden in the wet grass and at this point all looks ok. At least this is the end of this cold.

Patti I really hope your garden comes out ok!

[brownrexx]

Record breaking cold temperatures here too but not as low as some of you. It was 49° and raining today. We are wearing jackets again!

[MissS]

Well that was a close call for sure. I have some blackened leaves on the tops of some plants but the main growing stems seem okay. I lost a few annuals for my flower gardens. Oh well. They say not to plant here before Memorial Day. I have never followed that gardening rule. I don't intend to start now either.

[jmsieglaff]

I’m glad to hear disaster was averted at least. I agree with you, waiting til Memorial Day is like waiting for a 1 in 25 or 30 year event which doesn’t seem worthwhile.

[JRinPA]

I use cut down black culvert. Anywhere from 8" to 2' in diameter. Cut to what height you need. Always use at plant out and can stay in place for weeks. Cap it with a piece of card board and a brick for frost protection. This is the hard tile not flexible black tubing. Lasts forever but difficult to store unless you have space. Cut it with a saws all or for a ragged cut use a chain saw. Will fit inside most cages.

Sorry OP no advice on the frost protection but [mention]bjbebs[/mention] ....Cut that black culvert in halves axially and they should stack pretty neatly. Put them back together each spring with...two big rubberbands, or two strings, or some 20 lb mono, or a wood connector on each side (two bits of wood and 4 screws for each pipe)...something ought to work, and would store much smaller.

[Salaam]

We had two nights of mild dry frost here. I thought pre-watering was a good idea from what I read all over the internet. So I watered everything quite well a few hours before the frost. But now am I reading that that's not a good idea? Or is it watering during the frost that is not a good idea?

Anyway my plans at least the tomatoes where not harmed much. The basil seems to have taken the hardest hit but none of them have been killed - just some injury.

[JRinPA]

Record breaking cold? Here? I'm seeing June record lows of 38F and July record lows of 41F. So I don't quite understand how 49F in May can be any kind of record breaking temp. It's been beautiful out the last few days!

Salaam, if what you did worked, stick with it. Experience is the best teacher.

[pepperhead212]

A lot of record cold temps all over this area again, and what they are referring to is the lowest high temperatures for the date. Only got to 54° here again, for second day in a row. It only got down to 51° here last night, maybe a couple degrees cooler tonight. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be getting much warmer, and warmer as the week goes on.

Again, hopefully you all have protected your plants enough to survive the cold.

[brownrexx]

Yes [mention]JRinPA[/mention] as [mention]pepperhead212[/mention] said, it is the record cold for THAT DAY, not the entire season. I don't know what the record was exactly but it was darn cold feeling yesterday morning. The thermometer in our truck showed 48° and it was raining lightly. Miserable.

Expecting 71° as a high today and the sun is shining so it's a big improvement and I am planning on doing some work outside.

[JRinPA]

Okay, I guess it was record cold and hot every day this year in my shed. I just put a thermometer in there this March.