Frost Warning

[stella1751]

I use the tomato cages and fill them with leaves. We have all oak leaves so they are pretty large and will pile up in the cages without falling out. I covered some tomato plants last year in tomato cages that were pretty tall. Didn't lose any plants to the frost.

Ted

Ted, if I wet them to keep them from blowing away, will that compromise their insulating capabilities?

The forecast for tomorrow has been lowered to 43 for a high. I am seriously bummed. Generally this mini cold spell happens around June 8. We had such a cold, cold spring, I should have seen this coming. April was like March; May was like April; now June is like May.

I think if we get some cloud cover I'll be okay. Not.

[tedln]

Stella, It would probably work, but I've never tried it wet. I know citrus growers in Florida spray their trees and fruit with water when a hard freeze is starting. It seems the ice coating on the trees and fruit prevents damage. I don't know how it works, but it does.

Ted

[stella1751]

I think I'll try it for my pole beans. They're only 2" tall right now, so a leaf mulch can be easily done. I could also overturn seedling pots on them before mulching them.

Tonight's low will be 39. It looks like Sunday night will be the killer night, with a forecast low of 37. It could be worse. Western Wyoming is forecast to get snow this weekend, lots of it.

I found a way of coping with the pre-freeze depression, though: I went to weatherbug.com. The forecast there is for three degrees higher than that made by weather.com and the local meteorologists

[JONA878]

Stella, It would probably work, but I've never tried it wet. I know citrus growers in Florida spray their trees and fruit with water when a hard freeze is starting. It seems the ice coating on the trees and fruit prevents damage. I don't know how it works, but it does.

Ted

This system of fruit protection works well Ted but there are some big snags.
We use this method on our orchards and there are a few basic things you have to do.
First is the water must be applied continually all the time the temp is below freezing point.
This must be a steady spray of at least a rate of an 8th of an inch per hour.
It works by the water giving up its latent heat as it freezes. This keeps the new ice that is forming at a constant zero temperature...as fruit is seldom damaged until the temp reaches -2c the bud will tolerate this.
The whole tree becomes incased in ice and is a beautiful sight in the morning.
It is essencial that the spray is constant....any break will allow the temp to drop drastically and will cause more damage than ever.

If you are protecting a supported crop be aware of the weight of the forming ice.
We made the mistake of trying to protect a rasp plantation one year.
The weight of the ice on the wire support structure brought the whole darn lot down.

It does use a huge quantity of water. On an all night run we use over 1 million gallons over 40 acres.
Essential then that the drainage is in good order or you finish with a bog.

Would be interesting to see it tried in a garden ...but I haven't had the nerve to risk my veg on it yet.

[tedln]

Thanks Jone,

Now I know how it works. It may not be worth the effort on a small garden plot. That much water over an extended period of time in a setting where you buy your water can be expensive also.

I also had to do a google search to find out what a "rasp" is. I love raspberries. I always learn a lot when I do a google search. Now I am setting here scratching my head wondering how Russia grows 26% percent of the worlds rasps, the United States, only 13% and the United Kingdon 2%. Seems like the numbers should be reversed.

Ted

[supagirl277]

I almost had a frost warning too! My peas are prbly going to love the cooler weather since I planted them a little late. I hope none of my plants decide they don't like the cold soil. My spinach is growing nicely tho, so I guess its good for some of them. As long as it heats up soon I think it'll be fine.

[stella1751]

Jona, that's really interesting about the water releasing latent heat that keeps the plants from freezing, even thought the water itself freezes. I had no idea of how much practical science I would learn by joining a garden forum.

I know just what you mean when you say how beautiful it is the next morning. When I was living in Sioux Falls, SD, we'd get a freezing rain that would coat everything: Plants, trees, vehicles, fenceposts. In the morning, when the sun came out, the landscape sparkled like it was coated in diamonds. It really took your breath away; it was that beautiful!

Supagirl, I'm glad your frost warning didn't kill. I keep thinking peas. Even if it's a bad, bad freeze tonight, there are always peas!

We've had lots and lots of rain with our cold spell, all of our June allotment and much of July's, and I swear my radishes, just the foliage, of course, have grown six inchres in two days. Yeah, they're bolting, the turkeys! Oh, well. They'll work very nicely on top of one of my compost heaps