How to Protect your Garden From Freezing Temperatures
Frost damages plants by causing ice crystals in winters, it forms in the cells of the plants. This causes water deficiency in plant tissues and disrupts the movement of fluids. Frost-damaged leaves appear water-soaked, wilt and turn dark brown or black.
Plants should be classified according to the minimum temperatures they usually tolerate. “Hardy” plants take some amount of short-term freezing, while “tender” plants are killed or injured by freezing temperatures. Citrus, avocados, bougainvillea, fuchsias, and succulents are among the tender plants. If you are in an area prone to frost or freezing, read this article and learn the hardiness of various species.
At What Temperature Do Plants Freeze?
When cold weather comes, your first thought will be at what temperature clotting plants, in other words, how cold is it too cold? There is no easy answer for this. Different plants freeze and die at different temperatures. That’s why they are ranked violence. Some plants produce special hormones that make them not freeze, and this plant has a lower rating of violence (meaning they can survive in cooler weather) than plants that produce fewer hormones. Who is saying, there are also different definitions of survival. A plant can lose all leaves during freezing, and some can grow back from the stem or even the roots. So, while the leaves cannot survive at certain temperatures, other parts of the plant can.
Harden Off Seedlings
Before setting seeds, adjust it to the independent nature by gradually describing it to the conditions outside. This process, called hardening, will help you grow stronger plants that are more likely to hold the early spring vicisitudes.
Start the hardening process about 14 days before the transplant. When the weather is light and above 45 ° F, place the seeds outside during the day with a warm and shady place that is protected from the wind. At night, take them in the room.
Cover Plants Before Nightfall
If you will cover your plants before the hard frost, do it before dusk. If you wait until the darkness falls, most of the heat stored in your garden will be lost.
Whatever type of cover you use, make sure it extends to the ground on each side. Don’t leave openings for warmth to escape. If you can, it is also recommended to use shares to maintain material, especially plastic, from touching leaves. Don’t affix or collect your cover into luggage, because this will prevent heat from extinguishing out of the ground to reach the plant. (See the diagram below for the right cover.)
In the morning, after the frost has disbursed, release the cover. Failure to do so can cause plants to damage dormancy and begin to grow actively again, which will make it more susceptible to damage to ice in the future.
It is also important to remember that the cover does not have to be complicated or expensive to work. While a stick with newspapers, cardboard, or sheets and towels on it will be fine. If you don’t have a stick, place the cover directly onto your plants. This will also prevent loss of heat.
Be sure to put your cover completely over your plants and let them hang to the ground – Don’t tie the cover into the trunk, if it’s not hot that radiates out of the ground it won’t be able to warm your plants.
Protect plants with Cloches
Strictly, Cloches is a removable glass or plastic cover that protects plants from cold. Sometimes called bells or jars, most fitting on individual plants, but some are large enough to close the line. Like other cover, klokes must be placed on the plants before sunset and released in the morning after the frost has been disbursed.
Very ornament glass cloches. When you don’t use it outside for frost protection, you can use it in the room on ornamental land full of moisture like violet.
You can also use plastic cloches, which are generally cheaper than glass. But because they are light, they must be at stake to the ground to prevent them from blowing strong winds.
Warm Plants With Water Jugs
Fill in the plastic milk jug with water and place it in the sun, allowing them to absorb heat during the day. Before dusk, set the jug around your plants and throw their cover. Water in the jug will lose heat slower than land and air, and the warmth emitted will help protect your plants from cold.
Bring potted pots inside
When the frozen dew is estimated, wait until dusk and move your potted plants and the hanging baskets in the room.
Plants located in the container are more susceptible to ice damage because they will not benefit at all from the power of earth isolation, such as plants on the ground. Plant pots are far more susceptible to root damage in cooler temperatures.
Choose a place that is not too warm – because the sudden change of temperature can surprise plants – like a place in your Metal Garages, Carports, warehouse, or basement.
Check the plants thoroughly for pests and diseases before taking it into your home. Save isolated plants from your ornamental plants to prevent the potential spread of insects.
Bring Potted Plants Indoors
When Frost is predicted, bring the planter and the hanging basket inside. The root of the pot plant has fluctuations in temperature that are more severe than it is planted on the ground. They will reach lower temperatures too. That’s why potted plants are very susceptible to root damage due to cold. This can cause its roots – especially those near the edge of the pot – to change the sepon and black. Although root damage may not kill plants, it will damage its growth.
Make sure when you bring potted pots in it so they don’t have insects or pests on them and now don’t suffer any disease. It not only has the potential to worsen the problem, but can also infect your other plants.
If you choose to cover the hanging basket rather than carrying it in, place it on the ground first, and then place the top cover of the basket to utilize the relative warmth of the soil.
Add the mulch layer
Mulch is a miracle-worker park every time of the year and an important part of winter care. Think of mulch like a blanket that protects the garden during the winter months. The general winter problem is lifting or lifting land caused by the frozen cycle. Land raising literally can push shallow rooted plants such as Heuchherella and Gaillardia out of the ground, exposing a soft crown and the roots to freeze the temperature. Mulch helps keep the ground cool, prevent a disturbing cycle of freezing. Mulch also helps maintain soil moisture and provide isolation for a little hardy plant.
Apply a thick 3 to 5-inch mulch layer after the first hard freezing. No need to buy wood mulch for winter applications. Light materials such as chopped leaves and pine straws are ideal because they are not compact.
Wrap Fruit Trees
If you plant a fruit tree, make sure to wrap the stem in the fall with a burlap strip or tree wrap. Most fruit trees have thin barks that are susceptible to separation when the temperature fluctuates dramatically. The tree wrap will prevent this separation, known as frozen cracking.
Often it is a good idea to use several layers of cloth or weatherproof paper, while still making a slightly loose wrapper. This provides more effective isolation. You also have to extend the wrapper to the ground and at least as high as the lower limb or branch. (See the diagram below for the right technique.)
Container Plants in Winter
Some plants can winter in containers without problems while others need protection. When we choose plants for the garden, we use the USDA winter rating for choosing plants that can tolerate our winter temperature. The rating of cold violence assumes plants spending winter tucked safely on the ground, where the temperature remains between 35 to 45 degrees F. Without extra insulation land provided, many container plants cannot survive from winter.
A good practical rule is to consider climate containers into two cooler hardiness zones than your local climate. If you live in zone 7, for example, then the container factory must be Hardy to Zone 5 to survive winter in a container. Consider carrying container plants indoors or winter in shielded locations if they cannot tolerate cold. Often, just covering plants on the coldest night are enough to get it through winter.
Succulents need special care
While some succulents like Stonecrops are very cold, others are quite sensitive. If the temperature is often pipe led under frozen in your micro, you might want to keep your succulents in the pot so you can move it in the room or to the location protected under the roof of the house, deck or tree. Is your succulent in the pot or on the ground, try to save it on the dry side. When the cells of plump plants with water, they are more likely to explode if the water freezes. Don’t let go of the damaged leaves unless they start rotting. Leaving them in a place to protect lower leaves.
