Sharon-that's too bad. Do you know how cold it got? Its strange because the thermometer said below freexing but nothing froze even the stuff that wasn't covered?? We do have a lot of moisture in the ground do to the recent rain.
I still have my tent city I don't want to risk it, well also I was too lazy to take down all the blankets, sheets and sleeping bags.
frost
if you are in a protected spot you wont always see the frost in the cold, or if the dew didnt rise and humidity is lo, well watered plants survive far better than dry plants, and snow is a blanket as well-if it doesnt get too deep for too long.
Haven't got to snow yet. We had it 3x last year and we don't usually get it at all. I hate feeding the livestock in the snow. These plants are in a protected area but I was surprised when I went down to the main garden and the peppers looked fine,
the Eggplant was a little burned but not bad.
I live in a low lying area with hills all around and the frost just seems to pass over my neighbors 1/2 mile away up the hill and settle here. One good thing about that is sometimes when we have high winds it is worse on the hills.
Sharon-We also get 10* colder here then in town. That's why I'm really surprised that I didn't lose anything. The main garden is at the lowest point but I think all the moisture in the ground has helped.
I did a experiment once when frost was forecast. The was experiment because I took a long nap the previous afternoon and the plants were gonna die. I got up and out at 5am before the frost settled and sprayed water on the plants. It was dark so I missed some plants. The ones I missed with the sprinkler got bit by Mr. Frosty. The ones I sprayed water on made it without any damage. The one and only time I did that. Spraying water at 5am at almost freezing temp almost froze me to death.
You were a brave man Larry, I don't think I could do it.
WildcatThicket, the organge growers in Florida do the same thing. It must work as it seems to be fairly labor intensive. I can't imagine the expense unless it added to the bottom line, or helped to save the bottom line!
They do the same thing in CA too. They also hire helicopters to fly around the Avocado/citrus groves to keep the air moving when there is a freeze. I'm sure its very expensive but in the area of CA I'm from, it didn't freeze very often.
The orange growers method is to prevent frost damage is why I tried it. I once saw a movie, in the early to mid 50s I am sure, that was about a family of Florida orange growers. They saved the crop and farm with spraying water on their orange trees to prevent a killing frost. Must have made an impression on me I have remembered the movie for 55 years at least.
It is a useful method to have in ones little bag of "gardening tricks"!
Its funny how we remember certain things from movies. I was just saying on another forum that I remembered that Oleander was poisonous from an old movie from the 40's. These little gardening tips and trick just pop up in the oddest places and I, for one, seem to remember those almost better than the info I pick up in all the gardening books on my shelf. Weird, hugh?
Interesting movies are fun, so you pay attention. When reading technical info sometimes the mind wanders. The big reason is that the young have more clean space to store data.
I don't have a bad memory, I just ran out of disk space.
This message was edited Nov 10, 2010 10:41 AM
yes, I always try to wet things down before a freeze..........the last 2 days have been magnificient here but we need some rain.......predicting some fro the weekend...I hate it when the frost gets everything early then we have 2 more months of frost free weather.....
Me too.
Thats why I do so much to keep my plants going. If it was going to be cold for a long time, like last year I wouldn't bother but when its cold for a couple days then nice for weeks I cant help but water them and cover them.
As far as I can remember this is the latest in the season I have ever had tomato, pepper and eggplants plants that didn't have at least some frost damage.
ooo I lost my tomatoes and the last of the peppers last week........we are having a cold front and rain supposed to come in later today. I haven't heard how cold. It is soo beautiful here in the woods right now, picture is looking out my back door.
What a lovely view! Thanks for the photo!
I am feeling so blessed with fall just now . I have to share a couple of pics from my kitchen window
and this one.......I just wish the camera could really show what I am seeing this morning
Makes me want to have an excuse to do dishes! =D
I love fall.......looking from my laptop at the kitchen table thru the lv windows...........thay's all my braagging, just wanted to share
