Hello, First let me say, what a great forum and the folks here in Texas are the best. I landscaped my backyard this summer and put in close to 40 plants. Now that winter is here at times in Houston, I need to cover some of them. I have heard of "freeze cloth" but can't seem to find any and don't have nearly enough sheets and blankets to even do the job. Can anyone point me in an economical direction.
Thanks, Mike
Freeze cloth
Garage sales, thrift shops, 2nd hand stores are all great sources for sheets, mattress pads, blankets etc. Use nothing plastic. I have never heard of freeze cloth but will follow this thread. Always willing to learn... pod
You have a d-mail!
floating row cover from any of the major gardening supply sites is what I use--much more lightweight and doesn't transfer the cold thru as easily--if you cna't locate it dmail me and I'll provide you some links.
Debbie
=)
I buy frost cloth (freeze cloth) by the yard from my local nursery. Debbie, I think it is called row cover also. It is especially nice because it permits the light to come through so that the plants can remain protected for quite a few days. You don't have to keep uncovering the plants and recovering them so that they can receive some sunlight in the daytime. I individually wrap many plants with it by cutting it to size and hold it together with clothespins. When I unwrap a plant, I use a marker to write on the cloth the name of the plant that I uncovered so that I can cover it again with the same piece of cloth. In this way, I don't have to keep measuring the cloth to fit the plant.
I place plants in containers on tall shelving that I have outside. Then, I tightly. wrap the cloth completely around the outside frame of the shelving and leave some that extends beyond the bottom of the shelving about a foot (so it can be secured with blocks of wood are bricks). I secure the cloth with sturdy spring clamps (stolen from my DH) makingsure that I fold the edges of the cloth where they meet together so no cold air can enter. When, I finish, it looks like a big present. The shelves become almost like a nonheated mini-greenhouse. In addition, I remove the shelves and support brackets from 2 shelving units and place them sideways on the ground. There is now a top rail right in the middle of the shelving (used to be the side rail). Then, I hang as many of my hanging baskets that will fit along the board. Under the hanging baskets (on the ground), I place other plants that are in containers. The, wrap it with the cloth. Nothing being protected on these shelves received freeze damage last year.
In the past, I have used large pillow cases to protect my hanging baskets. Just slip the pillow case up around the baskets and secure at the top.
This message was edited Dec 5, 2006 7:05 AM
Yeah Hazel--I knew it was the same thing its just that most of the nurseries and online sources refer/have it listed as floating row cover to go on those "hoop" things.
Sheets will transmit cold very easily.....
I just mentioned it was called row cover too because last year I went to the nursery to buy some more, called it freeeze cloth and she didn't know what I was talking about. I love the stuff.
I've also heard it referred to as Remay or something like that...probably a brand name. I got some on clearance at the local HEB (of course, that's about the only grocery store in S.A.) couple years back. It's come in handy. But I'm not sure exactly how many degrees cold it will protect against.
LindaTX8, I'm not sure about that either. It has handled temps into the middle 20s here when I applied it before it became really cold. The warmth stayed inside pretty well.
It handles temps a lot lower than sheets--I've done the two side by side to see if it was worth investing in.
Also the nice thing is its much better if you have to leave them covered for a couple of days due to leaving house in morning prior to warming temps and needing it a second night. Does not mash plants down, allows more light through. Heavy rains also don't "pond" up on it like sheets either. And if you are desperate in the summer for shade cloth for a newly planted plant for a few days it does double duty for that too. Its much more versatile overall and used by commercial growers down here that don't greenhouse.
I don't use it for an awful lot--just my "personnal" bulb collection of rare and unusual stuff.
Never thought about using it as shade cloth ... great idea. To protect small, tender plants in containers, I stick 3 or 4 wooden dowels around the plants and cut the dowels so that the top of the dowels are about 5 inches above the top of the plants. Then, I cut a piece of the cloth that is large enough to fit around the plants and the contaiiner. The container and plants are covered. Then, I fold the cover so that it fits tightly around the conatiner and secure it with clothespins. If the container has a thin enough lip and I am not worried about the plant roots freezing, I fit the cover around the bottom of the container's lip and attach clothespins to the lip. If I am worried about the plant's roots freezing, I cover the whole container and tightly secure the cover at the bottom of the container with string. Also, I stick dowels around small plants in the ground, cover them with the cloth, tigthtly fold or gather it at the bottom and secure the cloth at the bottom by attchiing it to the dowels with clothespins. Each plant that I cover this way kind of have their own unhaeted mini-greenhouse.
Good idea Hazel--and that can be left for several days unlike sheets. I am forever losing clothes pins around the yard in the winter.
Yep, clothespins are really handy. I wish they made them like they old ones were. They were much stronger and didn't pop off as easily.
You have that right Hazel!
I bought some at the grocery store last year and when I used them in the garden for a while, it became obvious that those really aren't made to last out in the weather and fell apart quickly. Anybody know where I can get some good ones...unlike those, which were essentially worthless?
Wholesale companies sell large amounts and cheaper. If you google it, you get many garden supply companies that sell it online in smaller amounts such as Gardens Alive, Planet Natural, A gardener's supply company, etc. (take your pick of your favorite--my favorite companies probably won't be your favorite companies--I tend to have an agenda and a criteria for businesses I spend money with)....also a lot of the seed companies also carry it in their garden supply sections; esp those that specialize in vegetables. I've had mine for years but I buy wholesale; and have not literally had to buy any for years.
Linda, the ones I bought at H.E.B. were the worst ones.
dmj1218, thanks for the info.
Yes, thanks, dmj! I'll check those out. The coons had a great time with those clothespins I had last time! The baby coons found out they came off and came apart very easily, so they became toys for them for a while. I'd find pieces of clothespins all over the yard. Well, I didn't buy them to amuse the wildlife out here!
Linda I feel your pain....I have a resident opossum that just loves to dig into the pots of my rarest bulbs; and if that's not enough, likes to walk the perimeter and scratch up a few Lycoris species (doesn't eat them, mind you--just digs and scatters them on occasion, so I'm quite convinced this is done simply to annoy me). I have to walk the yard every other day and check for damage. Row cover, on the other hand, it leaves alone.
dmj, I'm not finding clothespins on those sites. Maybe I'm not searching them right. But the kind you got wholesale...are those good, wooden ones? I can do wholesale if it's not over a hundred clothespins. And the bulb thing, the animals here do that also. Last fall I planted a few bulbs (think it was the red spider lily ones) and was going to plant the rest the next day. In the morning there was no sign at all of those bulbs, they had just dug them up! Maybe they ate them! The rest I planted in pots and put a cage made from wire fencing over them. Cages come in handy here!
This message was edited Dec 10, 2006 4:46 PM
I don't buy clothespins wholesale...row cover wholesale. I seldom use clothespins any more, I have another system I developed for when its really windy. It seldom freezes here when its really windy--it usually (nine times out of ten) has to be really still for it to freeze. Wind always keeps night time temps higher at night.
Nothing eats my bulbs--just occasionally scratches them up. And mainly only the Lycoris--and not the red ones, mainly just Lycoris traubii. And a few Herbertia and Cypella species, on occasion--and I think that's just because it smells the organic fertilizer underground. After the fertilizer has been "rained in" a few times, it no longer scratches.
I refuse to grow anything in cages anymore--it defeats to purpose of the plants being low care and easy, in my opinion. But I don't encounter roving bands of hungry deer in winter either.
Instead of clothespins I use binder clips. Probably more expensive than clothespins, but since I happen to have them anyway...