Frosted :(

[kenny_j]

We had frost here in SE Michigan, my plants were in the garage. Going out Monday. I made the rounds to a few neighbors that got plants from me to see if they needed replacements. The frost was hard on the windshield and I was sure I would find withered plants, but both neighbors plants looked fine. Surprised me!!!

[kevn357]

Wow, thanks for the support everyone! I actually lucked out a bit. I made this post at midnight last night when I found thick frost on my car. I figured it would only get colder, which it did. It was 32* when I woke up. When I went into the garden and pulled the sheets off my plants this morning, I was pleasantly surprised. I lost a few but not as bad as I was expecting. Most have just light damage so far. Amazingly, the plants that I didn't even cover (ran out of sheets) did better than the covered ones.

A few miles south of here was just wiped out. I feel bad for all those farmers. I was saved by being close to Lake Erie which kept it just warm enough to salvage 75% of my plants.

Luckily, I had many extra plants in 3 inch paper pots that I was giving away to family and friends and selling on craigslist for a $1 that I used to replant. The frost killed about 50% of those but I had just enough. I'm quite relieved...

[Sun City Linda]

Great news Kevin! BTW when you cover plants with sheets and stuff, try to avoid having the sheet touch the leaves as it will transmit the cold.

[guitar1580]

I've heard that misting the plants with water before a frost will help ... not if the temperature gets all the way down to freezing. I don't really see how it could help, but I heard or read it somewhere. Does anyone know if there is any truth to that?

JT

[lycomania]

Nice to hear that it didn't turn out as bad as it could have. I'm very glad for you!

[kevn357]

Originally Posted by Sun City Linda

Great news Kevin! BTW when you cover plants with sheets and stuff, try to avoid having the sheet touch the leaves as it will transmit the cold.

Lesson learned! It was a spur of the moment/panic situation.
Btw, yesterday set a record low by two degrees in our area. We have a frost advisory again tonight but I think this one is just to play it safe since yesterdays frost/freeze wasn't forcasted until the last minute.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by guitar1580

I've heard that misting the plants with water before a frost will help ... not if the temperature gets all the way down to freezing. I don't really see how it could help, but I heard or read it somewhere. Does anyone know if there is any truth to that?

JT

Yes, it's true and I think it's only large scale farmers who do it, not so much home gardeners.

The idea is that the water freezes on the leaves but then melts and heat is produced when that happens, protecting the foliage. I know it's also done with strawberries.

It's called ice nucleation as I recall if you want to Google it.

Many decades ao when I was still a kid growing up on the farm we used to get up early when frost was expected and burn tires so that the soot would cover the tomato leaves and serve as a point for ice nucleation although at the time no words such as ice nucleation were used.

Carolyn

[COMPOSTER]

Originally Posted by bughunter99

Wait if the soil is saturated. If some spots have drained, Plant some, hold some. Plant in the warmest spots and cover with row cover day and night to keep the warmth in.)

Thanks, good advice. I was following Durgan's thread on wood chip mulch and yesterday instead of planting I picked some up that was left on the street by the utility company and used it to mulch my blueberry patch. And although the sun is out today and the temps are mid 50s we are having 30 mph wind gusts. So, I decided to let the soil dry out and hopefully warm up. I don't have row covers yet. Instaed of planting I spent the morning building my major spring compost pile. The weather might not be cooperating but at least I was able to be productive. Always something to do. I'm hoping to be able to plant Memorial day.

Glenn

[feldon30]

kevn,

Sorry I didn't catch that you'd covered your plants. Bravo!

[SharonRossy]

I can completely identify with the frustration. My plants have been in and out of the house so many times I think they're confused. Mine are in 4" pots and I think they will be fine. I can't plant before the weekend if then. Our daytime temps have been around 45-50 deg with rain, rain and more rain. The sun is finally out but it's cool. I would definitely wait, although I know what you mean about the stress. I've been keeping the grow lights on. The hard lesson is that I won't start to harden off too early. We got fooled in early May with extremely warm weather, which I should have known was not going to last!
Sharon