Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

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stevelau1911
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Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by stevelau1911 »

Based on the weather forecast, it is supposed to be 34F, 31F, and 36F for the next 3 nights so it's possible for record lows to be set. This is very unusual for mid May as we should be well past the last frost. The precautions I have taken is spraying all the sensitive plants with freeze pruf, and I also have plenty of tarps, as well as a roll of roof insulation for the most sensitive plants. Any of the pots can easily be moved indoors to avoid disaster.

Here's the link and maps.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-n ... t/12116272

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The most sensitive plants are the vegetables such as the luffas, melons, potatoes and and leafy vegetables. Those will definitely be protected with any risk of a frost. Indoor plants such as bananas, and tropical plants will also need to be moved indoors to avoid any risk of getting killed.

Next are the fruit trees. It will be helpful to wrap the trees in a layer of frost cloth, and spraying them down with water as a freeze can easily destroy small pears & apples.

Finally my bamboo shoots are likely safe for the most part, but an extended period of time below freezing can severely dwarf the shoots causing very compressed internodes, and reducing the height of the culms. This means I'll have to still tarp over the shoots with some frost cloth. It will suck for the people who have shoots that are already several feet high, and losing their sheaths as that is when they are the most vulnerable to cold damage.
Alan_L
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by Alan_L »

Steve, 31ºF is not going to hurt shoots unless they're super thin, protected or not. If it were getting down to 27ºF or so, I'd start worrying.

Of course their forecast could be a few degrees off, so better safe than sorry, right?
canadianplant
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by canadianplant »

Yeah, we got that dip. ITs been windy as hell, and cool, but nothing record breaking or crazy (cooler then i want). 0C for 2 nights then the warm up. I just wanna make sure my kiwi buds are ok.

Most fruit trees can take a few degrees of frost. I know apples can take around -4C. Someone posted me this and I think it may help a bit.

http://www.slant.com/MSUstages/
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by johnw »

The weather is crazy. The past few weeks have been warm for April and unusually dry, the ground was evncracked in the Valley last week. A few days ago it clouded over, the fog came in and last night we had to turn the heat on in the car - it was 8c and extremely raw. Then around 10pm thunder and lightening and successive waves of torrential rains until about 3am with rising temps. Now a rainfall warning for tonight for the coast - 2 or more inches. Temps steady in the 13c/low6 range for the foreseable future.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
stevelau1911
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by stevelau1911 »

I think the shoots will be fine, but I still covered up the most important shoot anyways because I don't want it to get dwarfed too much in height due to cold weather.

Here's one way I protect some of my luffas. This stuff has an R value of 19 so I hope it is enough to save them as these were started over a month ago and pampered very well. All the potted ones shouldn't mind being indoors for a couple days.

Before
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zxylene
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by zxylene »

My taller shoots I wraped in toilet paper I think this will help. I also used a large trash can to cover my bananas and five gallon buckets I have about 20 of the to cover many garden plants and some smaller boos. It makes it very easy and quick to protect many plants.
canadianplant
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by canadianplant »

So steve how low did it go last night there? We got down to -2C (nothing spectacular thank god)
stevelau1911
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by stevelau1911 »

It got down to around 3C just narrowly missing a frost here.
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by canadianplant »

Hey, that isnt too bad. You must be closer to the lake I guess? Glad it didnt get too cold for both of us. Winnipeg was -10C yesterday morning, and sault ste marie had snow and a high of 0C...
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by zxylene »

Ph. glauca 'Yunzhu' shoots wrapped for frost :) TP. This is what I did last night we did not get any frost yet but will this work? :)
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wrap bamboo by zxylene, on Flickr
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by JWH »

zxylene wrote:Ph. glauca 'Yunzhu' shoots wrapped for frost :) TP. This is what I did last night we did not get any frost yet but will this work? :)
Only if it's Charmin Extra Soft 2-Ply....sorry couldn't resist. :P

I really have no idea about TP's insulation qualities, but it couldn't hurt right?
stevelau1911
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by stevelau1911 »

I've never tried toilet paper, but I have heard that cardboard insulates very well.

I usually use bubble wrap for those kinds of applications and perhaps a stake to prevent the shoot form snapping in that situation. For my moso bicolor shoots, all I did was place water jugs all around them, and nursery pots over them as they are still relatively short.

After measuring them up, they made almost no growth at all today as it hasn't gotten out of the 40s. It should get back up to 60F tomorrow so it should be OK to uncover everything once it warms back up. Hopefully that is the last of the really cold weather, but it looks like the forecast is calling for near freezing temperatures again later next week.
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by zxylene »

JWH wrote: Only if it's Charmin Extra Soft 2-Ply....sorry couldn't resist. :P
It is actually quilted northern ultra soft 3 ply :). that extra ply should increase the insulation value by 50%. I really think it will work I kind of hope we get frost just to know.
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by stevelau1911 »

We never got down to a freeze, but there was a frost on Monday night with a low of 32F. I didn't see anything get damaged since the tender plants were well protected.

The soil temperature did however drop back down into the lower 40s which seems to be halting the growth of any shoots. I think shoots should resume their growth by tomorrow since we did reach the upper 70s today.
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Re: Major freeze and record lows expected on Monday night

Post by JWH »

Glad to hear that it wasn't too cold. Hopefully thats the last of the cold weather for you all in the east.

Except for Canadianplant; Who I'm sure will have summer snow pictures to post! :P (Yes, thats a joke!)
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