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storage Late Freeze

We're going to have a late freeze this weekend, may even have a new record low on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I've moved most of my peppers back inside, and what's not inside is in the cold frame until Saturday, when they'll come back inside, too. The tomatoes are packed in the cold frame, and I'll put a light with an incandescent bulb in with them for the next 4 nights. On the coldest two nights I'll cover the cold frames with old comforters, as well.


I don't have room in the cold frame for all the flowers and blueberries and figs and stuff, though, and they're too big to crowd back into the house by this time. I'm thinking of setting up this overly large tent I have and stuffing them all in there. I think a couple of incandescent bulbs will keep things above freezing.

I had really hoped we were past our last cold snap.
 
We've had such a nice spring until now. but we're getting snow and rain and ice pellets for the next 4-5 days. with -10 celsius or so at night and just around freezing during the day. I've got my poly-tunnel sectioned off nearly in half (4/9) with tarps to hold the heat on one side where my wood-stove is and its getting crammed. Last year our last frost warning here was on June 9th and what a pain that was.
 
Try putting down some fresh cow, chicken poo as fertilizer around the stem {dont have it touching it will burn} then cover with mulch to keep in the warmth...the leaves may get frost bitten but the plant should sprout new foliage again because the roots will stay alive.

My 2c from the land of 2 frosts a year (thats a bargain price of 1C/frost)
 
POTAWIE said:
We've had such a nice spring until now. but we're getting snow and rain and ice pellets for the next 4-5 days. with -10 celsius or so at night and just around freezing during the day.

Well, you should have kept your cold air in Canada, because it's being a nuisance down south, too.

*muttering* stupid Canadian cold fronts! /muttering


I've got my poly-tunnel sectioned off nearly in half (4/9) with tarps to hold the heat on one side where my wood-stove is and its getting crammed. Last year our last frost warning here was on June 9th and what a pain that was.

Oh, that's a nice greenhouse. I suffer from greenhouse envy, just to let you know.

Actually, we usually have one last blast of cold air in late March or early April, and so I've been holding off putting any thing in the ground. It's just that the freeze we going to get Saturday night is more extreme than we've had in about ten years. I got a little cocky this year; and already had tomatoes, flowers, and just a few peppers in containers. I had also brought out the peppers that I over-wintered. Now I'm scrambling to get everything protected.
 
bentalphanerd said:
Try putting down some fresh cow, chicken poo as fertilizer around the stem {dont have it touching it will burn} then cover with mulch to keep in the warmth...the leaves may get frost bitten but the plant should sprout new foliage again because the roots will stay alive.

I don't have peppers or tomatoes in the ground, luckily. I came real close to doing that, actually dug the holes and pulled out the plants; but decided at the last second to hold off a week or so. I'm glad I did.

My 2c from the land of 2 frosts a year (thats a bargain price of 1C/frost)

Well, if it was just a frost, I wouldn't be too worried. I took the soil temp last weekend, and it was a nice toasty 60 degrees. The soil is going to stay plenty warm, and I have oodles of old sheets and blankets that I use to protect my plants from early or late frosts. The problem is that we're going to have a freeze. I could probably protect them well enough that they would recover, but think of the potential weeks of delay until I get my first ripe pepper!!
 
Pam said:
I suffer from greenhouse envy, just to let you know.

I suffer from early gardening envy, just to let you know.:mad: Look to the left of the poly-tunnel. That was once my greenhouse as well as the little green 3-tier units.
 
bentalphanerd said:
fresh wet poo generates heat..the mulch works like a blanket. Just for what you can't bring inside.

The tomatoes too tall for a poo blanket to protect them. Most of them are 1 and 2 feet tall (30 to 60 centimeters. I have about a dozen petunias in hanging baskets that leave no room for poo. The blueberry and fig starts are too tall as well, and I really don't want them to get nipped.

Not to mention that my poo source these days is from a well composted pile.

Years ago, in a different house, my father built me a cold frame sturdy enough to double as a storm shelter. I used to dig it down about two feet in the fall and put in a layer of very fresh horse poo, then cover it with about a foot of dirt. The composting poo keep everything I planted in that cold frame warm through even the coldest weather.
 
Thats OK - i can understand my Poo blanket theory being poo-pooed. I wont get all impoodent about it. I'm impoovious to your sarcasm :mad:
 
bentalphanerd said:
Thats OK - i can understand my Poo blanket theory being poo-pooed. I wont get all impoodent about it. I'm impoovious to your sarcasm :mad:

I was politely trying to offer reasons why it wouldn't work for me, but now you've rectum.
 
bentalphanerd said:
Like most in Oz...I've never even seen snow (aside from on the telly)


We don't get much snow here, it not unusual for us to go several years in a row with none. And when we get snow, it's usually just a dusting that melts by noon the next day. Snow is extremely dangerous for Southerners, we all dash outside at the first flake and stand there in rapt wonder with our heads thrown back, mouth hanging open going,"ohhhhhhhh, it'sssssssss sssssssssso beauuuuuutiful!" The few Northerners who live amongst us have learned to brush the snow off and gently walk us back into the house before we freeze to death.
 
I feel yer pain Pam. The last blast of old man winter usually has me doin emergency save the pepper plant drills as well. It's been in the 80's here for the past 2 weeks, now daytime is 60s and 30s at night with strong winds for the weekend. HOWEVER, this year I actually listened to my wife, who every year reminds me, "remember what happened last year blaa blaa blaa"...So's I listen to her this year, and now I'm relaxing and enjoying a nice cold brew instead of worring about the fragile lives of my baby pepper plants. Now my only problem is trying to figure out how to get my wife to stop repeating, "I told you so! Now aren't ya glad you listened to me this year"...:mad:
 
Txclosetgrower said:
WTF snow in texas on april 8th? We usually can't get snow in december. Global warming my ass.
That's the common misconception about global warming (which is actually solar warming as in sun and solar system warming).
 
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