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storage Late Freeze

global warming is a messy subject, yes overall the earths temps do rise but it also screws up the weather patterns. we have noraml to above normal temps in late fall-jan. come march we get below normal temps. heck we had a 70's -80's in mid march now highs of only 35F. snow ? what the heck is that ? we dont see decent snow depth until feb/march but then its gone within a week or two. plus our winters have been pretty wimpy the last 10+ years

plus I heard there was talk from some people to rezone our area from 4 to 5 or was it 3 to 4 ? I forget, it seems like it depends on whos growing zone map you go with because I've seen my area zoned as 3 or 4

oh yea Potawie thats a very nice greenhouse you got there.
 
We used to hear snowmobile all winter, now everyone has traded them in for ATV's. This is a good year though for syrup here in maple country.
 
Well, last night was supposed to be the coldest, and I seem to have gotten through it ok. I rigged a temporary greenhouse out of a couple of plastic drop clothes and an 'A' frame swing stand. You know, a swing set for a wooden bench swing. I took the swing down and put some poles across the 'A' support to hang the hanging baskets from, then put everything else that wouldn't fit in the cold frames on the ground. I put a lamp with a 200 watt incandescent bulb on the ground, too. I wrapped the 'A' frame in the plastic drop clothes and duck taped them as tightly as I could and put some bricks around the bottom. The wind was pretty wicked yesterday. Then I threw a king-sized bed comforter over the top to help hold the heat. I put a high/low thermometer in to track the temps, and, although it got down to 26 F (-3.33 C) last night, the low inside the "greenhouse" was only 41 F (5 C). Yay!

The cold frames are shorter, and so had less area to heat, and the comforters I covered them with came all the way to the ground, so I think they probably stayed warmer. I almost outsmarted myself there, I used those mechanic's lights that are in a little cage and you hang where you need light with 200 watt incandescent bulbs that I hung from the top supports of the cold frames. They're the portable ones that you can buy from Gardener's Supply, *gasp!* and I see that they're no longer available! Oh no! I love mine!
http://www.gardeners.com/Cold-Frame-Season-Extender/default/34-988.prd

Anyway, I don't usually use a 200 watt bulb, so this was a little hotter, and I, luckily, noticed that the plastic behind the metal shield of the light was getting awfully warm awfully fast. So, I got some wire and dropped the height of the light another 6 inches or so. Now that I see I couldn't replace them, I'm especially relieved I didn't burn a hole in the ones I have!

Ok, one more cold night to go, and I think we're going to be ok. The roses close to the house in the front yard didn't even freeze.
 
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Txclosetgrower said:
WTF snow in texas on april 8th? We usually can't get snow in december. Global warming my ass.
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I did the mad scramble Friday late afternoon looking for anything to protect my plants. Snow @ Easter here? Who woulda' thought. Looks like they'll make it! Not going to uncover til tomorrow when we get the Texas turnaround started. By Wednesday it is suppose to be 37 degrees warmer than what we had this weekend. Guess I'll put a greenhouse on my Christmas wish list. Ha Ha...
 
cyotefishing said:
]I did the mad scramble Friday late afternoon looking for anything to protect my plants. Snow @ Easter here? Who woulda' thought. Looks like they'll make it! Not going to uncover til tomorrow when we get the Texas turnaround started. By Wednesday it is suppose to be 37 degrees warmer than what we had this weekend.
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Everything I put in one of the cold frames or my temporary greenhouse did fine. There won't be any pecans from my yard this year, though, and I lost the new growth on some of the oregano. The news from the peach farmers isn't very good, either.

Guess I'll put a greenhouse on my Christmas wish list. Ha Ha...
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You and me both!
 
I fixed the drought here...i went on holidays.

It started raining as i got into the driveway of the beach house & has been hour on, hour off for last 5 hours :mouthonfire:

I brought my inferno seeds tray along & some sprouted on the drive ...so got to get them straight out into the rain. Can't say I'm not dedicated :lol:

"This weather ain't gonna be right until they take them rocks back to the Moon."
 
We were headed out of town the morning of the freak cold blast. I just covered my plants with cardboard boxes and empty plant containers and had the house sitter take 'em off the next day. Most survived.

Whew!! Close one!
 
We had a dusting of snow last night. It's supposed to get down to 35F tonight. If my Serrano survives this, I'll have seeds for everyone! It still has green on the stems and some new growth is still there, but I don't have my hopes up.
 
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