We're going to have a mean frost/freeze tonight. My question is, will it ruin the fruit (tomatoes, basil seed pods, peppers)? I know it's going to kill the plant, but what about the fruit?
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Will frost damage fruit?
- Thread starter imaguitargod
- Start date
My freezer makes my fruit mushy so I'd imaging a freeze and thaw would do the same.
What sort of temps are you thinking you will get???
In my experience the chilli fruit will be ok for a one off event, but will start to crack and go soft....(It all depends on the temp - think about what happens when you put a chilli in the freezer then let it thaw out).
I could be wrong but i wouldn't think you will have a problem with the basil seeds. I had basil seeds that were subjected to weeks and weeks of frost and they are still germinating new basil.....
with the tomatos, i would say they won't like the frost at all, especially the thin shined ones....but they might not be to bad if they aren't fully ripe as the fruit is slightly harder than when it's ripe. But they won't survive multiple frosts....
Can you get some big garbage bags to cover the tomatoes??
In my experience the chilli fruit will be ok for a one off event, but will start to crack and go soft....(It all depends on the temp - think about what happens when you put a chilli in the freezer then let it thaw out).
I could be wrong but i wouldn't think you will have a problem with the basil seeds. I had basil seeds that were subjected to weeks and weeks of frost and they are still germinating new basil.....
with the tomatos, i would say they won't like the frost at all, especially the thin shined ones....but they might not be to bad if they aren't fully ripe as the fruit is slightly harder than when it's ripe. But they won't survive multiple frosts....
Can you get some big garbage bags to cover the tomatoes??
Im doing some frost tests and seeing how some variety's can cope with freezing conditions..Only had air frost so far,But there a few which have really well Rocotos are doing well,Goats Weed,Fresno and a scotch bonnet type which supposed to go to lower temps and some others inc Dutch hab F2 Cold tolerant.
The temp's I'll be experiencing will be around 33 degrees.
Yeppers it will put the growing time to an end to their production. The fruit will be alright but it is ready to place in freezer or dry them out. I always burn my stuff left over in the garden especially the weeds for the have their lil seeds and I want to destroy them. Then I till everything under and wait for another freeze then till it one more time. After this I start to pile compost on top and leave it set for the winter to do its job. Alot of pot ash in them ashes.
imaguitargod said:
As 32 is your freeze point, I can't see it being a massive drama just yet.
My plants handled temps like that all winter, They weren't healthy but they survived and still produced small chillis.
As was said above, the chillis will be fine at these temps but after a while the fruit will only be good to freeze and use later, or dry.
As a side note, I found that my Jalapeno lasted the winter really well and I had many nights below freezing. At the end of winter the fruit was ripe and still hard, I would presume its because of the thick skin?
Once you get a few nights below 32 on a regular basis it will be the end i'm afraid.....
Thanks for the replies guys! I think I'm just going to do a massive harvest tomarrow during the day and friday will be the dehydrator day!
I'm a day ahead of you Iggy. I gave the plants a nice bath today, will trim back the ones I want to overwinter tomorrow or Friday and let the other to fend for themselvesWhen Indian Summer (no relation to your baseball team) comes, pluck any peppers close to ripe and like you, stick them in the dehydrator.
Ten plants to bring inside:
Bhut Jolokia
Naga Morisch
Red Savina
Yellow Congo
Hungarian Hot Wax
Habenero
Jalapeno
Fish
Fatali
I know, that's only nine. I have a Thai Dragon loaded with pods - maybe 30 of them. I will not cut it back but sit it in a window where they can all ripen. I still feel guilty about how the one I tried to save last year fared.
Mike
Ten plants to bring inside:
Bhut Jolokia
Naga Morisch
Red Savina
Yellow Congo
Hungarian Hot Wax
Habenero
Jalapeno
Fish
Fatali
I know, that's only nine. I have a Thai Dragon loaded with pods - maybe 30 of them. I will not cut it back but sit it in a window where they can all ripen. I still feel guilty about how the one I tried to save last year fared.
Mike
wordwiz said:915,
There are no nutrients in ashes.
Mike
POTAWIE said:
I thought ash had some value, never knew what but it had something!
isn't that why potassium is also called potash?