blownz281

That's cold for us . I decided to let my Orinoco mat stay uncovered. So curious to see how it does.

a.hulva@coxinet.net

It is 23 here right now, going to 9. All mine are bare rooted in my heated garage. Last year I stored in a friends "heated" out building that was not heated after all. It got down to around 20 for several days and killed them all. If your plants are outdoors uncovered and the temp stays down in the 20's for an extended period of time it may be costly. Good luck.

Olafhenny

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blownz281

Orinoco grow an fruit like weeds around here. So they should be fine and will be only 19 for a few hrs tonight. Ground always stays warm here.

crazy banana

What a gambler you are. Best of luck.

Chance1945

I'm in coastal Alabama and temp is forecasted to drop down to between 17 and 21. That's for Mobile and I'm 12-15 miles south of there. Lower elevation and cold air sinks, but closer to the Gulf. This is forecasted to go on for 2 nights and I haven't done anything to protect any of the bananas because I scrambled to protect other plants. I did cover a couple of citrus trees. One of those got burned during the first freeze of the year last month and was putting out lots of tender regrowth. Last year I lost my lemon and grapefruit. Both were several years old and had survived being dug and moved over from Pensacola 4 years ago. We'll see, but I'm hoping.

a.hulva@coxinet.net

This sounds crazy but I have heard citrus growers spray water on trees when freeze is coming. I have tried this by accident on some tomatoes with some success. The thery is the ice coats the plants, if all parts are sprayed, and insulates the plant. Sounds like it might be to late for you.
Good luck!
Ji

blownz281

They look fine today and green pstems. I think all is good Crazy B.

Chance- you guys have similar weather like us. It will be 25 tonight.
Al I have heard of farmers doing that. There is some stuff on the market people here tested. Suppose to be like a antifreeze for plants an suppose to do the same thing. But heard it sucked.

cincinnana

I will use this method in the spring to keep the freeze /frost of my plants when a late unexpected frost hits. Water is inexpensive when used as a defense for your beloved plants.

In plain words if frost is forecast in your area......get out your sprinklers and turn on the water on the precious plants so frost does not form on them.
This will work EVERY TIME .....ANYWHERE, ALL THE TIME, EVERYTIME!!

The lowest temps of the night are just before dawn.....Sooooo I will wake up and turn the Irrigation on to deter the frost. I might run the zoned irrigation for just a few minutes 10-15. Just enough to stop the freeze...... the plants will be spared


Keep in mind the water coming out of your source will be 55 degrees f or less and if you spray,broadcast your yard/specialty beds with this WARM water your chances of damage are minimized. IF ice forms it is a win win .

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crazy banana

Glad it worked.
Back years ago in Europe, we used the water mist method to protect sensitive berries like raspberry and blackberry from late frost damage.
And yes, there is a product on the market called " Frost Shield". It is a protein pro-polymer which forms a permeable protective coating on plants and fruits. I have used it last winter on some of my banana plants with mixed success. It works, but I only used a handheld 2 gallon sprayer, so it was difficult to spray the leaves of the taller plants evenly.. Works very well on smaller pups though. Would be interesting if it could be used with a sprayer attached to a water hose.
The product is supposed to give protection down to 25F by inhibiting water loss, but it only went down to 28F here.