In Central Ontario: How many light frosts?

[greenjeans]

In Central Ontario - How many light frosts can a weed take before it is adversely affected?? I have a couple that are real close and under a plastic canopy and I guess I could drape something around them at nite, if necessary.
The other question is - If I harvest, say, one week early, how much do I lose in quality, etc.?? Is it worth letting them get frosted??

 

[Backlipslide]

Frost and havesting my buds, need advice!

Hi, I have a week or two before the first frost and need to know if my buds are ready and how front will effect them. I've already brought 2 of the young plants inside and have one left outside that is already blooming. My last 4 flowering plants are too large to dig up and bring in. They are...

www.420magazine.com

 

[Backlipslide]

Unless it gets covered in the thread I posted. I would maybe suggest getting some Polly, wrap any open parts to the environment and maybe drop a heater in there for over night. To try battle these cold temperatures.

Damn the last two days were really cold in Alberta brother. I’ve been thinking about you and your plants a lot. I know Ontario is a ways a way from Alberta but damn has it been cold the last two days.

 

[Backlipslide]

And for you to chop a week early...

It all depends on how the trichs look.

Can’t give you a definitive answer without seeing them.

 

[greenjeans]

If I think there is danger of heavy frost I may try to move a few indoors for overnight - they are taller than the garage doors tho - that will make it tough. Beulah in the greenhouse will be fine. If I thought I would not lose too much potency I would just harvest early. The forest dwellers would fare the worst but, so be it...I'm only one man!!!!

 

[SmokingWings]

In Central Ontario - How many light frosts can a weed take before it is adversely affected?? I have a couple that are real close and under a plastic canopy and I guess I could drape something around them at nite, if necessary.

All this is based on just over 50 years (since I was in my early teens) of gardening here in southeast Michigan.

Depends on how cold it gets, how windy it is overnight and other weather related things including whether it clouds up within a couple of hours before sunrise.

People go out to their car in the morning they notice that there is frost on the window and the roof and figure there was frost. Except, they often fail to notice that this frost is only on the vehicles and nothing on the lawns, shrubs, flowers and so on. The heat in the soil radiates out at night keeping the frost from forming but the metal in the vehicles radiates off all its heat and gets cold enough to ice up from the moisture in the air.

So, there is a decent chance that the first predicted frost or two will not have any effect on the plants. There was an article in yesterday's newspaper about extending the gardening season for tomatoes and peppers past the first couple of frosts by covering the tender plants. If you can't bring the plants inside then covering them is an option that can work.

What you want to be concerned with is the forming of small ice crystals on the surface of the leaves. Covering the plants can help avoid this. Remove the covers after the sun is up. You might be familiar with the news items of what happens when frosts are predicted for a state like Florida which has all those citrus fruit orchards.

Around here we often will have a couple of mild frosts and they are followed by days and sometimes several weeks of warm weather. I have seen the leaves burned on plants like Basil (one of the tenderest plants around) and then watched the plant send out new leaves from the nodes because the stem did not freeze.

Then one night is the killing frost and very few annuals will survive that and even some of the perennials will be done for the season.

Enjoy the day.

 

[greenjeans]

Hey Thanx for all the info Smoke - I'm pretty sure all the Gals won't come thru unscathed - I'm just trying to get thru this year!! Next year everyone will be in a greenhouse. I have also heard that harvesting right after a frost is the way to go, but, I've heard a lot of things...some right, some wrong!! But it seems better to protect them as much as possible.

 

[SmokingWings]

I have also heard that harvesting right after a frost is the way to go, but, I've heard a lot of things...some right, some wrong!! But it seems better to protect them as much as possible.

In all the research and reading I have not come across that before. I do know it works well for cole crops (cabbage, kale and related) and some of the root crops like carrots and beets (tender beet greens after a decent fall frost are some of the tastiest green/red leaves to put in a salad).

I would be interested to see if anyone has experimented with waiting until a frost hits the plants before harvest. So, yep, go with protecting them.

 

[greenjeans]

waiting until a frost hits the plants before harvest.

I have three gals out in the forest that are under poly - I think I will leave one out there even if I'm lucky enough to get the other two to harvest, just to make a comparison. Still counting on my luck, but I'm hoping I have more than I need. Gawd I hope I didn't jinx anything!!!!