Today was the first morning I've had a bit of ice on the car windscreen. Winter is clearly here. Just wondering if people could share any tips for protecting precious plants from frost? What do you do to look after them?
One trick I've heard of is to use mulch - but only at night. You actually need to scrape it back away from your plants during the day as it stops the sun from warming up the earth. Then you put it back at night to trap the heat in.
@Isobel using Seasol is a good preventative measure for frost.
http://www.seasol.com.au/documents/Seasol-for-Frost-Resistance.pdf
You can also water your plants the day before a frost to help protect them.
Hi Isobel,
I'm afraid protecting plants from frosts is an uphill battle and usually a war that can't be won.
Frost causes a plant to freeze and when the sun hits the frozen parts, the cells self destruct. The trick is to have frost sensitive plants protected, so that the frost can melt before the suns rays reach it.
You can hose plants with water to remove the frost if you can beat the sun but it is a battle that can be lost so easily if the sun beats you one morning.
If you have some precious plants, cacti perhaps, I would shift them to a west facing garage wall for example if possible, that would protect the plants for long enough for the frost to melt before the sun is high enough in the sky.
Alternately, you may be better off to pot up these plants and winter them on a veranda or a more sheltered section of your garden.
The last and easiest solution that I adopted, is not to get caught up buying plants that simply can't live with frost if you have no specific sheltered areas for such delicate plants. Often these plants are being sold during the summer months and frosts are the furthest thing from your mind, sometimes allot of money is spent to eventually see a plant liquefy!!
Good luch all the same.
Barbara
Some good tips here as a new winter begins. Feel free to add your tips to the discussion.
Jason
Anyone found the frost cloth to be effective?
https://www.bunnings.com.au/coolaroo-0-90-x-20-0m-frost-cloth-pre-pack_p3040826
It's never too late to join in a discussion @Janina_G. Thanks for sharing your tips.
Sugar cane mulch and frost cloths are are great way to protect vulnerable plants from frost. Sugar cane mulch can also help to prevent weeds and retain moisture in the soil during summer 🙂
I've mentioned before that having plants that aren't frost tollerant is allot of hard work but if you're prepared to go the extra mile to protect them then power to those keen gardeners. I seem to be one of them at present, trying to keep a cactus safe from frost!!
I have lost lots of plants to frost I suspect but more so to water logged soil so I have realized after many years of spending big money at times that some plants just won't cut it here where I live in the south west of vic.
I don't grow much in the way of vegies, except for corn that is very successful and butter beans that are a complete disaster and have been for two years in a row now, they come up to two leaf stage, perhaps a little further and then suddenly shrivel up and die, not to be deterred I'll try again this spring.
As for frost sensitive plants, I'm now nursing a san pedro cactus, totally out of place here but I just love my cacti anyway, it's being kept safe with an old zip up sleeping bag that has that shiny sort of waterproof type fabric and in the mornings after a decent frost, the material is stiff and frozen but the cactus tips are totally protected. Not sure what I'll do once it gets over 2mts tall, I'll need to climb a ladder to cover it ha-ha
