Tomorrow is supposed to be moderately warm. This brief break gives you time to add some protection to you plants before the extremely cold weather floods over the state.
Most established and, especially, adapted plants,
probably will not be affected by this cold spell except may be in coastal
counties. It has been cool to moderately
cold in northern areas of Mississippi, so adapted plants have fairly well
hardened off. However, the minimum temperature during a
freeze, when it occurs, and for how long it occurs are all factors that gauge
how damaging a freeze will be. If we have a really prolonged duration of
freezing conditions, this is when the most damage will be done.
Protect
plants that are in containers either by placing them inside a protective
structure (house, garage, greenhouse, or shed) or by placing a protective
covering over them. Container plants are
especially susceptible to cold temperatures because their roots are above
ground. Roots that are damaged by cold temperatures may not show immediate
signs of damage, but these plants will show signs of stress when temperatures
increase.
Push
together container plants that are left outside and mulch or cover them to
decrease heat loss from the sides of the containers. Wrap the base of the
containers in plastic, burlap, or blankets to reduce heat loss.
We have not seen weather this cold in the last several
years. There have been a lot of plants
established in areas marginal to their cold tolerance. Two that I have seen are frequently planted
are palms and assorted citrus trees. There
are varying degrees of cold hardiness among citrus tree with kumquats and
satsumas being some of the more cold tolerant.
The temperatures that are being predicted will injure even the most
cold-hardy of these without some form of protection.
The same can be said about some the palms planted
along the coast. Even the most cold
tolerant of them can be injured by temperatures in the mid-teens.
Some things you can do to help all plants during
this cold spell is to apply mulch to the roots to insulate them. The mulch will also keep winter weeds under
control and reduce the need to water the plants. If the soil around your plants is dry, water
thoroughly. Remember, as water freezes
it gives off heat.
For plants such as small citrus or small palm trees,
you can build a frame over the plant or plants, cover with plastic, and seal
plastic to the ground with soil. This plastic traps moisture and warm air as it
radiates from the soil. It also knocks off the cold wind. Be careful not to
allow plastic to come in contact with plants or damage will occur at the
points of contact. Put an incandescent
light bulb (if you can find them) in the enclosure if temperatures in the teens
are forecasted.
If you only drape material over a plant to protect
it, make sure the cover comes all the way to the ground. Blankets or tarps are better than plastic,
but anything is better than nothing.
Again, foliage in direct contact with the cover might be damaged but the
plant will be saved.
If the plants are too large to build frames, place
Christmas tree lights (not the LED type) in citrus trees or around the trunk of
palm trees. You could also used water
pipe heating tape to wrap trunks. If you
can protect and save the trunk of citrus trees, they will grow back. Palm trees are more difficult to protect
since their growing point is in the tip of the tree.
Another option for citrus tree is to spray them with
water during the freeze period.
Especially coat the scaffold branches with this freezing water. An ice-coated citrus tree is a sight to behold! You will probably lose a year of production
but you will not have to replace the tree.
After the freezing event it is best not to do
anything for a few weeks. Allow enough
time for a freeze damage to show up in the plants. You might even wait to new growth starts in
the spring. This is early January so
there is a lot of time left this winter for more freezes. Typically our coldest
time of the year has not arrived yet.
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