{"id":3193,"date":"2021-03-29T17:13:09","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T21:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/?p=3193"},"modified":"2021-03-29T17:13:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T21:13:10","slug":"freeze-and-frost-protection-for-fruits-and-vegetables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/2021\/03\/freeze-and-frost-protection-for-fruits-and-vegetables\/","title":{"rendered":"Freeze and Frost Protection for Fruits and Vegetables"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Due to the potential for an upcoming frost this week on newly planted vegetable transplants, please see the publication on frost and freeze protection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Frost and Freeze Protection for Fruits and Vegetables<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A few key points for vegetables to keep in mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • \u00a0Plastic mulch will usually get you about 2\u00a0o<\/sup>F of additional protection when the plant canopy is very close to the plastic (as it is now) and it is sunny during the day.<\/li>
  • Copper Sprays: Often used by growers with the idea of killing any ice nucleating bacteria on the leaf surface to prevent ice formation.\u00a0 This has been shown to work in controlled studies, but in the field there are often other factors that limit the effectiveness.\u00a0 One of which is that dirt and dust on the leaves can also be a source of ice nucleation.\u00a0 Many growers spray copper before a frost and in general it isn\u2019t harmful. However, in some cases (watermelon), young seedlings (1 week or 1.5-week-old) can be susceptible to show phytotoxic response to copper.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>
  • Irrigation: Irrigating for freeze protection is mostly used on fruit and is covered in the attached publication.\u00a0 Pivot irrigation will not work for freeze protection BUT moist soil will tend to retain some heat from the day and can give a grower a little protection in the evening.\u00a0 If the soil is already wet then additional irrigation won\u2019t help, but if it is dry, then adding some moisture to the soil can help give some protection.<\/li>
  • Other sprays:\u00a0 A variety of other sprays (ie. Vapor Guard) are sold on the market for frost protection and the limited number of studies done on them \u00a0indicates that they do not work. \u00a0Here is the study done on tomato and pepper:\u00a0Perry, K.B., Bonanno, A. R., & Monks, D.W. (1992). Two putative cryoprotectants do not provide frost and freeze protection in tomato and pepper. HortScience 27:26-27.<\/em><\/li>
  • Row cover are the most effective option, but not economical for the large acreages we are working with.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Thank you for your time, please contact your extension agent with any questions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thank You,
    Jeremy Kichler
    Colquitt County Extension Coordinator
    229-921-1977<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Due to the potential for an upcoming frost this week on newly planted vegetable transplants, please see the publication on frost and freeze protection A few key points for vegetables to keep in mind: \u00a0Plastic mulch will usually get you about 2\u00a0oF of additional protection when the plant canopy is very close to the plastic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3195,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193\/revisions\/3195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}