re: 2022 Fall Garden Thread

We're in 9a, but the very northern extent. Supposed to get down to the teens a few times, with windchill in the single digits Friday.

What concerns be with those and my satsuma is the rain coming in Thursday night right before the cold blast. I either need to tarp/wrap them before the weather, and then hope any water runs off of those tarps before it can freeze, or wait and have the damn plants wet when I cover them.

I'm probably overthinking all of this, but I hate the thought of losing any of those plants.

Wanted to share this post from Dan Gill for the upcoming freeze for those that may not have social media. Good info ( LSU AgCenter Facebook)

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Freezing temperatures are expected across Louisiana later this week. Now is the time to prepare. Here are tips for protecting your winter vegetables:

COLD PROTECTION FOR WINTER VEGETABLES
Although winter vegetables are generally hardy, new plantings may need to be protected from hard freezes as will certain vegetables near or at harvest stage. If temperatures below 30 degrees F are predicted, young seedlings should be covered with a layer of loose mulch, sheets or tarps. The cover may remain over the plants for a few days, but remove it as soon as the freezing episode is over.

Even though the plants are hardy into the teens, broccoli and cauliflower heads are tender. Also, the leaves of lettuce and the leaves and flowers and pods of peas may be damaged by hard freezes in the mid to low twenties. Although protection with covers is an option, the gardener should consider harvesting all mature and nearly mature produce before a major freeze.

The following lists will give you a quick guide to the ability of some vegetables to endure freezes. Remember that such factors as the age of the plant, prior weather conditions and the location of the plants are also factors in addition to the temperatures.

LESS HARDY
Protect or harvest if temperatures are predicted to go below the mid to upper twenties: fava beans, broccoli heads ready to harvest, cauliflower heads ready to harvest, lettuce and peas.

MODERATELY HARDY
Will tolerate temperatures down to the mid to low twenties with little or no damage: Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, mustard, spinach, radishes and turnips.

VERY HARDY
Will survive temperatures in the low twenties and teens: beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, collards, garlic, onions, parsley, leeks and shallots.

Prepared by: Dan Gill, LSU AgCenter, Consumer Horticulturist (Retired)

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ETA: He mentions Chinese cabbage but not regular cabbage. I’ve always heard they are hardy down to the low 20’s. I’m going to harvest all of my medium to larger sized cabbages before the freeze and see how the rest fare. I plan to cover the strawberries for Friday morning. They’ll probably be fine but that’s our lowest temp for this event predicted (17 F). Strawberries are supposed to be cold hardy down to the mid teens, but these are young plants and I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Blackberries and blueberries are supposedly hardy down to -10 F to -30 F depending on variety. So they are of no concern here.

How did everyone make out with the freeze? I covered my carrots and said “heck with the rest”. Some kale may have survived.

Tomatoes and Peppers met their ends. Round 1 and 2 of Broccoli and Cauliflower went in also. Covered the strawberries, Round 3 of Broccoli and Cauliflower, and baby onions. Everything covered made it. I left the carrots uncovered and they got nuked but looks like they may be coming out of it. Kale is gone.

I had covered my strawberries and left everything else to battle for survival.

The strawberries are definitely fine.

Carrot tops look a little burnt, but there's still green in there. I'm sure most of them will rebound.

Pretty much the same for the onions and garlic.

I may have lost the mustard greens. Not sure yet.

Collards took some damage but look like they survived.

The cabbage took some damage. I'll have to wait and see if they recover any.

I honestly won't be too upset if I lost a bunch of stuff. It'll give me a little bit of a break until the spring planting.

quote:

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How did everyone make out with the freeze?

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All we had were lettuce and broccoli. Didn't even try to protect them. They toast.

Covered the Satsuma, and when first uncovered, it looked fine. Not looking so great now. Hoping it loses some leaves, then recovers later.