18 degrees in Phoenix area this Thursday?

:o( If that is true I should have lots of dead not just damaged plants

Oh crap! At least we know a bit in advance. Burlaps, christmas lights, flood lights, any other options? What do you guys/gals do for trees like silk floss? It only has a few branches and no leaves so it hard to put a burlap over it, no to mention it about 14 feet tall. I have it wrapped in christmas lights but I wonder if that will be enough.

I prefer www.noaa.gov for my weather forecasts. Using your zip code, it is looking for 20 degrees for the low on Thur and 21 degrees for Friday. I would agree, take all the frost protection measures that you can.
Looking at my forecast, it is calling for 25 and 26 degrees for those 2 days. I had heard a big storm was coming that was going to drop temps drastically, this is it. I did not hear the weather report, so was unaware of how low the temps will be. I will be dragging out my covers and dragging in my most sensitive plants. thanks for the warning!

Susie

FWIW weather.com shows 10 degree warmer but I find that the be the least accurate of the weather sites.

Well even at 20 degrees it means my yard wil read 6 to 10 degrees. I am typically anywhere from 10-14 degrees colder than in town. I am going to have a big funeral party when all is said and done. There is only so much I can cover. When we had the big freeze even the top half of my roses turned black.

What were the temps like during the big freeze? I lost a lot of stuff but dont recall the temps.

If I recall correctly, it was 16 degrees in my yard, which would of made it in the mid 20's for the inner city areas

"The Big Freeze" hit 26 here in the Gilbert/Chandler area. This could be worse but I did not have the heart lamp system I do now so we will see.

Can someone post a picture of a heat lamp for me? Thx

Go to HD or Loews and you should find cheap clip on aliminum flood lights. they are usually 150W max so be careful which bulb you buy. The heat lamp bulbs are with the normal lights in the same store. I recommend not putting the light right on the plant rather on a large dark rock next to the plant then tent it with cloth.

Hope this helps

Thx.

I have a huge roll of heavy plastic left over from some painting. Is this usable to cover plants or is it bad that it cant breathe?

I don't use plastic to cover plants. In fact I didn't cover my plants during the first wave of freaky weather. But I'll cover the herbs 'cause nothing beats fresh herbs on a salad. I like the whole dark rock thing. Last year I used buckets of hot water and christmas lights.

Plastic is bad because if it touches the plant (breeze, rain) it conducts the cold.

Also I believe it was Jim that set up a large light/ heat lamp that started a fire. He had a lot of damage. Please be careful ;)

I will water everything well if it doesn't rain and probably run a hose on a trickle on the lemon tree all night since it's still quite small and lots of new growth because of these freaky warm temps. I really don't plan to cover anything. Most everything in my yard survived the BF so they are on their own this time too;o) I'll bring pots onto the south patio but that's about it. Most of the veggies should survive, except maybe the peppers. I really don't have anything rare or exotic that can't be replaced. I really hope the weather liars are wrong and it's not that cold... Hoping for the best.

Fishie, do the ponds in your small yard help to keep temps up at times like this? Or anyone else that has ponds - do they help with temps?

I use a 100W lightbulb in my popup greenhouse. It is 6 ft tall and 5 ft wide from Lowes $84. You can just plop it down over a bush or small tree. I have a Lychee and citrus in mine and we were in the low 20s last night. You will get an 8-11F degree deferential with a 100W.

There is a product on the market called FreezePruf that can improve cold tolerance of plants by 3-9F degrees as well. I dont think you will find it locally. That might save you in the future.

Good luck from Texas!

I think the ponds and the huge Mesquite do help.
But remember...a freeze is a freeze. Doesn't matter if it's covered, thats useful for frost warnings. Unless you have a heat source with the covering....it's gonna freeze :(

Not always true. Covering a plant helps with wind and retains the heat from the ground that is normally dispersed into the air. If you notice that the damage from cold usually effects the highest point of the plant away from the ground because the ground stays warm. By capturing that heat under the blanket or plastic, you help protect the upper portions of the plant that would normally die.

Holy Crap!!! That's a big drop... geez!!! I work both of those nights :( I'll have to do some serious work to bring things in before I leave...

Wunderground was showing 25 on Thursday and Friday night as of about noon today for my zip code (85260). Now its showing 27 and 29. Headed in the right direction. Keep your fingers crossed, may be it wont be so bad. I did pick up 8 of those clip on lights and 1 of those large propane heaters that you can walk under. It was on sale at HD for $99. I spent more than that on my silk floss so I might as well protect it.

http://www.noaa.gov Now saying Breezy with 27 degrees Thursday and 28 degrees on Friday.... Still to darned cold for me.

Pam

Just checked my thermometer...In the heart of Phoenix, 42F at pre-dawn 7AM

Well I will say that 17 degrees is better than having 10 or 6 in my yard but I really hope it does not make it below 20 out my way.

Three winters ago, it dipped to 24F in the heart of Phoenix which broke some records.
I did not cover any of my landscape plants. It damaged a few, and I was surprised at which ones were not damaged or killed. I guess only the strong survive.

Commercial 2 layer crop cover works great!

I bet it does. Where did you get it?

Farmtek
http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1;ft1_covers_pondliners;ft1_covers.html

Thanks Lyle

the bad thing about this weather event is that it is consecutive days of 20s, which means the daytime temps will be cold. brrr!!!

Yes, but we'll have the opportunity to wear all of those warm clothes we never get to wear! Watch out, turtleneck, here I come!!

I'm worried about the new Orchid tree. It's way too tall to cover & one of those patio heaters probably isn't tall enough. The tree is a baby, but it's over 2 stories tall. If I can get Joe to cover the top with a bedsheet do you think it will prevent freeze damage? It looks like it's developing what I hope will be flower buds in a few months. It also has lots of baby leaves coming out. I would hate to loose it. It cost about $700 & I think the warranty period has passed.

This is what I found on Google.

* Water the garden thoroughly before nightfall.
The soil will release moisture into the air around your plants during the night, keeping the air somewhat warmer.
* Even a slight breeze will prevent cold air from settling near the ground during the night.
You can help keep frost from forming by providing this breeze artificially with an electric fan.
Be sure to protect the fan and all electrical connections from water and the elements.
* Cover up before dusk! By the time it gets dark much of the stored heat in the garden has already been lost.
If you have time, build a simple frame around the plant, or row of plants. (Even a single stake can be used in many cases.)
Then drape a cover of newspaper, cardboard, plastic tarps, bed sheeting or any other lightweight material over the frame to create a tent.
If you don't have time to create a frame, lay the protective cover directly onto the plant. This will help to slow the loss of heat rising from the foliage and the ground.
Remove the covers in the morning, once the frost has thawed, to let the light and fresh air back in, and to prevent overheating by the sun.
* For smaller individual plants you can use glass jars, milk jugs with the bottom removed, paper cups upside down flower pots as heat traps.
Don't forget to remove these covers in the morning.
* You can collect heat during the day by painting plastic milk jugs black and filling them with water.
Place them around your plants where they will collect heat during the day.
Water loses heat more slowly than either soil or air. This collected heat will radiate out throughout the night.
* Potted plants are particularly susceptible to frosts because their roots are also unprotected.
If you are unable to move your container plants indoors or under cover remember to also wrap the pot in burlap or bubble wrap, or simply bury the pot in soil in addition to protecting the foliage.


If your efforts were too late, or too little to protect your plants from a frost, resist the urge to cut off the damaged parts of the plants.
To a certain extent, these dead leaves and stems will provide limited insulation from further frost damage.
You will have to go back and re prune your plants in spring anyway.

Later, Sharon.

Oi! Do you think I need to protect my broccoli? I made a tent out of sheets and a parachute with Christmas lights underneath for the freeze we had in November. Will be setting that up again.

The extension services says that you can do the drip, like you suggested Kelly, for up to three nights so that'll be on my Eureka lemon that's little, jacaranda, and tecomas. Just hate the way crispy plants look until we can trim in the spring.

Would manure put off enough heat to make a difference if it was spread underneath plants?

Crista, I wouldn't waste time & energy covering the broc. They love the cold temps and really it won't be that cold for that long. Same thing with lettuce & all the other cold weather plants. Tomatoes & peppers will hate it. The thing about fans & lights (except for outdoor christmas lights, the old, regular types of lights - LTDs won't work 'cause of the lack of heat I think) is that if its raining...I LIKE the idea about manure. What I've done is to build up a debris pile around my tomatoes (whose steams are still green but haven't re-sprouted) and my peppers. The peppers have sprouted again (they were taken down by the first freak cold weather).

NOAA is showing 26 and 27 degrees on thursday and friday for my zip code. It's better than the teens. But the last really bad BF that toasted my brug was 26 degrees............:(