Since it is supposed to get cold this weekend, I was wondering if I could get up around 4 or 5 a.m. and go out and spray my garden with water to keep everything from freezing? You know, like the farmers do on their crops. I just planted a lot of tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries about a week and a half ago, and I do NOT want to lose them to this cold snap. Do you think that would work. Don't have a helicopter that can buzz around to keep the wind stirring, LOL. Any suggestons would be appreciated. Thanks.
Cindy
Can I do this?
I have a friend in Palatine who does that for her hosta.
so is the snow missing you guys?We should be so lucky..I could see me out there with the hose in a snowstorm!
No snow but the wind!!!! I think I decided that we will try to cover all my stuff. Supposed to be in the high 20s :-( DH thinks large garbage bags will work for the tomatoes and sheets for the other stuff. Will be dragging the houseplants and brugs back into the house -UGH!!!! and dragging my earthboxes into the GH. Wish I had a large GH and could put all in there, but alas I don't :-(
I hope this is it for the cold stuff....
Cindy
Blizzardng in parts of Michigan today
I have never heard of farmers going out in the wee morning hours to spray hundreds to thousands of acres of crops when it frosts. Maybe citrus farmers in Florida and California but not farmers in the midwest.
Don't they burn fires and fan the warm air in vineyards when it frosts? I saw that in a movie once (yes, I'm a big geek!). -C
Orchard farmers use their sprinler irrigation systems in advance of freezes to keep the flowering fruit bud from going too far below 32. The process of freezing actully gives off heat but, if it is a "hard" freeze nothing will help.
I always heard NOT to use plastic to cover because moisture condenses on the underside, feezes, and affects the plants.