Frosts in the spring: how to protect plants
In central Our Country, frosts occur until June 5th. And we start planting heat-loving vegetables in mid-May. And if the temperature drops below 0 °C, plants can suffer. Therefore, it is important to cover them. And after frost provide special care

How to determine if there will be frost

Meteorologists are known to give a general weather forecast for the entire region. But in each specific place, the weather can differ significantly from the expected one. It happens that at one end of the SNT or the village, the landing was caught by frost, and the areas at the other end were bypassed by frost. Therefore, it is important to determine the upcoming cooling.

Frosts should be expected if after a hot day by 20.00 the air temperature suddenly began to drop sharply and continues to drop with the onset of night. The air is quiet, windless, the sky is clear, the air is dry.

But if the street is windy, cloudy and dew has fallen, there will be no critical cooling.

And it should also be remembered that frosts are always stronger in the lowlands, because the cold air always sinks down, and they may not be on the hills (1).

Frost protection

There are many ways to protect plants from frost.

Нetkanth material. This is perhaps the easiest way. It is enough to put arcs over the beds and pull covering material over them. The main thing is to make sure that there are no gaps into which cold air can penetrate. Non-woven fabric is good because it can be left for the whole week – under it the plants will not get wet, as it happens under the film.

Пhandyе facilities. Smaller plants can be covered with cut-off plastic bottles, paper caps, cardboard boxes, plastic cups, or food containers. Just need to securely fix them in the ground, so as not to be blown away by the wind.

Suitable for hiding buckets. Moreover, even old ones without a bottom will do, but you need to throw a piece of burlap on top of them – this, by the way, was done in the old days in the villages.

But it is important to remember: such shelters should not touch the leaves.

Hilling. This method is suitable for potatoes, especially if it occupies a fairly large area. All you need is to spud it as high as possible, preferably so that only the crown remains on the surface. Even if it freezes, new shoots will grow.

The exception is when potatoes are planted with microtubers, layering and sprouts, or grown from botanical seeds – in this case, the plants cannot be hilled, they will die. There is only one option here – to cover with something else, the same film or non-woven fabric.

Fertilizers and stimulants. Few people know about this, but foliar fertilizing with phosphorus and potash fertilizers (according to the instructions) will help save vegetable plantings. Thanks to them, the amount of sugars in the tissues of young plants increases, the content of free water decreases and the concentration of cell sap increases, so that plants can withstand temperatures down to -5 ° C.

The biostimulant Epin (2) has the same effect.

But remember, foliar top dressing should be carried out at least 10 hours before frost (or even better, a day before). Otherwise, there will be no sense.

Watering. If a severe cold snap is planned, it is necessary to water the beds well before sheltering – moistened and compacted soil cools less than loose and dry.

What to do if the plants are affected by frost

Spring frosts can be quite significant. At temperatures below -5 ° C, it happens that even shelter does not save. However, frost-bitten plants can be resuscitated. And here’s what to do.

Shade. Many heat-loving crops, as a rule, are also light-loving – they are planted in the sunniest areas. But the hot sun will harm the affected plants – they will evaporate a lot of water, and it is needed to restore leaves and shoots.

The same non-woven fabric can be used as protection from the sun – it transmits light, but does not allow the plants to overheat.

Underfeed. Plants need good nutrition to recover, so they need to be fertilized after a frost.

Potatoes – nitrogen: nitrophoska, urea or ammonium nitrate. In this case, the dose indicated in the instructions is better to reduce by 1/3.

Vegetable crops need complex feeding – 10 g of nitrophoska, ammophoska or nitroammophoska per 1 sq. m. Fertilizers should be equally scattered over the surface of the soil and sealed with a rake. And then water.

It is useful to additionally spray the leaves of vegetable crops with a “cocktail” of trace elements: 2 g of copper, manganese and boron per 10 liters of water.

Heal. There are 2 magical biostimulants that help plants survive stress, bad weather and recover from damage. These are Epin-extra and Zircon.

  • Epin-extra. This is a phytohormone. It mobilizes internal processes and stimulates its growth. And besides this, it helps to increase immunity – this is very important, because diseases instantly attack weakened plants.

    The healing solution is prepared as follows: 1 ampoule of the drug is diluted in 5 liters of water. It is better to boil the water beforehand – Epin-extra is destroyed in an alkaline environment, and in garden wells and wells, water is usually with a large amount of salts. It is necessary to spray the entire plant as a whole, trying to process not only the upper part of the leaves, but also the lower one. The procedure is repeated every 7-10 days until the plant is fully restored.

    And one more thing: Epin-extra does not tolerate the sun – it disappears from the solution, so you need to spray it in the evening.

  • Zircon. This drug has a similar effect and is used in the same way. To prepare a solution, 1 ml of the drug is dissolved in 10 liters of water.
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Popular questions and answers

We talked about frost agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

What plants can withstand frost?

Small frosts down to -5 ° C can withstand cold-resistant crops. And, by the way, there are a lot of them. These are all types of cabbage, onions, peas and beans, chard, root crops (carrots, beets, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips), green crops (mustard, arugula), herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro, lovage). They can be sown as early as the end of April.

Which plants are frost tolerant?

These are heat-loving crops. These include potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, zucchini and squash, gourds (watermelons, melons, pumpkins), beans, basil. Under shelter, they can be planted in mid-May (with the exception of potatoes – they are planted in early May, because it rises after 3 weeks), and without shelter – after May 25.

What frost can roses withstand?

Roses without leaves, for example, in winter or early spring, without shelter, withstand not only frosts, but also significant frosts – up to -15 ° C. Young leaves and stems usually tolerate up to -6 °C. But even if they suffer, it’s okay – there are a lot of dormant buds on the shoots of the rose, from which new stems will grow.

How cold can strawberries withstand?

Strawberry leaves withstand frosts down to -10 °C. Flower buds tolerate temperature drops down to -6 °С, buds – up to -2 °С, blooming flowers – up to -1 °С.

What frost can carrots withstand?

Carrot sprouts tolerate cold snaps down to -3 ° C without any problems. Mature plants – up to -4 ° С.

What frost can garlic withstand?

Garlic is a very cold-resistant crop; its shoots can easily withstand frosts down to -11 ° C.

What frost can onions withstand?

Shoots of onions (from black seeds) tolerate only small cold snaps, down to -1 ° C. Shoots of onion sets and adult plants are more resistant, withstand -10 °C. Perennial onions (batun onion, slime onion, chives, fragrant onion, Altai onion and wild garlic) – up to -10 ° C.

What frost can cabbage withstand?

All types of cabbage tolerate temperatures below -0 ° C, but to varying degrees. White head – up to -5 ° С. Color – up to -2 ° С. Broccoli sprouts – up to -2 °С, and mature plants – up to -7 °С. Seedlings of Beijing cabbage – a maximum of -2 ° C, and adult plants – up to -5 ° C.

What frost can grapes withstand?

Swollen buds, young leaves and shoots die already at -1 °C. But grapes endure autumn frosts more steadfastly. For example, unripe berries will easily endure cooling down to -2 – 3 ° C, and fully ripe ones – up to -4 ° C.

What frost can currants withstand?

Spring frosts are dangerous for currant flowers – they die already at -2 ° C. The bush itself will remain alive, but there will be no harvest.

Sources of

  1. Khromov S.P. Meteorology and climatology for geographical departments, 3rd ed. // L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1983 – 123 p.
  2. State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for use on the territory of the Federation as of July 6, 2021 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Federation https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii- i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry-information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/

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