Fall Frost is Coming, What Do I Do?
Every fall we have an unwanted visitor in our garden. Not a rabbit or a woodchuck, but something with a far larger appetite. Mr. Jack Frost sneaks into your garden. Exactly when varies with your specific location. Some in central Massachusetts will see hir white frosty calling card early in September. In other years, and locations, it may not be until late October, or even rarely November.
So hopefully you won’t need this information for a while, but here is a reminder of what you will want to do before you get your first fall frost.
* Move houseplants inside. Shorter daylengths mean less sunlight energy, and less benefit to leaving your houseplants outside longer. Frosts can be sneaky! You need to be sneakier. Bring your houseplants in first. Try to check them for signs of insects. You don’t want to bring those hitchhikers inside too! If you have a lot of other houseplants, you may want to set up a quarantine room. When the plants are outside, insects are disturbed by rain, wind, temperature, predators and so forth. Inside your house insects do not have those interferences, and their speed of growth reflects this.
*Harvest your remaining tender herbs. While parsley and some of the other cold tolerant herbs won’t mind a frost, herbs like basil will be killed. So preemptively cut them, and dry or freeze them, so you will have a Taste of Summer, all winter long.
So hopefully you won’t need this information for a while, but here is a reminder of what you will want to do before you get your first fall frost.
* Move houseplants inside. Shorter daylengths mean less sunlight energy, and less benefit to leaving your houseplants outside longer. Frosts can be sneaky! You need to be sneakier. Bring your houseplants in first. Try to check them for signs of insects. You don’t want to bring those hitchhikers inside too! If you have a lot of other houseplants, you may want to set up a quarantine room. When the plants are outside, insects are disturbed by rain, wind, temperature, predators and so forth. Inside your house insects do not have those interferences, and their speed of growth reflects this.
*Harvest your remaining tender herbs. While parsley and some of the other cold tolerant herbs won’t mind a frost, herbs like basil will be killed. So preemptively cut them, and dry or freeze them, so you will have a Taste of Summer, all winter long.
*Dig any tender bulbs you may have planted. You can wait until after the first frost to do this if you need to, as the bulbs are protected a bit by the soil. Gladiolus, caladiums, dahlias, cannas, and the like will need to come in soon. Store them for the winter in whatever fashion you are used to. Most will store fairly well in minimally moist sand or peat moss. Back decades ago, when many houses had a fieldstone cellar, finding the perfect storage area was easy. My grandparents' house had a root cellar, accessible through a trap door from the pantry. It was about 40-45 degrees and somewhat moist all winter. That is the kind of area we are trying to find. Most modern cellars are too warm and dry. Most unheated garages are too cold. So usually, you will need to make compromises. Err of the warmer side, as freezing will generally be the end of these plants. The other enemy of overwintering bulbs is excess moisture. Rotting can be as detrimental as freezing. It’s admittedly a bit of a balancing act.
If you have a few tender outdoor plants that you would like to keep showy a bit longer, cover them with a sheet or pillowcase if a frost is predicted. Practically speaking, if the forecast calls for 30s, cover just in case. Take the coverings off the next morning after it has warmed up a bit. Don’t use plastic sheeting. It will transmit the cold too easily to what you are trying to protect.
*Pick vegetables that are ready. Any effort you can do ahead of the frost reduces the amount of running around you need to do on that first frost night. Cabbage, Brussel sprouts, carrots and the like will laugh at a frost. So don’t worry about them at all. But the plants that can’t get planted until Memorial Day, like tomato, pepper, squash and so forth will not survive a frost. We will soon be our own harvesting pumpkins, squash, and gourds now. Realistically they will not ripen much further. And I don’t want to find myself between a rock and a hard place when that real frost decides to arrive. I could wait, but for what benefit?
If you have a few tender outdoor plants that you would like to keep showy a bit longer, cover them with a sheet or pillowcase if a frost is predicted. Practically speaking, if the forecast calls for 30s, cover just in case. Take the coverings off the next morning after it has warmed up a bit. Don’t use plastic sheeting. It will transmit the cold too easily to what you are trying to protect.
*Pick vegetables that are ready. Any effort you can do ahead of the frost reduces the amount of running around you need to do on that first frost night. Cabbage, Brussel sprouts, carrots and the like will laugh at a frost. So don’t worry about them at all. But the plants that can’t get planted until Memorial Day, like tomato, pepper, squash and so forth will not survive a frost. We will soon be our own harvesting pumpkins, squash, and gourds now. Realistically they will not ripen much further. And I don’t want to find myself between a rock and a hard place when that real frost decides to arrive. I could wait, but for what benefit?