Protect Your Winter Garden and Landscape Plants with Frost Cloth

Protect Your Winter Garden and Landscape Plants with Frost Cloth

Use frost cloth to completely cover cold sensitive plants. Be sure to make complete contact with the ground and use heavy objects to keep the fabric secure. Photo by Jonathan Burns.

Use frost cloth to completely cover cold sensitive plants. Be sure to make complete contact with the ground and use heavy objects to keep the fabric secure. Photo by Jonathan Burns.

 

One major aspect that separates North Florida from South Florida is the discrepancies in air temperature. Although the differences are relatively small when comparing Florida with northern states, they can mean a world of difference in the plant world.

Even hardy cauliflower leaves can be damaged by cold winter nights in the Florida Panhandle. Photo by Molly Jameson.

Even hardy cauliflower leaves can be damaged by cold winter nights in the Florida Panhandle. Photo by Molly Jameson.

In most of North Florida, our USDA plant hardiness zone is 8b, which means average minimum winter temperatures are between 15 and 20° Fahrenheit (F). We therefore can experience hard freezes, which happens when temperatures are below 28°F for over five hours. These types of conditions are capable of “burning” the leaves of even the toughest winter vegetables.

Fortunately for our winter gardens, average minimum winter temperatures are in the lower 40s, high enough not to damage winter garden crops. When we do have lows close to or below freezing (32°F), there is one very cost-effective method that can help keep crops and landscape plants protected. This is the use of a material called frost cloth.

Frost cloth can moderate air temperatures six to eight degrees. Photo by Turkey Hill Farm.

Frost cloth can moderate air temperatures six to eight degrees. Photo by Turkey Hill Farm.

Frost cloth, which can be purchased at most plant nurseries, is a breathable polyester fabric that is light weight and heat retentive. When used correctly, it can moderate air temperatures about six to eight degrees. This is typically all that is needed to get us through our mild North Florida winters. It is also relatively inexpensive, and if cared for, the same cloth can be used for many winter seasons.

Large blankets or bedsheets can be used as frost cloth substitutes, but whether you are using actual frost cloth, or something pulled from the linen closet, it is very important to use it correctly to be effective. The cloth must touch the ground at all points, as it works by trapping heat that radiates from the soil. It also increases the humidity around the plant, aiding in temperature moderation.

"Lollipop" trees will allow the heat from the ground to escape, giving the tree no cold protection. Photo by Jonathan Burns.

“Lollipop” trees will allow the heat from the ground to escape, giving the tree no cold protection. Photo by Jonathan Burns.

For sensitive landscape plants and fruit trees, it can be more difficult to fully cover the plant with the frost cloth to trap the heat, but it is just as important. When driving around town on a cold night, I inevitably encounter a few “lollipop” trees. This is when the foliage of the tree is wrapped in frost cloth, but the cloth does not reach the ground, and is typically tied off at the upper trunk of the tree. All heat moving upward from the soil will go right around the cloth, giving the tree essentially no protection.

Wire or PVC hoops can be used to help secure frost cloth and keep the cloth from damaging sensitive plant stems and leaves. Bricks, sticks, soil, or garden staples should be used along the perimeter of the frost cloth to prevent nighttime gusts from blowing the cloth off your garden beds or landscape plants. In the morning, remove the cloth once air temperatures reach about 50 to 60°F.

To learn more about cold protection, check out the UF/IFAS EDIS publication, Cold Protection of Landscape Plants (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG025).

Video: Evergreen Shrubs in the Fall

Video: Evergreen Shrubs in the Fall

Fall is the season for leaf color changes on many plants, but we are often concerned when we see evergreen plants with brown leaves. Learn what is normal browning for evergreens and when to seek more help from UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.

The North Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide

The North Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide

As you garden this fall, check our the North Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide, compiled by UF/IFAS Leon County Extension.

As you garden this fall, check out the North Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide, compiled by UF/IFAS Leon County Extension.

 

Getting into vegetable gardening, but don’t know where to start?

Even experienced gardeners know there’s always more to learn. To help both beginners and advanced gardeners find answers to their questions, the UF/IFAS Leon County Extension Office put together the North Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide. It incorporates multiple resources, including articles, planting calendars, photos, and UF/IFAS EDIS publications.

The North Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide covers the many aspects of vegetable gardening, including how to get started, site selection, insects and biodiversity in the garden, soil testing, composting, cover crops in the garden, irrigation, and more.

You can click here to view the digital version of the guidebook. We also have physical copies of the guide available at the UF/IFAS Leon County Extension Office (615 Paul Russell Rd., Tallahassee, FL 32301).

Happy fall gardening!

Plant Preparation for Changing Seasons!

Plant Preparation for Changing Seasons!

As October gets by us and November quickly approaches, I would like to include the preparation on What to Plant? And What to Do? Some great annual plant choices are digitalis (foxglove), petunias, and Shasta daisy. There are many daffodil bulb varieties for North Florida including the following: Carlton, Fortune, Silver Charms, Thalia, and Sweetness. We will be getting into more of the cooler days, so this is a good time to start bulb onions and salad crops such as arugula, lettuce, and spinach. Dill, fennel, oregano, and sage are all herbs that can be planted throughout the fall months.

Start preparing now so your fall garden will be full of dark leafy greens, multi-colored lettuces, and root vegetables of all shapes and sizes. Photo by Molly Jameson.

In lawns there are a few key things that can be done in October. It is possible to control winter weeds before they appear. This is the time to use preemergent herbicides when nighttime temperatures are between 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit for four to five days in a row. If a green lawn is desired, you can overseed with annual ryegrass when the daytime temperatures are in the low 70s. Remember, the lawn will still need to be watered and mowed to maintain a healthy ryegrass. Watch for fungus like brown patch and large patch disease. This can become active when the soil temperature is between 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hollies also attract bees to the landscape.
Credit: Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County

And last but not least as you prepare for winter around the corner you can plant evergreen hollies that will make it through the cold and provide a splash of color with red berries. Gather pine needles that are dropping and use as a natural mulch, and this is the last month that strawberry plants can be established in a bed or a large container.

Should Pepper Seeds Be Saved?

Should Pepper Seeds Be Saved?

There seems to be a lot of interest in being sustainable and saving seeds is one way to be food sustainable.  Should you save seeds from your garden?  When it comes to peppers and a number of other vegetables in your garden…it depends.

Wakulla Master Gardener Bill Osborne shows off some of the peppers he grew.

Hybrid vs. Open-pollinated

If you plan to save seed from your peppers, you first need to determine whether you planted open pollinated or hybrid peppers.  Hybrid varieties are produced from two distinct pepper varieties and are often designated by “F1” appearing after the variety name.  The seed from hybrid varieties is not usually saved because it does not produce plants and fruit that are true to the original variety.  Open-pollinated varieties are developed from inbreeding plants for multiple generations to develop a stable genetic make-up.  Seeds saved from these varieties will produce plants and fruit that are true to type.

How to Save Seed

To save seed of a known variety, it is important to isolate flowers or plants to ensure cross pollination from other varieties does not occur.  There are four common ways to isolate flower/plants.

  1. Isolate plants from pollinizer insects by growing them indoors or in a greenhouse.
  2. Cover individual plants with insect exclusion netting.
  3. Separate different varieties by at least 400 feet.
  4. Put a small bag over an emerging flower until it has self-pollinated.  Then remove the bag for fruit development.

The options above will help ensure your plants produce seed true to type.  A fun experiment would be to save seed from plants/fruit that are not isolated and planted near other pepper varieties.  There are endless possibilities on the peppers your new varieties would produce and you may end up developing your own named cultivar.  You could also choose one of the isolation techniques listed to selectively cross different pepper plants.  One misconception about growing peppers is that hot peppers planted near sweet peppers will influence the flavor of the sweet peppers.  As you may have gathered from the information about crossing varieties, the flavor of the next generation will be influenced by hot and sweet pepper being allowed to cross pollinate.

German Sandoya (left) examining seed samples in a lab at the Everglades Research and Education Center. Photo University of Florida/IFAS

Harvesting and Processing Seed

Peppers should be allowed to mature before seed is harvested.  In fact, germination rates are higher when peppers are allowed to dry for at least one month before seeds are harvested.  Make sure that no mold or disease is on the peppers, because this could affect germination rates.  To harvest the seeds, simply remove them from the pepper and remove any flesh from the pepper.  If the seed was harvested from fresh peppers, rinse the seed thoroughly and allow to dry before placing in a sealable bag or container.  If the peppers were allowed to dry before seed harvest, then the rinse step can probably be skipped.  Store the seed in a cool, dark, and dry location such as a refrigerator.