know your cold tolerant vegetables

[majorcatfish]

probably have posted this a couple years back since then we have new members on board figured this would be a good time to repost this...


In early fall, it pays to keep an eye on nighttime temperatures. Don't caught off guard by frost. Make sure to get the last of your crops harvested in time. To help you, here's a simple list of common vegetables and their frost tolerance.
was able last year to extend the growing season by covering what i had in the raised beds with clear plastic....

this article came from www.botanicalinterests.com

Light Frost - Temperatures 28-32 degrees F
Hard Frost - Temperatures below 28 degrees F.

Likely damaged by light frost: Beans, cucumbers, eggplants, muskmelon, New Zealand spinach, okra, peppers, pumpkins, summer squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon, amaranth, and winter squash (plants).

Can withstand light frost: Artichokes, beets, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chinese cabbage, endive, lettuce, parsnips, peas, swiss chard, escarole, arugula, bok choy, mache, and radicchio.

Can withstand hard frost: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, onions, parsley, peas, radishes, spinach, turnips, leeks, and sorrel.

It is important to understand that temperature is not the only factor affecting survivorship of plants during a frost event. The further a plant or its parts are from the ground, the more likely it is to be damaged by frost. The ground is usually still warm in early fall and will radiate some warmth to plants that are close to the ground. Humidity can also help protect plants from frost. Humid air holds more heat and reduces the drying effects of frost. Air movement also has an influence on frost damage. When wind blows during cold nights, it sweeps away any warm air trapped near stuctures or the ground, eliminating their insulating capabilities.

Tender plants can be protected from a few light frosts with row covers or blankets. Mulched beets, carrots, leeks, onions, radishes, and parsnips can be harvested later in fall before the ground freezes. Light frost makes leafy greens and root vegetables sweeter, so it's worth leaving some of your kale and carrots in the ground until you're ready to use them. Regardless of the protection from frost, natural or man-made, any temperature below 25 degrees F is dangerous territory for vegetable plants.

Early fall is a great time to sow salad crops in a cold frame for harvest in late fall and early winter. Bok choy, lettuce, mesclun, kale, mustard, and spinach are a few good varieties to try.

 

[thistlebloom]

Thanks Major, that's good info.

We had a frost that damaged the tomatoes back in September so I took them out. But since then I don't think we've even got down to 32. It's been freakishly warm here.

 

[digitS']

Humid air holds more heat and reduces the drying effects of frost.

It looks to me that the dehydration of plants by ice forming on their surfaces and within their tissue is the cause of damage. There is probably more to it than that. After all, some plants can freeze to the point of cracking and still survive. Other plants are damaged as the temperature approaches freezing.

Protection by sprinklers is common. Some folks say that encasing the plant in ice keeps it warmer. I can't understand how that would be. Maybe if the plant is a 4,000# Douglas fir. Lettuce leaves, having almost no volume, will be protected from water loss by the ice. It may not be as important to lettuce but at some point on the thermometer, it will be.

Ice can build up until leaves and stems break. It really is best if ice does not form but that depends partly on air temperature. Still, our soil temperature and well water tends to be about 55° around here. That 55° water is nearly always a good thing to be throwing around if the air temperature is below 32°.

Finally, it has been my experience that soil moisture is also important. The plant should go into freezing temperatures adequately hydrated.

Steve

 

[ccheek]

Thanks, @majorcatfish. Very helpful information. This will be my first year for a Fall garden. We are starting out okay so we'll see how it goes. But, my spring/summer plants are still producing considering the unusually warms temps here in Oklahoma, so I hate to pull anything to make room. My garden area is looking pretty funny and completely unorganized at this point.

 

[baymule]

At our old house, 75 miles north of Houston, Texas (and very close to the Gulf of Mexico) I grew cole crops all winter. Every so often, we'd even get snow, never hurt the broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, etc.

I planted broccoli, kale, red cabbage, green cabbage and leeks on the hugelculture bed. We'll see how it goes.

 

[ccheek]

Baymule, my sister lives in Port Neches. Everytime I go down there I tell her she needs to start a garden. I don't know that she would even need to tend to it. It always rains everyday we're there, but not too much to drown anything. We go down there every January and July. In it still feels like our Fall or Spring weather (other than the 100% humidity 24/7). In July it's hot, but seems to always have some type of overcast. She could have a garden year round that she never even has to water and doesn't have to worry about burning up, lol.

 

[digitS']

Frost effects on plants are interesting.

I was in the gardens after their 4th frost, the first 2 were way back in September. (Since it's 29.5° at 5:30am at the big veggie garden's nearest weather underground station, there is a #5 notch on Jack Frost's pistol grip this morning.)

Cucumbers and melons were flattened with the first frost. Nearly all flowers were damaged and the top third of unprotected dahlia plants were killed.

Zucchini tops were also killed but there was still some life out there in those plants, yesterday. Near freezing temperatures nights, right through the last 3 weeks, have kept anything but the hardiest weeds from actually growing but, I bet I could have picked a handful of green beans, yesterday! ... they aren't a top-set variety. Of course, we brought some cabbage and kale home .

There are some adjustments plants make to frost and frost damage unless the cold comes suddenly. Nearly always, some efforts to protect plants and limit damage from the first frosts that occur, are rewarded. After 3 or 4 ... yer dun.

Steve

 

[baymule]

@ccheek I gardened all year around. We were truly seasonal eaters. Your sister could feed her family in a small space. don't be fooled, though. In July and August it is scorching HOT plus the humidity makes the air positively liquid.

 

[baymule]

At our old house in Livingston, winter didn't faze our garden one bit. Now we live north of Tyler Tx, 160 miles further north. I have planted broccoli, kale, and cabbage. We'll see how it goes!

Sleet on broccoli in Livingston

Snow on red cabbage

Snow on lettuce

 

[majorcatfish]

figure it's a good time to bring this one back......