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John Timaeus /
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2024-01-16 23:55:26

John Timaeus on Nostr: npub1p9hxd…ln3uq Halftime report on a long hard freeze: Polar vortex deep freezes ...

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Halftime report on a long hard freeze:

Polar vortex deep freezes are now becoming normal. We’re halfway through the January 2024 polar vortex, so I figured I’d write a little about how we’re keeping plants alive as the temps drop to 5F/-14C and the weather stays basically below freezing for a full week.
In-ground row crops: We’ve got various winter veg, mainly greens, right now. We topped the tall ones and took the largest of the kohlrabi. Then we covered them with two layers of ag-15 row cover. They are currently maintaining a temp difference of 5F/2.5C at night, and more than 15F/8C with sunlight. We had some tunnel collapse from snow & wind. We’ll know later what survived.
In-ground trees: We have two meyer lemons and a bay laurel in a very exposed part of the front yard. These all got a wire frame around them, filled with loose leaves, then covered with ag-15 and 8mil translucent plastic. The lemons also got a wrapping of incandescent Christmas lights, ~50 watts each. There’s no way to get a good temp reading, but this type of scheme has worked for us before. There’s also a trifoliate orange rootstock in the same area – it’s on its own.
Unheated greenhouse: We have a QuicTent polytunnel with basil & cilantro on a planting table. This is covered with ag-15 and a moving blanket. This is holding 10F/5C above at night, 15F/8C with sunlight. The basil is probably dead, the cilantro will probably be blanched, but survive.

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