Chumasande MatiwaneAs the cold weather approaches, many gardeners are searching for ways to protect their plants from frost damage. To keep your plants thriving during the winter season, these effective strategies will help.
Understanding what frost damage is
In simple terms, frost damage is the physical damage caused to plants by exposure to freezing temperatures during the cold season. When the temperatures drop, the water in your plants also freezes, leading to physical frost damage within your plants. Morning winter winds can also be a contributing factor in frost damage, leading to faster cooling and freezing. This is because moisture within your plants freezes at high temperatures because of the dry winter air.
Image Credit: Pexels
Preventing frost damage
Preventing can involve doing many things to protect your plants, and that all depends on how severe the damage to your plants is. Before you begin with prevention, you need to understand the symptoms caused by frost. It is important to know that some symptoms of frost damage may not appear immediately. Depending on the plants, it may even take several days for symptoms to be visible. There are, however, many different ways to make sure it doesn’t reach that stage. Prevention may include:
- Covering the plants to protect them from frost
- Apply mulch to insulate the soil while also protecting the roots of your plants
- Looking out for weather changes and staying informed about the weather forecast in your area
- Moving your container-grown plants indoors during the cold season.
Image Credit: Unsplash
How to treat the frost damage?
If you notice that some of your plants have been affected before, you can prevent the damage. There are ways to treat them.
- Assessing the damage
- Removing damaged leaves and stems
- Including additional care
- Adding a balanced fertiliser for recovery
The aim is to be patient, as it may take time for some of your plants to recover. Continue treating the damaged plants, providing the necessary care for full recovery.
Image Credit: Pexels
ALSO SEE: HOUSEPLANTS GETTING MOULDY? TRY THESE FIXES
Feature Image: Pexels
