How to Protect Plants From Frost in the Spring
- 1). Stay on top of the weather during those April and May nights when frost can still occur. Listen for frost advisories on the radio and television weather forecasts. Utilize the tables that can enlighten you to as when to expect the last frost in your part of the United States that are online or in publications like the "Farmer's Almanac." The best way to avoid having to protect your plants in the spring is not to put them in jeopardy too early.
- 2). Cover your plants once a frost warning arrives. Do this before darkness sets in or it will be a useless endeavor. You want to keep the heat of the day that the ground stores up close to the plant, so cover them with newspapers, linens, pails, buckets or tin cans before the sun goes down. Consider using things as lightweight and handy as jars, paper cups and cut-off plastic milk jugs to cover some of your smaller plants.
- 3). Take off any coverings the next morning, once all threat of the freeze passes. Leaving a covering on the plant during the day stresses it as well and may even kill it.
- 4). Bring in any potted plants light enough to carry at night and place them back outside in the morning. Consider keeping such plants in an enclosed porch where they have access to full sun for most of the day until frost is no longer a possibility.
- 5). Pull out the hose and completely water your plants before a projected major springtime freeze. Although this would seem contradictory to good sense, in reality the water that the soil gives off into the surrounding air near the plant as time elapses will serve to keep the area around the plant warmer. This can spell the difference between the vegetation living or dying.
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