Icy spell bad for tropical plants
Pity the poor people with citrus and avocado trees. Iced.
Jade plants. Turned to mush.
Bougainvillea. Freeze-dried.
The week-long freezing temperatures knocked out our tender
tropical and sub-tropical plants. Some are dead. Some are merely
damaged.
Icy spell bad for tropical plants
Pity the poor people with citrus and avocado trees. Iced.
Jade plants. Turned to mush.
Bougainvillea. Freeze-dried.
The week-long freezing temperatures knocked out our tender tropical and sub-tropical plants. Some are dead. Some are merely damaged.
The question now: What is to be done next?
The answeer: Nothing. At least not right now.
As hard as it is to ignore the damage, just turn your back on it and walk back indoors.
The way to treat freeze-damaged plants is to wait until new spring growth kicks in. Some things that look totally dead will come back with surprising vigor. Some things that look like they’ve made it will never recover. But you can’t tell until the new growth appears.
When you see signs of new growth – I’m guessing it will be late February or early March for most plants – then take your pruning shears and loppers and start snipping. Luckily our roses and deciduous fruit trees have not yet started to bud out, so there is no damage there. They simply slip back into deep dormancy and wait for warmer weather.
You will notice at once the damage to citrus and avocados. Within a week, freeze-damaged lemon and oranges will start to show rot. Go ahead and pick off the rotting fruit and toss it in the garbage. They are truly dead and gone. Branches of bougainvillea are blackened and will eventually need to be cut back. Jade plants are nearly impossible to bring back from freezing temperatures.
Keep in mind that it has not been cold enough to totally kill plants. The difference is the soil: The tops may look awful but the roots are still alive in the soil.
Whether you decide to totally give up on a plant and start over, or try to revive it depends on how you feel about the plant. The best advice is to wait and give the poor thing a chance after pruning off the freeze damage. Cut back into healthy wood about 2 inches beyond the dead wood.
And keep in mind that it’s not all bad news.
Fruit trees such as apples and cherries need as many as 900 hours of chill time (below 45 degrees) to set a decent crop. That hasn’t happened in recent years, and the fruit harvest has been lousy. Expect lots of fruit next spring and summer.
Cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and other winter vegetables grow better and taste richer after they’ve been nipped by the cold. Expect a tasty harvest.
Tulips, hyacinths and some other bulbs produce bigger flowers on longer stems after a decent cold spell. The spring flower show should be spectacular.
Garden pests such as whiteflies and similar tropical bad guys can’t take very cold winters. Look for a healthier garden next season.
