I often connect the months of the year with the seasonal job to be performed in the veg garden . I normally think of the calendar month of April – May as the planting season , while June – July is the originate season with its sustainment task of weeding and watering ; August – September is the harvesting season , and October , well , that is my “ paranoia ” season .
October is paranoia season because in our area , it is the first rime month — usually around the 15th of the calendar month . It can arrive earlier or later , but we cognize it is going to happen ; we just do n’t cognize exactly when . I always have Madagascar pepper take just a short more sentence to work to that brilliant red or perfect aureate yellow , or tomato plant on one plant or the other that are obtuse in ripening , or that one lettuce bed that is just pop to sway , so I am glued to the atmospheric condition report , trying to take in that first block warning . I ca n’t enumerate the time we ’ve had a frost , and then right afterwards , Amerindic summer shows up smiling and bringing temperatures in the 70 and 80 for a brace of week after all the icing damage is done . I have finally come to the decision that waiting for that halt admonition is too former because there areprecautions that can be take on to extend the growing season before that fear Robert Lee Frost forecast .
There are two type of frost , advective and radiation . Advective frost occur when a cold front sweep into an country . A irradiation frost occur under serene winds and clear sky , allowing radiant warmth from the solid ground to rise to the upper layers of the atmosphere . With radiation frost , the deficiency of wind prevents mixing of the airwave and an inversion develops . An anastrophe is just a fancy way of saying “ matter get turned around from the normal . ” ordinarily the air close to the footing is the warmest , but when an anastrophe happens , cold air collects near the ground while the warmer breeze lies above the trapped frigid airwave . During an inversion , stale air is just like water running down a hill — it seeks the lowest full point because it is heavier than quick melody , and frost pocket may form . The first frost typically is a actinotherapy frost that come on a calm , clear night .
There are several things we can do when a frost admonition is issued :
Harvest too soon : Flowering plants such as beans , tomatoes , peppers , eggplant , squash and gumbo ask to be harvested if there is no way to protect them . Fruit harvested in the mature green stage will still mature , but lamentably will not have the same flavor as a vine - ripen fruit .
Water before a frost : damp territory can hold approximately four prison term more high temperature than teetotal soil . damp filth can also conduct heat to the territory surface faster than teetotal soil , providing some Robert Frost protection . A Cornell University bailiwick suggests thatthe tune temperature above a wet soil is 5 ° Fhigher than that above a ironic soil , and in the study , that difference was maintained until 6 a.m. The conclusion of this field of study was that plant could benefit from watering the evening before a frost .
Cover your plant : A blanket can provide anywhere from 2º to 6º F of protection , reckon on the character of material used . The covers can be laid justly on top of the plants or can be supported by stakes or a systema skeletale , the main remainder being that there isless frost protection when the cover touches the plant . Any textile can be used as cover ; however , woven cloth are better insulators than plastics or newspaper publisher . The good time to apply covers is in the late afternoon after the hint die down . move out the cover charge the next morning .
Additional Tips and Tasks for October :
source :
Phillips , Ben , “ Freeze Damage in Fall vegetable : Identifying and Preventing,”http://msue.anr.msu.edu / news / freeze_damage_in_fall_vegetables_identifying_and_preventing
“ Understanding Frost , ” Cornell Cooperative Extension , http://www.gardening.cornell.edu / conditions / frost.pdf
Clemson Cooperative Extension , Publication HGIC 1322 , “ Sweet Potato,”http://www.clemson.edu / extension / hgic / plants / veg / crop / hgic1322.html
Virginia Cooperative Extension , Publication 426 - 401 , “ Asparagus”,http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426 - 401/426 - 401.html
Colorado State University , Publication GMG # 722 , “ Frost Protection and extend the Growing Season,”http://www.ext.colostate.edu / mg / gardennotes/722.html
