Frost Protection Sprays

April 3, 2024

Getting worried about first frost? Don’t be, because we have strategies to help protect your crops from freezing. Your overall plant health contributes significantly to frost resistance. In particular, frost resistance will improve naturally as plants develop more waxy leaves and produce higher levels of fat and lipids, all indicative of a high level of photosynthesis and sugar production.

How Frost Damages Crops

Before we can proactively prevent crop damage from frost, we need to understand how frost actually damages plants. Water gets into the interstitial space of the leaf, crystalizes, and then the sharp edges of the crystals turn the cell into mush.

So what are our options for frost protection? Obviously, get the plant as healthy as possible to naturally defend against frost, but here are some specific options that will work:

Frost Protection for Your Crops

Decrease Freezing Temperature

This method is similar to salting a road to keep it from freezing. In the case of plant production, urea is usually used instead of salt, which is a non-organic salty form of nitrogen. Other organic products that would do the same thing would be potassium and SeaCrop, both salty by nature.

Non-Organic Option:

If you want to try to urea approach here is what we recommend: 1-2 lbs. urea can make a big difference applied 1-2 days before a freeze event, along with calcium and silica.

Organic Option:

Organic options would be 3-5 lbs. Natural-Cal, which includes calcium and a protein form of nitrogen, along with 1-2 qt. Amino Blend, and 1 pound of Sil-Max for silica. Silica has long been known to increase freeze resistance. SeaCrop and SeaStim could be added if desired, as could copper and manganese depending on what you feel is most deficient. All rates are per acre, and we would like to see only 20-40 gallons of water as a carrier.

Increase Pectin Levels

In order to prevent freezing inside the plant, we need to dry up the water in the interstitial space. When plants have high levels of pectin, the pectin will reduce or eliminate the free water in the interstitial space. This pectin layer is built by calcium, silica, and boron. We see the fastest response from foliar applications. With the right form of silica, a noticeable difference in leaf thickness and cell hardness can usually be noticed inside a week. In addition, it is important to understand that nitrate nitrogen can actually increase frost susceptibility because it triggers the plant to take up an excessive amount of water and triggers unhealthy, watery cells. So we could say that magnesium, sulfur, and molybdenum, the minerals needed to convert nitrates into proteins, are also important for frost protection.

Manganese and Copper: Natural Frost Resistance

There are also several other nutrients that contribute to freeze resistance. These are manganese and copper. We don’t really know how it works but we know that they contribute.

Water Sprinkling for Strawberries

For strawberries, another really good option is water sprinkling. We start by covering up the plants with a floating row cover about April 1. Then we closely watch temperatures. Anytime the temperature drops beneath 32-33⁰ underneath the row covers, the sprinklers need to be started. If it is cold enough, the water will freeze on top of the row cover and create a tight insulation blanket and will likely save the blooms and buds. Remember that typical water is 45-50⁰, which helps bring heat to the berries even if it doesn’t freeze.

Natural Frost Protection Products from Keystone Bio-Ag

The most important piece of information here is to make sure your plants are getting the proper nutrients which will naturally help prevent against frost. Keystone Bio-Ag offers all-natural fertilizers and nutrients for your crops no matter the season. We also have a team of regenerative agriculture consultants to help get the most out of your harvest. Contact one of our consultants today to learn more about sustainable agriculture.