412 Plant Frost Protection Tips

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 It's October and it's starting to get a little chillier in the morning.

spk_0 Maybe freezing temperatures will be a reality where you live at some point this month or next.

spk_0 Today, America's favorite retired college horticultural professor, Debbie Flower,

spk_0 has tips for protecting in-ground plants as well as potted plants. We cover frost and freeze

spk_0 protection strategies, covering relocation, watering, mulching, frostcloth alternatives,

spk_0 and perhaps you might decide to move those plants indoors,

spk_0 tips for managing indoor conditions for plant health through the winter.

spk_0 It's episode 412, frost protection tips for your plants.

spk_0 We're podcasting from Barking Dog Studios here in the beautiful La Buta La Jungle in suburban

spk_0 purgatory. It's the garden basics with farmer-fried podcast. Let's go.

spk_0 We're at that time of year where if you're growing any plants that, well,

spk_0 may need some protection in the winter time, you may be wanting to move them indoors.

spk_0 Citrus is a great example. People growing citrus outside of USDA zone 9, if you're in zones 8 or

spk_0 7 or below and you have a citrus tree in a pot, you might want to bring it indoors for the winter.

spk_0 But can you leave it in the garage? Where do you put it in the house? How do you take care of it?

spk_0 How do you take care of any plants that you're over-wintering indoors? It could be

spk_0 sensitive house plants that are outdoors in the summertime that you're bringing back in.

spk_0 It could be a succulent collection. You want to give some protection to. There's a lot of variables

spk_0 when it comes to over-wintering plants. A lot of options available.

spk_0 Here running the option play for us is our favorite quarterback, America's favorite retired college,

spk_0 Horticultural Professor Debbie Flower is here. You mentioned that you now are in the process of

spk_0 over-wintering things. I am. Yes. I always think I'm not going to have plants in pots outside.

spk_0 I'm going to plant them all. They're all going to get in the ground and get established and do well.

spk_0 I never reach that point. I always have a whole collection of stuff in pots outside.

spk_0 Some of it can stay over-winter and some of it needs a little more protection than that.

spk_0 In a lot of cases, at least here in USDA zone 9 for sensitive plants, sometimes all you need to do

spk_0 is move them if they're in a pot closer to the house when very cold weather is expected,

spk_0 like on the south or west side, especially if there's a reflective, hard surface beneath it.

spk_0 Sun will warm up during the day. We get very bright sunny days in winter and that reflected heat will

spk_0 last a while over the winter. We can do things like group them together so that they insulate each

spk_0 other. We can put things around the pot, like mulch of some sort, get a bell of straw and

spk_0 spread that around the pot to insulate a little bit to keep it from changing temperature.

spk_0 We can't prevent it from getting cold. Mulching around a pot will not prevent it from getting cold,

spk_0 but it will prevent it from getting water in it and then freezing overnight. If you go through

spk_0 that process, water and freezing, water and freezing, eventually it pushes the plant out of the pot.

spk_0 That's not good. No, that's not good. All right, well, let's take this one step at a time. Maybe

spk_0 people have sensitive plants that are in really big pots and they don't look forward the idea.

spk_0 Moving it closer to the house or even moving it indoors, and actually, I think the first line of

spk_0 defense in over-wintering a plant has offered it protection in its place and that could be as simple

spk_0 as a frost cloth. A frost cloth, right. If you're going to use a frost cloth, you can purchase them

spk_0 at your local garden center and you want to drape it over the plant completely and all the way to the

spk_0 ground. What it's going to do is trap the heat that leaves the ground and rises up above the plant

spk_0 at night. If you have a frost cloth over, it's like having a porch roof, it will trap that heat,

spk_0 but you want it all the way around the plant and all the way down to touching whatever the plant is

spk_0 sitting on. Over the pot down to the sidewalk or the patio or the deck, if it's a deck, that's an

spk_0 unfortunate because you're still going to get some air movement around that and the heat could go

spk_0 away, but you're still going to provide it some protection. In addition to that, then you could add

spk_0 light bulbs. Light bulbs give off heat. If not LEDs, they don't give off a lot of heat. But all

spk_0 fashion Christmas lights, you've talked about this and something my dad used to call the trouble light,

spk_0 which was on the end of an orange extension cord and it had a little cage over it so that when you're

spk_0 working somewhere in the attic or basement or whatever, it doesn't and you drop stuff, it doesn't

spk_0 break the light bulb with an incandescent bulb in there. So save those incandescent bulbs. They're

spk_0 going to get their hard to find in stores these days, but save the ones you have for that purpose.

spk_0 But they give off heat. They give off heat and so that heat under the frost cloth will collect and

spk_0 prevent the plant from freezing. You're only going to buy a few few degrees of protection,

spk_0 but a few degrees may be all you need. When we were living in the country, there was one winter where

spk_0 it got abominably cold from like a week or so in December to the point where pipes and addics

spk_0 were burst. And our neighbor crossed the street out there in the country had a well. We all had

spk_0 a well and he had one of those shop lights focused right on the pipe that came out of the well

spk_0 that goes back into the ground and into his house. So I guess he was out of insulating rap for that

spk_0 pipe. So he threw a blanket over it along with the shop light and did he save his plumbing?

spk_0 I think so. I think everybody suffered some in that freeze. I lost a lemon in that.

spk_0 It was in the ground lemon and it died back to the ground and I just waited and it regrouped.

spk_0 But yeah, it was in a corner of a block fence. So it has some protection.

spk_0 If you don't have a frost cloth, what are the pros and cons of using a blanket?

spk_0 Well, it needs to be lightweight. I've used sheets and they get wet over when overnight because

spk_0 you can have dew and they get heavy and so they can damage the plant unless you prop them up.

spk_0 So ideally you put a maybe a tomato cage around the plant or you put a whole series of steaks

spk_0 tall well anchored steaks around the plant and hold that blanket up over the plant or sheet.

spk_0 I have these sheets as well. So it's not resting on the leaves of the plant.

spk_0 Right. And especially if it happened to rain or there was a heavy do or the sprinklers headed,

spk_0 that would be a lot of extra weight. Yes. Right. You do not want to use plastic.

spk_0 Why is that? It any sun gets through. You don't get out there and as soon as the sun comes up to

spk_0 take it off, it will burn. It will get so hot inside there that the plant will burn. If it gets

spk_0 icy, it can freeze to the plant. It doesn't allow air to move outside inside. You do not want to use

spk_0 plastic. So if you're using plastic, I've talked to people who will use a frost cloth, but then they

spk_0 put plastic on the outside, thinking that's an extra layer of protection. Have they been successful?

spk_0 You know, if it works for you, fine, but keep it in mind. Right. Right. I would not do that. It's a

spk_0 creating a greenhouse, but without ventilation, all greenhouses should have 25% of their roof area

spk_0 open for ventilation. And that's hard to find in a small greenhouse, but that's the rule of thumb.

spk_0 And that's so that you do have some airflow and you don't build up moisture. You could cause mold

spk_0 and fungus to grow on that plant. I would not use plastic at all. And good point mentioning

spk_0 take it off when the sun comes out the next day. Yes. Now what about for frost cloth?

spk_0 Should you remove the frost cloth after the threat of freezing temperatures?

spk_0 Frost cloth is not as critical. Frost cloth breathes. So the plant can get the air at needs,

spk_0 it can get rid of the air, it expels out of its leaves. However, it does reduce the amount of

spk_0 light that the plant gets. Although typically there's not a lot going on and metabolically,

spk_0 biologically in the plant during the winter, bite levels are much lower than they were in the summer

spk_0 temperatures are so low that plants don't do a lot below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. So it's not as critical.

spk_0 We have had active discussions about whether to mulch in ground plants in the threat of a

spk_0 frost or a freeze, especially for citrus plants. And frankly, in an urban situation,

spk_0 just leave the mulch. Now if you have an orchard of citrus trees, you may want to rake back

spk_0 that mulch in order for the soil to heat up during the day and release it at night.

spk_0 Yeah, the thing that holds heat in soil is moisture. If you have very sandy soil,

spk_0 you may want to mulch with organic matter because that will hold more moisture than your sandy

spk_0 soil will. If you have long, good gardening soil, if you have clay, then yes, you want the sun to

spk_0 hit that soil so that the moisture in the soil can absorb the heat. However, if you have hard

spk_0 frosts, if it gets below 32 at night, I would not remove the mulch because that's when you have

spk_0 the freezing thawing cycle and that can ice is bigger than water. So you have water on the plant

spk_0 during the day and then at night, it gets really cold and that water freezes and it takes up more

spk_0 space and it can push the plant right out of the ground. What is the difference between a frost,

spk_0 a freeze and a hard freeze? A frost is when you get ice crystals on plant parts. The air temperature

spk_0 gets to about 32 degrees and you just get some ice crystals. Freeze is when you get,

spk_0 it gets a little colder than that between 28 and 32 and a hard freeze is 28 degrees or below.

spk_0 And the hard freeze is the one that you worry about. Hard freeze is the one that can kill a citrus

spk_0 tree because it actually affects the cambium layer. There's not enough self-insolation in that

spk_0 chunk. Yeah. And frost cloth might offer you what two degrees, four degrees of protection if

spk_0 it's really thick frost cloth. Right. Yes. Frost cloth does come in gradations, thicknesses,

spk_0 and will protect for different amounts of cold. Now, if the upcoming freeze or frost is coming

spk_0 as a surprise to you and it's like four o'clock in the afternoon, you're thinking, what am I going to

spk_0 do now? Maybe watering the plant might help. Yes. But you can either water the soil

spk_0 but it needs to have it. That water needs to have enough exposure to the sunlight to absorb heat,

spk_0 what like we were talking about with removing the mulch. Or, and this is done in vineyards,

spk_0 you turn on the water when the temperature gets below 32 degrees and you're spraying the top of

spk_0 the plant, but you have to leave that water on until the temperature rises again above 32 degrees.

spk_0 What that does is creates a layer of ice around the plant. The water is warmer than 32 if it

spk_0 wasn't, it wouldn't flow and it lands on the plant and it freezes and it creates at, it stays at

spk_0 32 degrees. But you have to keep adding the water for it to stay at 32 degrees. Otherwise,

spk_0 the ice can become colder. I would think that would be a very gentle application of water,

spk_0 like almost from some sort of misting system. No, they use, I have seen it in orchards and they

spk_0 just use a spray irrigation system and it's, it's a, it seems like a lot of water. Exactly. I was

spk_0 going to say it's kind of a horrible waste of water, especially when we, we're sensitive to it

spk_0 because we live in such a dry environment, but other places have more water to spare.

spk_0 Real rich citrus owners will hire some guy to fly over in a helicopter. Yes, they will. Yes,

spk_0 and that's because at night the ground loses heat and it rises. It's colder above it and

spk_0 heat rises. And so the heat in the ground, the soil, the patio, whatever it's in starts to rise and

spk_0 it gets above the plant. And so after several hours of this, it's colder down at the ground than

spk_0 it is at helicopter level. And so the helicopter is brought in and it just hovers over the orchard and

spk_0 it pushes the air down. It pushes the warm air down. But if your name isn't Elon, you probably

spk_0 can't afford to have a helicopter flying overhead at night. And you know, if your neighbors

spk_0 are loving it, it's noisy. Another strategy too for protecting in ground plants from a frost or

spk_0 a freeze is skirting the tree, removing those branches that are touching the ground and allowing

spk_0 that heat to get further up into the canopy. I hadn't heard of that one. I'm a big fan of

spk_0 keeping the canopies of plants fairly open to allow air and beneficial insects to get into the

spk_0 canopy and do their job. So air flow is impeded by branches with lots of leaves on them.

spk_0 Right. And we've talked to in the past about those lower branches if they're touching the ground,

spk_0 they could be getting infected by disease from splashing soil, disease spores, or the facts that

spk_0 ants and rats use them as a way to get us into the tree when it's time. And you may want to

spk_0 avoid that. Another option too if you've got plants and containers is to have a greenhouse.

spk_0 Yes, which is something I have and I take them in there and you have a heater in there?

spk_0 No, but the greenhouse has a, it doesn't have the 25% venting that I would really like it to have

spk_0 has one vent that moves automatically based on temperature. So that closes in the winter and I

spk_0 close the door and and that's it. I have a fan just because I believe in fans in plants moving

spk_0 and in a greenhouse you have to have a fan to do that. So I just close it up and hope for the best.

spk_0 I have a heater in mine. It's 110. So it just plugs into a regular outlet. It has a fan built into it.

spk_0 It's meant for greenhouses and with a thermostat. So if I want the indoor temperature to not fall

spk_0 below a certain level and usually depends on what I'm growing in there, but it's usually

spk_0 keeping it above 50 degrees for a lot of things. I mean, if I had tropical plants it might be 60 or

spk_0 60 or 5 degrees. Yeah, tropical plants don't obey the 45 degrees. Yeah, they don't. So that is one

spk_0 option is it's doing that. All right. So if you don't have the greenhouse, but you have a lot of

spk_0 potted plants and you say, now we're just going to move them indoors. Do you move them indoors or do

spk_0 you move them inside a shed or a garage? Well, those are all options. First, you want to look at the plant

spk_0 and if it's been outside for the whole growing season, there's debris on top of the soil in the plant.

spk_0 There's maybe pests on the plant. There may be pests in the drain holes below the plant. So you

spk_0 want to inspect the whole thing and clean out the extra debris. Check the drain holes where

spk_0 we are, slugs are a problem and they go in there during the day because it's nice and Winston dark

spk_0 that's a nice environment for them. So you want to check for those things. Could knock the plant out

spk_0 of the pot. I've done that and found slug eggs and so you want to get rid of those. Get in the media.

spk_0 In that case, you know, you may not want to keep the plant. Then when you bring it in, you have a

spk_0 choice. Bringing it in is going to bring it into an environment of lower light, whether it's your

spk_0 house or a shed with a window or without a window and a garage. It's going to be a lower light

spk_0 than you got outside. So the plant is going to go into a stage of quiescence. It's just going to

spk_0 sit still. Quiescence meaning it's not going to grow. It's not going to do much of anything. You're

spk_0 really just preventing it from dying. Is it dormancy? Quiescence is before dormancy.

spk_0 dormancy is not something we can force on a plant. The plant will get into dormancy based on

spk_0 environmental cues like day length and and temperature and we can't cutting off leaves. We

spk_0 cannot force a rose for instance into dormancy by taking its leaves off. We have we do not have

spk_0 that power. The plant responds in a hormonal way to changes in day length and changes in temperature.

spk_0 But we can take the leaves off that have fungus on them, that have aphids on them, that have other

spk_0 diseases or pests on them and when we bring it indoors into this lower level of light it will lose

spk_0 more leaps. So be prepared for that. You want to isolate the plants from any other plant you have

spk_0 in your house because hopefully you got everything off of it, everything bad and nasty but maybe

spk_0 you didn't and you don't want that to spread to your other plants. Ideally you have a place that

spk_0 does have some sun coming in from a window a south facing window would be great and you just can

spk_0 collect your plants there. I would put them on something an old tablecloth, old sheet, something

spk_0 that where the leaves that decline over time will fall and you have a way to collect them.

spk_0 I'm surprised the local rosariants aren't out picketing us right now. I know they believe that

spk_0 they can force a plant into dormancy. I'm sorry but you can't. So are you wasting your time

spk_0 stripping all the leaves off of a rose bush in December thinking you're going to put it to sleep?

spk_0 Well you're not going to put it to sleep. That's just not going to work. You are

spk_0 however removing potential sort of roses get a lot of pest problems, a lot of fungus.

spk_0 You could remove those sources of reinvestation by doing that. You would also need to

spk_0 rake up what has fallen on the ground, what has already fallen off and landed on the ground because

spk_0 that's a source of infestation to especially a fungus. And fungus is our number one disease problem

spk_0 in plants in general. I guess with roses too you could do like they do back east and just

spk_0 cover them in straw. Right and they do that. They cut them way back and cover them sometimes

spk_0 they dig them up and lay them down and bury them to prevent them from freezing and they're covering

spk_0 them with mulch so that they don't heave and the heaving is what I was talking about with the ice

spk_0 and the water going back and forth ice water, ice water, ice water, ice water, ice and eventually

spk_0 it pushes the plant out of the ground. When you've got exposed roots they're going to die.

spk_0 Roots are incredibly sensitive to freezing. They are more sensitive than any other part of the plant

spk_0 except maybe an open flower. I can only think of one year where I noticed the ground was frozen here

spk_0 and it was that winter where pipes were bursting in people's attics and I was amazed that

spk_0 they couldn't put a shovel into the soil and that's commonplace in most of the

spk_0 areas. Yes, places I grew up, places I've lived to be for, places my sons lived. Yes, I'm dealt with

spk_0 that. So we don't usually have to worry about that thawing and heaving issue. We don't. Right.

spk_0 Too much. The other thing you use a mulch for around rose canes is to prevent them from drying out.

spk_0 Cold air is very, very dry. It cannot hold as much moisture as warmer air. The air in winter

spk_0 is very cold. I can remember moving from New Jersey to Arizona in January and going outside and

spk_0 waiting for my nose hairs to freeze to dry up in the freeze and it just wasn't happening. I

spk_0 just couldn't understand it. Different sensations in very cold places. You're containing the moisture.

spk_0 So when the wind comes at least some of the canes, some portion of the canes are protected and

spk_0 they do not dry out. Wow. I did a little trip to the nursery this past week, gawking at the

spk_0 overpriced pumpkins on display. $15. That all kinds. I saw them but I didn't buy them.

spk_0 No, I know. But the other thing that they had that they had potted up and I found this very

spk_0 interesting. They looked to be about five gallon containers. We're merigolds and pepper plants.

spk_0 And I've been told by various nursery people that they are selling a lot of pepper plants these days.

spk_0 This time of year, because people are going to overwinter them. So what tips would you have for

spk_0 somebody who's buying a pepper plant and is going to overwinter them to grow them next year as well?

spk_0 From what I understand, obviously they're not going to be producing much while they're indoors.

spk_0 Right. But you at least get a second season out of it. Although some pepperfician

spk_0 autos tell me that the second year's crop isn't as good as the first. But if you want to try,

spk_0 go ahead. Yeah. I think it's a lot of work for very little reward. Well, you don't know pepper heads.

spk_0 You're right. I'm not a great pepper grower. In Arizona, I had in the ground tomatoes and

spk_0 peppers. And they did overwinter. And I had crops the next year. But in the ground, you have much

spk_0 more root zone. If I were going to overwinter a pepper in a container, I would plan to put it in

spk_0 the ground or in a much bigger pot come spring and overwinter, I would want it to be, you want it

spk_0 to be healthy. So you're going to want it in a greenhouse or in a place or using very high quality

spk_0 artificial lighting and a fan to keep it moving and make sure you water. When you bring plants in the

spk_0 house, typically their rate of growth slows down and you want to water them less often. But winter

spk_0 houses are heated and they are heated with often forced air. And that's a very dry air. It's

spk_0 heating air that would be cold outside that's already dry. So it's dry, warm air. And so the plants

spk_0 lose a lot of water and so you have to water them more often. So you really got to watch that. You

spk_0 want to make sure you water correctly. So you're not overwatering and causing the pepper to rot.

spk_0 But you're watering enough that the pepper doesn't die. Yeah, I mean, you're not trying to actively

spk_0 get peppers to grow to the winter. You're just getting them to sit. What was that word you use?

spk_0 Chiascence? Chiascence, yes. One of the people, I, interior skapers, I know, interior skapers being

spk_0 people who tend plants inside buildings like inside big malls, inside the lawyers office, inside

spk_0 the bank, whatever, you know, where plants are said all you're trying to do is reduce the rate of

spk_0 dying. I would think one way, maybe to counteract the dry forced air problem would be to have that

spk_0 pot resting in another pot that has gravel on the bottom and your pot is resting in that tray

spk_0 that has the gravel in it. And there's water in the tray that raised the humidity. Yes, yes,

spk_0 yes, the tray. It's called a humidity tray. It needs to be substantially bigger than the pot

spk_0 because humidity is just going to rise up around the plant. And you want the pepper pot standing

spk_0 on top of the gravel, not nestled into it because you don't, that would create too much moisture

spk_0 at the bottom of the pot. And you're going to have to fill it real regularly. So you could try with

spk_0 big fan of a litter cat litter boxes, plastic cat litter boxes and get some, you want the gravel to

spk_0 be fairly large and round because then it won't nestle together too much and it'll leave spaces

spk_0 for water. And then you fill it with water and the water is going to come up around the plant and

spk_0 help to keep it moist. But you're going to have to check that daily and maybe fill it daily,

spk_0 depending on how deep it is and how dry your air is. You have no financial interest in kitty litter boxes.

spk_0 Just true. I just have had cats all my life. And so it's like, oh, I know what I can do with that.

spk_0 We didn't talk about protecting outdoor plants and nurseries would like to sell you a bottle

spk_0 of cloud cover or whatever that anti-transparent stuff is. Anti-transparent, yes. So that's a spray

spk_0 that you put on the plant. You need to put it on all surfaces, top, back, and there are directions

spk_0 on the pot. And it's kind of a, I don't know exactly what it's made of. When I started graduate

spk_0 school at UC Davis Department of Agriculture, we did an experiment with cloud cover and sprayed

spk_0 the plants. And then we measured their ability to let moisture and air out of the back of the leaf.

spk_0 So that plants have storm on the backs of the leaves, typically the back, some plants. It's the top.

spk_0 And they open them during the day to allow air into the plants. They can do photosynthesis because

spk_0 you need air to do photosynthesis. And then they close them when they run out of moisture. But

spk_0 it's where air and moisture move in and out of the plant. And when we, there are ways to test

spk_0 what gases are coming out of those leaves. And we did that with the cloud cover. There was excess

spk_0 movement because it created an osmotic difference. And so the plant perceived a higher concentration

spk_0 in the leaf and tried to push the air out and push the water out. And that's what you're trying to

spk_0 preserve with the cloud cover. So if you did excess spray, that stopped, but clogged up the

spk_0 stoma and the plant couldn't do anything. I think in some of those protecting products that you

spk_0 spray on a plant, the active ingredient, if you want to call it an active ingredient, is pine

spk_0 resin. Sticky, sticky, sticky. And yeah, it would suffocate the plant. Right. It just closes the

spk_0 stomach. If it's used heavy enough, if it's used, we did it according to directions on the label.

spk_0 And it just increased the loss of water out of the stoma.

spk_0 Read and follow all label directions as we're fond of saying. And it's very, very true.

spk_0 All right. Going back to moving plants in the house for protecting your crops during the winter time,

spk_0 your plants succulents. Maybe you have some sensitive tropical succulents. Maybe you have some

spk_0 tropical plants that are in movable containers that you can bring indoors. You made a very good

spk_0 point earlier about clean them off. Real good. Don't clean them off and isolate them at first.

spk_0 So you don't want a white fly infestation in your house. Right. Right. When people say,

spk_0 what can I go to made us in the house? Or that's what you're going to get is a white fly infestation.

spk_0 But I mean, if you have enough yellow sticky traps, it's very decorative ornament. Right.

spk_0 There you go. You probably couldn't if you had enough light. I mean, obviously there are people

spk_0 growing guestables indoors. Yes. And flowering plants too if they have enough light.

spk_0 Probably primarily hydroponically, not in soil. And it's a chemically balanced liquid media that moves

spk_0 and is aerated and is clean. And it's you have to dedicate yourself to that if that's what you want to do.

spk_0 Yes. Speaking of dedication, how long can you leave the plants in the house or should you move

spk_0 them back outside when the threat of frost or freeze is gone, even if it is just for eight hours or so?

spk_0 I wouldn't move them in and out because the leaves that form in sun are sun leaves. And when they're

spk_0 moved indoors, the plant will lose them. They because they're inefficient. They have too many

spk_0 cells that the plant has to maintain with and it doesn't have enough light to do that. And then it

spk_0 will make new leaves and they're shade leaves. And when you move them out into greater light, they

spk_0 will burn and they will fall off. So I wouldn't move them in and out. I would keep them indoors until

spk_0 temperatures are such have settled outdoors at the rate that the plant will survive.

spk_0 But eventually they do have to go back outside. Well, or you can keep them in. You can adapt them

spk_0 to staying in, but you know, like succulents, you can keep them in. Succulents really dislike cold

spk_0 wet, by the way. So if you have them outside and you're protecting them or they're, they seem to be

spk_0 hardy enough that they can stay outside. Don't overwater them in winter. Don't let them sit in water.

spk_0 Very good point because we have, you know, that's a common rule of thumb among gardeners that

spk_0 one of the primary methods of protecting an in ground plant from the effects of a freeze is to

spk_0 water it the day before. But with succulents, actually that is a negative. Yes. Succulents aren't

spk_0 exception. They can take it dry. Yes. They prefer a dry. They need some oxygen around their roots and

spk_0 around the base of their stem. Then the good news is winter will pass, spring will come and we

spk_0 can all live happily ever after. Hopefully yes. Yes. With your plants outside where they belong.

spk_0 And not taking up your spare bedroom or wherever. Yep. Yeah. All right. Debbie Flower.

spk_0 America's favorite retired college horticultural professor with the advice on winterizing your

spk_0 plants and keeping them safe when the weather gets a little too chilly. Thank you, Debbie. You're welcome,

spk_0 Fred. Well, it's time to wrap things up here. And truly, I mean wrap things up. This episode,

spk_0 number four, 12 is the last episode of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. It's time to move on.

spk_0 But the Garden Basics episodes will remain for a while at our homepage gardenbasics.net or wherever

spk_0 you get your podcasts, just in case you want to listen or download our advice over the years on a

spk_0 particular garden topic. And with over 400 episodes to choose from, I think we've covered the

spk_0 basics fairly thoroughly over the last five and a half years. Thank you so much for listening to

spk_0 the Garden Basics podcast and supporting us with your kind thoughts too. It's been fun. Well, now what?

spk_0 Well, the good news is the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter and podcast will continue.

spk_0 It'll be coming out every Friday. The newsletter form allows me to offer up pictures of what we're

spk_0 talking about, along with links for more information about the topic. And if a podcast happens to appear

spk_0 in a newsletter edition, there'll be a transcript available. You can find the newsletter and podcast

spk_0 substac.com. That's gardenbasics.substac.com. And for the vast majority of your listeners who have been

spk_0 tuning into the show using Apple podcasts, you can find the Beyond the Garden Basics podcast there

spk_0 as well. And what you're going to be missing though is all the information, pictures and links

spk_0 that you can find at gardenbasics.substac.com. I hope you can download the Substac app.

spk_0 And because there will be no paid ads on the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter and podcast,

spk_0 your financial support is encouraged and needed for that newsletter to continue. So when you go to

spk_0 Gardenbasics.substac.com, please become a paid subscriber. Free subscribers are welcome too,

spk_0 but you're going to get a shortened version of the newsletter in the podcast. Plus, if you are a

spk_0 paid subscriber, you'll have access to the entire library of past Beyond the Garden Basics

spk_0 Newsletters and podcasts of which now there are over 200 editions. By the way, paid subscribers

spk_0 also get to leave their thoughts and comments which are greatly appreciated. So it's time to move on.

spk_0 Hope to see you at the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter and podcast in the future. You can

spk_0 either do an internet search for the link to Beyond the Garden Basics or visit us at substac.com.

spk_0 Again, thank you for your support and kind thoughts for all the past episodes of the Garden Basics

spk_0 with Farmer Fred Podcast.

412 Plant Frost Protection Tips

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