It’s only a matter of time before your garden is hit with a bad fall frost or a hard killing freeze. In this video, I’ll show you how to prepare your plants so, when needed, they can be taken out of the garden and moved WITHIN MINUTES.
Then just get them under protection and into a greenhouse, or a sun porch or an insulated cold frame.
You’ll be able to quickly save your plants from any damage.
This is a method that you wouldn’t expect but it’s easy and works great if you prepare your plants earlier in the season!
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In the fall, you have to be ready to act if the temperature is expected to drop. You don’t want to jeopardize the rest of your harvest now. Most plants can handle a light frost but if they’re sensitive, you can use row covers to insulate them. But what I’m really talking about is a hard killing freeze where the temperature drops below 28 degrees Fahrenheit or -2 or -3 Celsius. Some refer to that as a killing frost but, technically, it’s a freeze.
Luckily there are some plants that can survive a freeze without difficulty like leeks, carrots and beets. With some vegetables, it’s better to pick them after a freeze because it helps to improve their flavour like kale and collard greens. But other plants won’t survive. You need to be concerned about them. If they’re too big to move, you need to finish harvesting them. But you could move the smaller ones to a protected area.
When the temperature’s dropping quickly, you grab your pots and a shovel and transfer those plants fast as you can. You have to shape the root ball to fit the pot and it’s hard on the plants. It takes a lot of time. You can never transplant an entire bed that way. And afterwards you hope they survive the trauma. But planning earlier, here is how you can prepare your plants so you can quickly transfer them to safety with hardly any warning and no transplanting issues!
I start during the summer and plant what I want to harvest during the fall and winter. This year I’m doing cilantro, spinach, some bok choy and a few types of lettuce. Since I didn’t have any free space in the garden yet, I used the regular cell packs to get the seedlings going. And with all that summer heat, I’ve kept them well watered like two to three times a day. After opening up a bed, I can get these seedlings planted. But we’re going to be doing it in a completely different way! I’ve gathered various pots that have holes to drain. It’s better to use medium to large pots. First dig a trench and fill the pots. Make the trench just a little deeper than the containers. And now here’s the difference…plant the seedlings in the pots. Then put the pots in the trench and bury them! Fill in all the gaps between them and add soil on top to cover them. You could also fortify the soil with some fertilizer or compost. When you’re done you should barely notice that there are any pots in the ground. As you’re positioning them, just be sure to make enough room between the rows in case you need to walk in there. You don’t want to be stepping on the edge of the pots and crushing them. So when the seedlings were on the deck, they were much more susceptible to the harsh heat of the sun and could dry out very quickly. But now, when they’re in the ground like this, the surrounding soil acts like a buffer. It will keep the temperature of their roots more regulated. And since both the top and the bottom of the pots are in contact with the soil, the moisture from the garden can travel into the pots and that’ll ensure the plants don’t dry out. During the season, just treat this bed like you would any other part of the garden. The only difference might be with the weeding. You’ll need to pull more by hand. If you use a tool, use it only in the middle of the row and don’t go too deep or too close to the pots.
So when freeze is about to hit, the job of getting them to safety is now a breeze! The plants are already in their pots. Just dig them up. Take a shovel and loosen the soil around them without slicing into the containers. Then you can easily lift the pots out and brush off any soil on the outside. The roots are still safe inside the pot so the plant really won’t go through any shock.
You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can get them all out of the garden and moved to safety. I use a small greenhouse for that. Since all these plants have been in the ground and may have bugs, don’t bring them into your home.
I was able to take care of the entire bed and transferred more than a hundred plants in less than half an hour!. Now I can continue picking straight into winter. Last year I also had great success when I did this with basil and swiss chard. And if you were to start in the spring and use larger pots, you can even do this with some of your peppers. It’s a great technique and it works well with practically any compact plant.
Thanks for following my channel and see you next time here on “Garden Well Eat Well”.