On today’s 2 minute garden tip, I share the easiest way to protect fruit trees from cold weather. I’ve experimented with cold protection methods for 6 years, and this is the easiest cold protection method that I’ve found. It takes only seconds to do and is very inexpensive.
I’m growing 7 citrus trees and an avocado tree in ground in Zone 8 North Carolina with perfect success keeping these cold sensitive trees healthy. While they do tolerate frost and freeze, temperatures below 25°F (-4°C) can cause problems. We average 5-10 nights a year below these temperatures, so I’ve gained experience on what works best.
Cold Protection Methods Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1gY7BoYBGIG1w1u_K6CDIhfsqG8dMnPj&si=C856cuYJNaplGNlz
The following products* will were featured in this video:
1.5oz Plant Jackets (Many Sizes): https://amzn.to/47YXAbS
Fitted Sheet (Many Sizes): https://amzn.to/3v4J0B3
C9 Incandescent Outdoor Lights (Clear): https://amzn.to/3NumVSJ
C9 Incandescent Outdoor Lights (Multi): https://amzn.to/4alQQX5
C9 Incandescent Outdoor Lights (Ceramic): https://amzn.to/3v3edEy
Spare C9 Incandescent Bulbs: https://amzn.to/48kJotl
Outdoor Smart Plug, 3-Socket: https://amzn.to/4aovfx6
If you have any questions about how to protect plants from cold, need help growing a vegetable garden or growing fruit trees, want tips for gardening for beginners, want to know about the things I grow in my garden, are looking for more gardening tips and tricks and “garden hacks” like this, have questions about vegetable gardening and organic gardening in general, or want to share some DIY and “how to” garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please ask in the Comments below!
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Monterey Organic Spinosad Concentrate https://amzn.to/3qOU8f5
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6.5 Inch Hand Pruner Pruning Shears https://amzn.to/3jHI1yL
Japanese Pruning Saw with Blade https://amzn.to/3wjpw6o
Double Tomato Hooks with Twine https://amzn.to/3Awptr9
String Trellis Tomato Support Clips https://amzn.to/3wiBjlB
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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1°N Latitude
Zone 8B
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©2 Minute Garden Tips
#gardening #garden #gardeningtips #coldprotection #plantprotection
What’s growing on gardeners on today’s 2-minute Garden tip I’m going to show you the easiest way to protect your cold sensitive trees from frost if you live outside of the tropics and you’re growing any kind of trees that are sensitive to cold you need to be
Prepared in case of a cold snap if you follow either of my channels you know how much I love these plant jackets for protecting sensitive trees from frost and freeze they are thick enough that they can hold in a significant amount of warmth but because they’re made out of agricultural fabric they’re completely
Breathable so they let out excess heat and they let in most of the UV from the Sun so you can leave these over your trees for weeks at a time however these plant jackets do have a downside because they are fitted they take a few minutes
To put on each not a big deal if you only have one or two trees to cover but if you have numerous trees to cover like I do and you’re only going to have a short Frost or freeze event that isn’t going to be too cold you may not want to
Spend the time it takes to put on a whole bunch of these plant jackets tonight our temperatures are going to fall into the upper 20s those temperatures are Child’s Play for this mature aari Satsuma however for the massive haul of citrus that are on it currently they’re not citrus can take
Damage if the temperature Falls to about 26 to 27° so I need to cover this tree in order to hold in some excess heat and protect the fruit so is there a way that I can give this tree a few degrees of protection but I don’t have to fight
With a plant jacket for 3 to 5 minutes to fit it over because I don’t need that much protection when we have a freeze coming and I need a few more degrees of protection but I don’t need massive amounts of insulation this is the trick I’ve been using for
Years fitted sheet this king-size fitted sheet cost me less than $10 and I’ll be able to drape it over this tree in no time so if all you need is light temporary Frost protection you can cut your covering time down from about 3 to 5 minutes a tree to only about 30
Seconds a tree the fitted sheet fits snugly over the tree like a giant shower cap and as easy as this was to put on it’s even easier to take off I will be able to pop this off tomorrow morning in less than 10 seconds remember covers will only protect against Frost plants
Do not generate heat so if you need to protect against freezing temperatures you need a warming Source underneath in order for the cover to hold in the heat you need something like 60 Gall drums full of water or incandescent C9 Christmas lights which will generate lots of warmth
I will link to all of the products that I featured in this video plus a playlist of all of my favorite cold protection methods down in the video description and that’s today’s 2minute Garden tip if you’re new to the Channel please consider subscribing and hitting the Bell to receive new video notifications
And check out our Amazon storefront and spread shop in the video description for a list of the gardening products I use and awesome Custom Design apparel and other gear your support is greatly appreciated
33 Comments
You are the bomb! And the2 minute concept is brilliant.
Awesome
Thanks! I have fig trees that will benefit from this idea!
Good idea!
More power to you
Great idea! I never thought about using a fitted sheet.. thanks 😊
Great idea—where I live we only get 1-4 nights of below freezing. Another trick is to use clear plastic shower curtains. They cost 1.25 at $Tree & have magnets to weight them or attach to metal structures, but only for light freezes & relatively hardy plants. I'm also using a huge piece of heavy plastic but it's hard to manage. The sheet could be easily washed, & you cen get them REALLY cheaply at thrift stores.
Hero. My trees are going to be happier next time thanks to you for sure.
We lost our peach tree one winter- this is great info- thank you!
Great tip! Thanks!
nice coat yo 🙂
Christmas lights! What a great idea!! Definitely gonna grab a string or three on the after-Christmas sale, and I saw this at the perfect time! Christmas in 6 days, so the sales will start next week. Thanks for this tip. I already use fitted sheets, we rarely have a really hard freeze and it usually warms back up the next day.
Do the small little incandescent Christmas lights generate any amount of heat? I have my tomato bed / trellis covered in those small incandescent lights. However they are never warm to the touch or anything. You can’t really feel any heat coming off of those lights.
Love your two minute tips!
I'm surprised you can still get incandescent lights but It's a great use for the heat they put off.
I will remember the Christmas light truck if i can ever get rosemary growing again! It has frozen out the past 3 winters.
Will longer strands of the smaller incandescent tree lights be equally effective, or are the c9's a must?
Thank you MG!! 😊👍👍
So the fruit at the bottom won't be harmed when only the cover is on the top?
And get the sheets from a thrift store 👍
Your an ideas man !😂
Now that is very clever. Thank you for sharing. The light look so pretty
I thought that incandescent lights were off the market … They’re not?
I guess my trees need the lights too. I'm in 8b but it does freeze a few nights per winter. I lost a lot of trees last winter from a 2 day freeze even though I had those frost bags on them. Hundreds of dollars in trees, plus the babying that I did all lost. I took the frost bags off and the leaves all fell to the ground, then nothing but dead brown sticks in the ground come spring.
Christmas lights – incandescent, of course – are a great idea for adding heat to a covered plant! Actually… my plant theory is any plant that can’t withstand several really cold WNC nights – doesn’t belong in my garden. Removing all those cutesy but sensitive plants was the first thing I addressed in my landscape when we moved here, and I gave them away on Craigslist to folks who were OK with fussing with them. Drastic approach, I know…but I just can’t be bothered with babying growing stuff that really has no place in our little micro-climate. There are plenty of lovely, cold hardy shrubs and flowering plants that can survive a few nippy nights on their own…and they all now live happily on my property!!💕
I'm using those lights in my well house too.. had a blow out last year, don't want an encore performance
how about baby trees,,,, no. MI
That’s a great idea my friend
Any old sheet will work. Does not have to be new.
OMG you are brilliant. I was wracking my brain for something I could use to warm up my plants, but I never thought about Christmas lights!!
I buy TONS of sheets at the thrift shop for about $2 each. They worked fine to block the extreme heat, too.
How festive too. Thanks for those fantastic educational Winter tips.
I would pick the fruit juice and freeze the juice. I juice alot.