After The Freeze, Plant Recovery Strategies

• Posted on 20 February 2025
• By JR
• 2

As seems always to be the case on Social Media, there are tons of ideas and thoughts going around some good and well, some not so good. Everyone means well but sometimes there’s just too many experts in the room. I just want to share a few thoughts about caring for plants after this hard freeze event, more or less this is my nickel on the grass for the do’s and don’ts and a little bit of the whys.

What to do: 

There’s really not much to do here and you’ll see when we get to the why. If you haven’t already uncovered your plants, do,  so that they can have good air exchange. It is best to remove as much moister from the system as possible. Also, remove any of the mushy collapsed plant material that is on plants where the cell structure has been destroyed. And that’s about it.

Now for the don’ts:

Don’t water, fertilize, or add any wonder (magical) concoctions intended to save your plants.

And now for the why:

The freezing temperatures killed a lot of the plant’s cell structure which is now becoming necrotic. Your plants are in no need of water because they cannot transpire due to dead tissue i.e. burnt leaves and cannot absorb the water and utilize it. Plants take up water through root pressure, but even more so through transpiration. This is true of fertilizing the plant as well. The plants are in no condition to begin new growth and have lost much of their existing structure. Therefore, the fertilizer has no benefit as well. The necrotic plant tissue is not only above ground it is also in the soil profile. The root structure has been compromised as well. Plant pathogens, bacteria and fungi will begin to consume the necrotic plant tissue. By adding water and/or nitrogen (the fertilizer) to the environment now, will only improve the conditions and feed the plant pathogens thus adding insult to injury to your plants.  

Plants have specific regions of regrowth, growing points. It is important that they are not disturbed during this time if there is any hope that the plant shall survive. Several plants can bud from under the bark layer, while others have buried buds in leaf and stem intersections, and many others have growing points throughout the root system and the base crown of the plant. Some plants even have all of the above. These are what must be protected and given time to regenerate. By cutting back plants right away, you may well be cutting away these growth points. For most plants, this can take several weeks. Think of planting a seed. You must be patient.

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