Looks like we are going to start this year off with a bit of a scramble! After all the predictions for a mild winter we are facing a sudden drop in temperatures this evening into Tuesday morning and continuing through Wednesday morning. This on the heels of 75-degree days which is always risky business for us in Zone 10 Florida.
You see, like cold-blooded animals, plants don’t regulate their own temperatures, rather they are affected by the temperatures of the environment around them. In fact, these environmental temperatures regulate the plant’s rate of metabolism. So with warmer temperatures (over 72 degrees) the plant’s metabolism is active– their “sap is up” in the stems and leaves of the plant. Unfortunately, when temperatures drop suddenly the plant does not have the chance to “turn-off” by drawing down the nutritive juices
First, be sure to give your garden a good soaking irrigation, then keep the water turned OFF until we get back up over 70 degrees (which may be this weekend). Once the plants’ metabolism kicks in, they will be thirsty to replace the moisture they will be losing to the wind that will be accompanying this cold-front.