Freezing weather to hit Indy on Saturday. Here's how to protect your plants

Karl Schneider, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read
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Central Indiana is under a freeze warning Saturday morning as temperatures drop this evening.

The National Weather Service in Indiana expects temperatures between 28-31 degrees beginning around 2 a.m. Saturday and lasting through most of the morning.

This is bad news for green thumbs who may have already started planting gardens, as there is a significant frost and freeze risk across all of Central Indiana.

The cold temperatures will bring widespread frost mainly after 3 p.m., according to NWS. Patchy fog could descend before 11 a.m. Saturday and will dissipate as temperatures are expected to rise to a high of 55 degrees.

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Frost and freezing conditions will kill crops and other sensitive vegetations and could damage unprotected plumbing outside.

Protect tender plants from the cold, NWS advises, and wrap and drain any outdoor water pipes to prevent freezes or leave them on a slow drip.

Julia Spangler and Mark Clayton fluff herb plants back up after rainfall at their Indianapolis home on Thursday, May 28, 2020. "The climate crisis isnÕt going to be solved only through gardening or through regenerative agriculture, so I like the allusion to Victory Gardens because of the kind of coming together and the community aspect that is suggests," Spangler said. "But I think it's important to keep in mind that climate change needs a lot of different solutions."

How to protect plants from freezes

Young and newly planted trees should be wrapped at the trunk, Purdue’s Karen Mitchell told IndyStar earlier this year. The wrapping helps regulate the tree’s temperatures, so it’s not as affected by freezing and thawing so quickly.

Purdue recommends growers use floating covers to help regulated young plant temperatures and to cover dormant plants with 1-3 inches of straw.

Covers can either be suspended above the gardens or laid on top of the plants.

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What happens to plants in freezing temperatures?

Depending on what is planted in the garden, freezes can affect plants differently.

Generally, the water within the plant’s cells freeze, and that ice can injure cell membranes, ultimately killing the plant.

Some vegetable plants will “bolt” during a freeze. This causes the plant to produce a seed stalk, which can reduce the yield of the plant come harvest time.

Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy will see freezing temps Saturday. Here's how to protect your garden