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Outdoor freeze damage |
The California Central Valley, in 2007, had an unusual
week of sub-freezing temperatures—on several nights I recorded 22 degrees F.
Here is what happened to unprotected plants.
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(above) The Opuntia specimens suffered no damage. The large Golden
torch was untouched, only the small Golden torch tips were frost
burned. |
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(below) Golden torch was burned but by March had recovered and began
growing. This will leave a ring like scar. Sunburned tips have
similar scarring. |
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(below) Cold hardy San Pedro survived 22 degrees—except for the
finger size tips. |
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| (above) The larger tips contain enough water to buffer
the heat losses of a night dipping down to 22 degrees F. You
can see that smaller tips suffer and larger ones are more
cold hardy. |
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