# Random Late Spring Frost??



## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

Our area is forecast to get a frost this weekend. Call it Indian Winter?

Anyway, in February, we had the warm spell, my centipede came out of dormancy, and then a frost hit and the yard is still recovering. I'm worried it will die back again and then get too hot to really recover the rest of the year. Is there anything I need to do or not do prior to this weekend?

* Yard is overdue for a cut, because of high workload
* Yard is well-watered in due to a good rain last night and a cool day, so it will stay wet.
* Yard was fertilized two weeks ago with 1/4 lb N per 1K

I was going to cut it friday afternoon (first chance I'll get) and hit with humic acid. Is this still a good play?


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## jasonbraswell (Aug 18, 2019)

I was contemplating the same thing; forecast of 37 low Friday. Soil temps are still in mid to upper 60's here. I think I will mow tonight and let the rain water in again on Friday. Maybe the rain will hold some warmth in the ground. Bermuda turned purple last time we had a cold snap.

More worried about the flower beds. Will cover those.


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

I'm expecting the same here in Va this weekend. If you haven't cut it yet, I wouldn't. Let it go until the first of next week. If the grass tips get frost burn, you can chop it after the frost. That and longer grass will somewhat insulate the soil. The roots are more important than the foliage, right now. 
I'm also going to water the piss out of it friday eve. Again, it helps with insulating the roots from cold.

Straight Humic will be fine.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

Same issue here, I'm up the road from Cola in Simpsonville. Going to be a low of 39 degrees here Saturday night/Sunday morning. Was going to scalp Friday afternoon before the rain hits, everyone thinking that's a bad idea?


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## probasestealer (Apr 19, 2018)

I'm in NC, looking at around 39 as a low also this weekend.

I would leave the grass long, that way you can mow off some (if any) damage. Soil temps, as mentioned, are warm, so I think you'll be ok.

I'm covering my vegetable gardens and other frost sensitive flowers.


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Jeremy3292 said:


> Same issue here, I'm up the road from Cola in Simpsonville. Going to be a low of 39 degrees here Saturday night/Sunday morning. Was going to scalp Friday afternoon before the rain hits, everyone thinking that's a bad idea?


I strongly advise against scalping or any cutting between now and Sunday.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

RDZed said:


> Jeremy3292 said:
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> > Same issue here, I'm up the road from Cola in Simpsonville. Going to be a low of 39 degrees here Saturday night/Sunday morning. Was going to scalp Friday afternoon before the rain hits, everyone thinking that's a bad idea?
> ...


Thanks for the response. I assume it would be ok to scalp Sunday afternoon though? High of 69 Sunday then mid 70s to 80s on the 10 day forecast.


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## jasonbraswell (Aug 18, 2019)

The longer grass scenario makes sense to me


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Jeremy3292 said:


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Ya man. Lucky dog. I dont think I'll see straight 80's for another 2 weeks.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

RDZed said:


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I see you're in the Central VA area; I grew up in Prince George, family lives out near Amelia/Chesterfield now.

I had a nice surge of bermuda growth the past few days with the temps hitting 80s for what seemed like the first ever this year. Back to the 60s now til next week!


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Jeremy3292 said:


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Haha, small world. I'm in Colonial Heights, specifically in Conjures Neck. I work at Fort Lee.

Had a nice growth spurt last week also so in anticipation of the frost, I cut the Bermuda on Saturday. So it got a solid 3 days of bounce back in preparation of the schit weather ahead.


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

Keeping the grass longer does make sense, kind of like an insulator. Good call. I'm still a bit worried about the fresh growth, where the grass has been spreading in to recover, but there's not much I can really do about it I guess.

My fear on watering it would be instead of insulating, it becomes a heat conductor and makes the soil even colder.

Temps are supposed to bounce back pretty fast here too Sunday. I'm thinking maybe to leave the grass long for an extra day and cut monday afternoon?


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

Darth_V8r said:


> Keeping the grass longer does make sense, kind of like an insulator. Good call. I'm still a bit worried about the fresh growth, where the grass has been spreading in to recover, but there's not much I can really do about it I guess.
> 
> My fear on watering it would be instead of insulating, it becomes a heat conductor and makes the soil even colder.
> 
> Temps are supposed to bounce back pretty fast here too Sunday. I'm thinking maybe to leave the grass long for an extra day and cut monday afternoon?


I may cut Sunday afternoon or Monday afternoon, we will see how it goes. Once it warms up Sunday afternoon, you would think you would be fine though.


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Darth_V8r said:


> My fear on watering it would be instead of insulating, it becomes a heat conductor and makes the soil even colder.


Nope. Complete opposite. Wet soil takes longer to get warm but retains heat longer. That's why nurseries deep water before frosts.


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

RDZed said:


> Darth_V8r said:
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> > My fear on watering it would be instead of insulating, it becomes a heat conductor and makes the soil even colder.
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Cool. Then, since my yard is too big to fully water in, what I'll do is leave it long, and the thin, recovering areas, I'll water heavily, since that sounds like about the best I can do for those areas.

I just looked again at forecast, and sunday night looks like the low is 59. So, maybe the best thing is to cut the grass sunday afternoon, and if anything did get frost-damaged, I'll likely cut it off before it can cause more damage by being a resource drain.


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Darth_V8r said:


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Sounds like a good plan. :thumbup:


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## T0R0 (Mar 4, 2019)

I was going to mention watering the grass well before the expected frost but that was already covered. That's what I'll be doing, It's similar to what is done at orange groves when frost/ below freezing temperatures are expected.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

What would the soil temps need to dip to for it to be a problem?


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## jasonbraswell (Aug 18, 2019)

@Jeremy3292 Not sure but warmer soil is a plus. I'll probably run my irrigation in the cold mornings (early AM) also. That should help too


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

jasonbraswell said:


> @Jeremy3292 Not sure but warmer soil is a plus. I'll probably run my irrigation in the cold mornings (early AM) also. That should help too


Melt the frost with irrigation water?


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## jasonbraswell (Aug 18, 2019)

@Darth_V8r I pump my irrigation from lake water, which was around 68F last weekend. My thought is the water is warmer than air temps giving the plants and grass a bump in temp and also keeping frost from forming on the leaves/blades. Probably over analyzing here but these are record lows for us.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

Darth_V8r said:


> jasonbraswell said:
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> > @Jeremy3292 Not sure but warmer soil is a plus. I'll probably run my irrigation in the cold mornings (early AM) also. That should help too
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Essentially yes. Rain won't freeze at 33°, but I've seen frost at 39°. I've only ever done this once, but it worked.


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## silverrainbow (May 4, 2020)

I mowed the grass down to 1/2 to 1 inch. Planning to level the lawn this weekend with sand. Is there anything I can do to prevent damage? And whatever the damage, it should be temporary right?


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

silverrainbow said:


> I mowed the grass down to 1/2 to 1 inch. Planning to level the lawn this weekend with sand. Is there anything I can do to prevent damage? And whatever the damage, it should be temporary right?


Give it a nice watering Saturday around lunch time and you should be fine. I'm postponing my scalp til Sunday afternoon in light of the 38 degree low Saturday night/Sunday morning.


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## silverrainbow (May 4, 2020)

Jeremy3292 said:


> Give it a nice watering Saturday around lunch time and you should be fine. I'm postponing my scalp til Sunday afternoon in light of the 38 degree low Saturday night/Sunday morning.


Got it ! thanks


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## jasonbraswell (Aug 18, 2019)

I proceeded to mow yesterday. Could not stand the weeds poking through. Good luck everyone. Maybe it's not as bad as we predict &#128591;


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

jasonbraswell said:


> I proceeded to mow yesterday. Could not stand the weeds poking through. Good luck everyone. Maybe it's not as bad as we predict 🙏


I think it'll be fine. Soil temps will probably still be around 50 degrees. Low of high 30s is only for a couple hours in the morning before the sun gets up in the sky on Sunday.

If anything some blades may get hurt but you can just mow them off.


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

I think I managed pretty well last night. Low hit 29 at around 6am. Couple random soil temp tests at 615am (2" deep) were between 44-46 degrees. I watered the piss out of it at 5pm last night. Some frost on the mulch.

At 830 am the air temp was already at 48 and the soil temp was up to 54 with direct sun.

I'll give her a haircut today to curtail any burn that might want to creep down the blades.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

RDZed said:


> I think I managed pretty well last night. Low hit 29 at around 6am. Couple random soil temp tests at 615am (2" deep) were between 44-46 degrees. I watered the piss out of it at 5pm last night. Some frost on the mulch.
> 
> At 830 am the air temp was already at 48 and the soil temp was up to 54 with direct sun.
> 
> I'll give her a haircut today to curtail any burn that might want to creep down the blades.


I'm further south and not sure the air temps got lower than 40 degrees here. Soil temps still in the 50s. Now time for a mow today; 80s on the 10 day for the foreseeable future!


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## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Yeah, we went from a Frost Watch to a Freeze Warning yesterday afternoon. Luckily it didnt seem overly prolonged. If we were sub 32 for more than say, 6 hours, I'd be really worried but looks like sub freezing was less than 3 hours.

My neighbors to the west probably weren't as lucky. C'ville was already in the 20's when I went to bed at 11pm.


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