So you probably all remember that before the historic Winter storm, I brought all the freeze sensitive plants back into town so they would be safe. Our original thought was just to put them in front of the car in the parking space. There were too many and they would be too unwieldy to bring into the apartment and of course hard to keep away from Hobart.
Well the first night I took our handy dandy laser temperature device and the concrete of the parking garage was in the low 30's. That didn't bode well. So I left the plants in the back of my Jeep.
They had been watered before I left the farm so I figured they go a week between waterings, why not just leave them in the Jeep? It's not like it was going to be hot. Then I checked the interior temperature and it was pretty close to freezing too. Oh oh. So what did I do?
I decided that every few hours, I'd go downstairs, start the car, drive down the ramps of the garage, around the building if I could (when the ice was gone) and back up the ramps with the heater on full blast. By the time I got back it was usually about 88 to 90 degrees in the car. I'd go down about every 4 hours (yep even woke up during the night) and did that. When I'd get in the car after the previous trip, the temp would still be in the 40's even when the outside temp was in the low teens.
After the days got warmer and above freezing, I just did it a couple of times in the evening when it was freezing, once after dinner and once before bed.
2nd Man said it was like having babies that wouldn't sleep so you load them into the car and drive them around until they fall asleep.
Hey it worked. Here they are. All are alive and well. The bananas were a little ragged from being flat in the car but they didn't freeze.
Here are the pineapples, probably the most freeze sensitive, back in their spots looking good. These are going to get much larger pots this Spring.
I'm not sure what was going on in the back end of the Jeep, but one of the blueberries is starting to put on flowers. Somehow, I guess I turned the Jeep into a greenhouse, ha.
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| Greenhouse pickup truck, image via wikicommons.com |
Maybe we should get a pickup with a greenhouse on the back end? Kinda cool, LOL!
By keeping them in your Jeep protected them from the outside cold and then you could had always covered them with old sheets or blankets to keep them warm inside of the jeep but all and all they look pretty darn good.
ReplyDeleteThe guy with the built on greenhouse in his truck bed has a great idea. He has his garden wherever he goes.
Now that's what I call a dedicated gardener! If there's a prize it's yours for sure.
ReplyDeletethat is dedication! i think mine would have been toast.
ReplyDeleteThat was an ingenious idea to drive the car around to warm up the plants. And you sure were dedicated. 2nd Man was right – it was like taking care of babies. And they all survived and some even thrived!
ReplyDeleteLove that picture of the pickup greenhouse. Now that’s thinking outside the box for a garden!
Having literally driven from Destin to Panama City beach and back to get a child to sleep, I feel you!
ReplyDeleteYou cared for them well. I have never had to drive a baby around to get it to sleep, but driving plants to keep them from freezing heroic. The guy with the pickup has the right idea. Orangerie, yet?
ReplyDeleteI agree, that's total dedication. But you do what you have to. Like me last spring when my pear tree arrived in a May snowstorm
ReplyDeleteDedication indeed. Well done you and the plants.
ReplyDelete