What will low-30s temps mean for our plants and fruit trees in California?

The wind may have died down, but with more cold expected, many homeowners are worried about plants like citrus. 

Plant owners might want to take a hint from commercial orange growers who are watering their crops with every freeze warning. Wet soil helps transfer the earth’s heat, and the canopies of trees help keep it close to the plant. 

"It’s amazing how much just watering your plants or putting five-gallon buckets filled with water around them will help," said Alex Silber, of the Papaya Tree Nursery in Granada Hills.

Recent frost warnings and temperatures in the low 30s have not destroyed the papayas, bananas, and guavas growing in the nursery’s trees. Aside from watering, the other advice he has for plant owners has to do with mulch and goes against the common belief that more mulch will hold heat.

"Not in Southern California," he explains. "At least temporarily, take away the weeds and mulch, so there is nothing stopping the warmth from the wet ground to rise beneath the canopy and keep the plant or tree warm." 

Considering he is protecting quite the crop of uniquely hybridized tropicals to thrive in our desert-like area, instead of the rainy tropics they come from, it seems to be working.

If you go to his website, papayatreenursery.com, you’ll find a whole list of suggestions, but he is also more than happy to help people over the phone, 818-363-3680.