To Help Settle the Worry of Frosted Greens: They Are Cold and Frost Tolerant

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Here are two blogs from November. These plants survived!


It is 6:32 am and I just gained an hour of sleep although technically we subtracted an hour and I slept the same length of time.

Well, I know what to do to protect against frost. Can't say I did it this time. My tomatoes and peppers are done but the greens and lettuces frosted and survived. Even the peas, oddly, made it through a light frost. 

Snow, Frost and Lettuce: Gary Pilarchik

Snow, Frost and more Lettuce: Gary Pilarchik

It want to stress that greens and lettuce are great cool weather crops and can survive the cold and frost. The above pictures was ice and snow. The pictures below are how the plants look after 2 night of frost and below freezing weather. No issues. So grow some Fall greens next year. According to the weather I will have at least 1 more week of no frost nights. More greens for my salads. My garden has made it into November. I harvested leeks over the weekend and made chicken soup with them. The leeks will tolerate frost too.

Red Romaine 2 Nights of Light Frost: Gary Pilarchik

Container Lettuces Resist Frost: Gary Pilarchik

The cold weather brings a sweetness to greens and lettuces you just don't get during Spring and the warm periods. Lettuces and greens can freeze. The cell structures are a bit different. The ice doesn't burst their cell structure. Now prolong freezing will kill the plant. But they can take even a pretty hard frost.

Here are some pictures of my greens as of about 10 minutes ago. I am in the suburbs so I typically get 3-5 degrees lower temps then what is on the news. I did miss this frost was coming. But I am going to bet 90% of my greens are okay. Ill see'll how they look this afternoon.

If they are wilting, their cells were ruptured by the frost bursting their cells. Greens and lettuce have some resistance to this.

Frosted Greens and Lettuce: Gary Pilarchik/The Rusted Garden

Frosted Red Romaine: Gary Pilarchik/The Rusted Garden

Frosted Arugla and Endive: Gary Pilarchik/The Rusted Garden

A Frosted and Frozen Container Garden: Gary Pilarchik/The Rusted Garden

Frosted Loose Leaf Red Lettuce: Gary Pilarchik/The Rusted Garden