I just took a tarp and covered my two young inground trees from the snow storm and freezing weather we had this weekend. They still had all their leaves. It had warmed back up and I took the tarp off today. They leaves are dark now and some were falling off. What worried me the most was how wet the leaves and tree was. I just wanted to know I maybe did more damage. Should I have had a vent or something. I just sort of wrapped around over the top with the tarp and tied it up to hold it.

Don't worry, it looks fine. At this time of the year leaves DO fall off (getting ready to go dormant).

Looking at how green the leaves were, I would be more concern about the branches(stem) damage than the leaves. A sudden cold snap had done immense damage to my plants(stems) on 2 occasion. It killed every green stem. If Dr.Tapla is reading this post, it would certainly benefit us with his insights on the science of cold damage & recovery.

In my past experience the sudden cold fried the leaves, green to black and greener stems turn black & rotted eventually. Bigger plants recover easy.

Thanks guys, Im not to worried about the leaves falling off. I was worried more about how wet the tree was and that may have froze. I was hoping the tarp would keep frost off. Now I wonder if Made it worse.

71,

Unfortunately, you may have. Take a read http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/docs/FrostsandFreezes.pdf

I would not worry about it. Just let mother nature do her thing and block the harsh wind coming this winter. Cheers!

Ruben
The article "Frost and Freezes" is an excellent article but I feel that it may be written mostly from the point of view (how to put it) of plant active growing season such as in spring and soon afterward, and lesser extent at the back end of the season where the plants have already started preparing for dormancy since mid September (or earlier) meaning changes in the cell structures/cell contents. So, the amount of cold seen by the plants in the picture is not much to be concerned with (& of course depending on location).

I think the article is intended to show how to protect plants/trees during the first frosts and into the Winter regardless of the state of growth/dormancy. The tips given are applicable to any plant one wants to protect from severe freezes. Granted they are not all-inclusive and may not be practical in all situations. The main reason I posted it was to answer the OPs question and prevent others from making the same mistake (I made it too).

>>> "Frost and Freezes" 

Better to have some protection & less damage than none especially when plant has leaves that are green. Like Gorgi said, they are proven surivors. In fact, I was hoping more of my fig plants would not re-sprout this season. Amazingly almost all survived without protection last season when left outside.

Thanks guys. I hope you guys are right. I was out there today. All the leaves are totally dried up and just crumble right off. Two other older trees that I do not cover seemed to make out better. Their leaves are a little curled and dried up at the ends, but not as bad as the two with the tarps.

I'm really doing a good job, lol. I was looking at the weather temps and it said the lows would be high 30s. I put all my pots back outside for the rest of the leaves to fall off. I came out this morning and there was frost on some of them.

Figured that would happen. A good general rule is to allow an 8 degree margin of error in actual temperatures. If the plant cannot tolerate the difference, then you should take protective measures. Good luck again!

So if the over night lows are 40 or 38, I should expect it could actually be 32 or 30 outside

That is how you should plan. Especially if you live away from the city.

Thanks, I'm not in a city, but not country either. I am going to find a better source for temps and keep a closer eye on it

Thanks, I'm not in a city, but not country either. I am going to find a better source for temps and keep a closer eye on it

Are you in a valley? On a night with no wind that sort of thing happens.

No I don't think I am in a valley. It was a pretty calm night.