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Freeze Damage In Fall Vegetables: Identifying And Preventing

Recent frost advisories are relevant for late-season vegetables.

Plant hardiness

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A "water-soaked" appearance is a common identifier of freeze damage on fruiting vegetables. These decorative gourds will still harden off, but the discoloration is permanent. Photo by Ben Phillips, MSU Extension

Depending on crop tolerance, a killing frost can result from canopy temperatures dropping 2-5 degrees below freezing for 5-10 minutes, or from a sustained temperature 31.5–32 degrees Fahrenheit lasting 3-5 hours. Fall vegetables have a range of temperature tolerances, reflecting their origin of domestication. Vegetables that come from flowers, such as vine and solanaceous crops, okra, sweet corn and beans, have largely been cultivated and bred from tropical and subtropical plants, and are easily damaged by a light frost (28-32 F).

When freezing occurs, water expands and can burst cell walls. However, leaf and root vegetables are generally more capable of withstanding hard frosts (less than 28 F), and have more room to spare in their tissues for water expansion and internal ice-formation.

Hard frost hardy (less than 28 F)
Collards
Endive/escarole
Kale
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Mustard
Onion (sets and seeds)
Pea
Potato
Rhubarb
Rutabaga
Spinach
Turnip

Light frost hardy (28–32 F)

Beet
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrot
Cauliflower
Celeriac
Celery
Chard
Onion (plants)
Parsnip
Radish

Light frost susceptible (28–32 F)
Cucumber
Edible beans
Eggplant
Muskmelon
Okra
Pepper
Pumpkin
Squash, summer/winter
Sweet corn
Sweet potato
Tomato
Watermelon

How to tell if you have frost-damaged vegetables

Freeze-killed leaves will at first turn brown and look somewhat transparent as they thaw, a term generally referred to as “water-soaked.” Once dry, they may curl up and become brittle. The marketable part of the plant may also show signs of damage.

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