Frost in SoCal

Bonsai Nut

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Been raining heavily last four days. This morning I went outside and the water was frozen on top of the car and the garbage cans. I have never seen a hard freeze like this in the 23 years we've been in southern California.
 

Dav4

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Been raining heavily last four days. This morning I went outside and the water was frozen on top of the car and the garbage cans. I have never seen a hard freeze like this in the 23 years we've been in southern California.
Crazy! Was it forecast to get that cold? I imagine by now, many trees and shrubs might be pushing spring growth.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Crazy! Was it forecast to get that cold? I imagine by now, many trees and shrubs might be pushing spring growth.

Yes my elms are all budding. I think the rear of my house is a little more sheltered and did not get as much wind. None of my citrus look damaged.
 
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I know! i could barley pull my car door open this morning? whats your thoughts on repotting? i was about to repot like 7 trees this weekend, second guessing that right now, or maybe cover pots with blankets after the repot?
 

rockm

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Welcome to the deep freeze. I would keep an eye on the elms that were left exposed. Typically, one night with temps that hover near 30-25 isn't going to hurt much. Frost damage does NOT show up immediately. It shows up later as buds open and fruits mature. Expect some blackening on new leaves as they emerge in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully that damage will be limited to blackened leaf edges. If the freeze was deep enough, you could wind up with twigs and even branches die off. Withering foliage is a bad sign...again, keep an eye on the exposed trees for the next couple of weeks.
 

Smoke

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I took this week off to repot. Today was the first morning since its been raining here the last four days. Went out, set up my tables, set up my tools, wheeled out the soil and poof, couldn't get the tree out of the pot. Soil frozen into a brick. Hmmm...hook up hose to the water heater...nah maybe a pitcher full of luke warm water....nah...decided to give up for a couple hours and come in the office and see what kind of Hell I could raise on BonsaiNut.
 
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Welcome to the deep freeze. I would keep an eye on the elms that were left exposed. Typically, one night with temps that hover near 30-25 isn't going to hurt much. Frost damage does NOT show up immediately. It shows up later as buds open and fruits mature. Expect some blackening on new leaves as they emerge in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully that damage will be limited to blackened leaf edges. If the freeze was deep enough, you could wind up with twigs and even branches die off. Withering foliage is a bad sign...again, keep an eye on the exposed trees for the next couple of weeks.


Its terrible! not supposed to happen in socal lol...nah weve had frosty windshields and rooftops many times but my car door being hard to open thats a new one for me... @Bonsai Nut @Smoke @bonhe what do you guys think for repotting? wait a few weeks?.......im not worrying about buds that are already emerged cant do much about that now
 

Smoke

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Its terrible! not supposed to happen in socal lol...nah weve had frosty windshields and rooftops many times but my car door being hard to open thats a new one for me... @Bonsai Nut @Smoke @bonhe what do you guys think for repotting? wait a few weeks?.......im not worrying about buds that are already emerged cant do much about that now
Relax...roll with it...You'll have the Teahouse crowd over here telling us..."I told you so".
 

BrianBay9

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Sounds like you got it worse than we did up here in SF Bay. We had hail on Monday and frost this morning, but nothing particularly alarming.
 
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Relax...roll with it...You'll have the Teahouse crowd over here telling us..."I told you so".

HAHA i know right, this is my first winter with good stock so im like wth?! ill calm down eventually
 

rockm

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Its terrible! not supposed to happen in socal lol...nah weve had frosty windshields and rooftops many times but my car door being hard to open thats a new one for me... @Bonsai Nut @Smoke @bonhe what do you guys think for repotting? wait a few weeks?.......im not worrying about buds that are already emerged cant do much about that now
Relax. All frozen shut doors means is that you probably got rain that froze in the door jamb. Happen all the time here. If you have trees that were caught on benches with emerging leaves, keep an eye on them. If the freeze was long enough and the soil in the pot froze as well as roots, you MIGHT be looking at winter killed trees in a week. Deciduous temperate zone trees lose the vast majority of their winter "hardness" when their leaf buds break...It sounds like the freeze was a shallow one, so this might not be an issue.

As for repotting, what's the forecast say? We can't help you. You have to learn to watch the forecast like us here in cold country and adjust your schedule accordingly...:)
 

Smoke

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My trees were thawed in an hour. Of course I got all caught up in the apex debate.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Now we are getting tropical moisture from Hawaii. 2 inches overnight... more on the way. We're already at 200% normal rain for this rain season.... and more is in the forecast.

c63d889d85799877e71d01d348f1473e.gif
 

BrianBay9

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Nice to have a wet winter, at least every now and then - as long as you're not living in a slide zone.
 

bonhe

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[QUOTE="Potsofgreen, post: 623564, mefor me... @Bonsai Nut @Smoke @bonhe what do you guys think for repotting? wait a few weeks?.......im not worrying about buds that are already emerged cant do much about that now[/QUOTE]
I transplanted 2 big pomegranate s these days. They already showed tiny young leaves st that time. So far so good!
Thụ Thoại
 

bonhe

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Now we are getting tropical moisture from Hawaii. 2 inches overnight... more on the way. We're already at 200% normal rain for this rain season.... and more is in the forecast.

View attachment 227286
I got more than 6” rain since last night! More to come tonight!
This afternoon, the road next to my house is blocked due to strong fast moving stream from the mountain!!
779E0546-D102-4132-AA1E-0DC3F176B782.jpeg E9259E8C-8A6F-48BC-98CA-93255C25F8FE.jpeg
I never saw this reservoir have water in the past. Now it is almost full!
D58A67B6-4E65-4A89-B27A-91DD7A9C2CF4.jpeg 55733307-2EDA-4C24-88B0-836595734EEF.jpeg
3E0C4003-78DB-4EC2-826E-064CA852B6CB.jpeg
Thụ Thoại
 

Smoke

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My transplanting is done except for about three. All junipers so I'm in no hurry. One of them is ready to be resurrected and not seen since the pink thong incident!!!
 
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