Tips for plants when it freezes - KOAM TV 7

During the fall plants like mums can typically be found in pots on porches, but when the weather drops to the low 30's, a freeze is something you should worry about.

Freezing is something Pittsburg resident Colton Boyer says can be a problem.

"It's not so much the actual cold that is too bad, it's whenever it frosts when its that bad, so I didn't want it to do that," says Boyer.

There are two tips local gardening and landscaping companies suggest when temperatures get as cool as they are now:  bring your potted tropical plants inside and make sure your plants outside are staying properly watered.

"The main thing you have when you have a freeze or a frost coming, is to make sure your plants are adequately watered," says Bob Schooley of Garden Center Seasons Nursery in Pittsburg.  "If they freeze dry you're going to have damage.  When you water the ground and you water your plants and it does freeze you're going to form a crust over it and it's going to keep the cold air from driving down into the ground and damaging the roots."

Charis Emmerling from In The Garden agrees, but says when bringing plants inside, think about using insecticides.

"Before we have any good hard freezes, you want to go ahead and spray them down, check and then maybe spray them down with an insecticide, so that you're not bringing in aphids, spider mites, or other pests," says Emmerling.

Specialists say that Fall is the time to plant things like trees and shrubs, but to just make sure everything that is kept outside is being watered as close to the ground as possible.