If you’re looking for ways to protect plants from frost, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common reasons that those seeking nursery supplies stop by Frostproof, because we know how to protect plants from frost better than anyone. While our name comes from the town our nursery and orchard supply company hails from, we’ve made protecting plants from frost one of our specialties.

No company wants to lose their product, so the reasons that nurseries are looking for ways to protect plants from frost might seem obvious. But frost protection can “cover” more than just the obvious. Let’s take a look.

Protect Time

A nursery that wants to protect plants from frost isn’t really that concerned about the seeds that they lose if their plants freeze. Seeds tend to be cheap, and while they’d rather not suffer the replacement cost, it’s not the end of the world.

What they’re really worried about is the time that they’ve lost. Plants that are lost to frost spent all of that time growing, only to be cut short by abnormally low temperatures.

Nurseries plant their plants at a very specific time in order to get them to their buyers. If frost takes the plants, they could be a month or more behind on the delivery...by which time the buyer has most likely found a different supplier. In short, losing plants just isn’t an option for a nursery, which is why it’s vitally important to protect the plants from frost.

Ensure A Second Delivery

There are many nursery plants that don’t just come up once during the year, and there might be two harvests. Unfortunately, many of these plants are on very strict schedules in order to get two deliveries out in the same year. If the first delivery is lost to frost, then that pushes back the second crop. We don’t have to tell you that most nurseries can’t afford to lose half of their revenue!

Frost protection for plants extends the growing season in both directions. During spring, plants and seeds can be put in the ground sooner and then covered up when the temperature threatens to drop so low as to kill them. On the other end of the year, our frost row covers (up to 1000 feet long) are a great way to extend the growing season during fall, letting plants get to the right size before they are harvested.

Don’t Lose Employee Efforts

Like we mentioned, losing a first harvest isn’t just about the seeds; it’s primarily about the time that was lost. But it’s also important to remember that lost nursery plants also means lost employee efforts. If a late spring frost takes the plants, then all of the work that employees have done so far has been completely lost. And if you have to rush the next crop into the ground, overtime may apply!

Don’t Waste Resources

So far we’ve talked about wasted seed, time, and employee work. But if you lose a harvest, you’re losing everything that you’ve into the plants. This includes:

• Fertilizer - Most fertilizer you use is gobbled up by the plants and goes to waste if the plants do. Many fertilizers don’t stick around in the ground long — weeks at most — so fertilizer put on for the first round of plants probably won’t be around after they’re lost to frost.
• Herbicides - Whether you’re using organic herbicides or synthetic, they’ll go to waste for one simple reason: they protected the plants lost to frost, which means they didn’t really protect much of anything if the plant is dead.
• Pesticides - Pesticides sprayed on the first round of crops might keep the bugs down for a while, but most of them will be back by the time the second round is in the ground.
• Water - Water costs money, but in most cases it’s also costing you fuel to run the pumps. A lost crop means all of that water and fuel was wasted.

Ready To Protect Plants From Frost?

Whether you run a nursery, orchard, or simply have some backyard plants you’d like to save from a late or early frost, Frostproof Growers Supply has the frost protection you’ve been looking for. We want to protect your plants no matter how much you have invested in them!

We carry an extensive collection of frost covers, plant covers, and row covers that will protect a single plant or many thousands. Click here to see a complete list of our frost protection nursery supplies.