Guide to Winter Frost Protection and Cold Resistance Measures for Flowers, Nursery Stock, and Tea

In order to effectively reduce the losses caused to flowers and nursery stock by disasters, provincial flower and nursery stock experts recently proposed technical measures for frost resistance and disaster relief.

I. Insulation by Moving into Greenhouses

For seedlings being grown, potted flowers, and some flowers sold annually, valuable flowers, and landscaping nursery stock, all those that can be moved into greenhouses should be insulated inside greenhouses, with greenhouse film promptly covered to prevent the intrusion of cold air, and heating and supplemental lighting should be provided in a timely manner. For warm-loving flowers and nursery stock native to the tropics and subtropics, the temperature should be maintained above 12°C, while other flowers and nursery stock should be kept at around 8°C, with a minimum no lower than 5°C, and supplemental lighting should be provided in a timely manner.

II. Strengthening Field Management

Promptly use plastic film or straw, rice husks, etc. for mulching and insulation; strengthen field management and promptly open ditches for drainage; promptly remove ice and frost from plants (gently shake, lightly tap with soft bamboo tips to knock it off, but do not whip the branches and leaves), and carry out mounding and soil banking around the roots.

III. Pruning and Trimming

For plants with relatively light frost damage, strictly apply light pruning, preferring shallow over deep cuts, to clean up the plants and facilitate bud sprouting. For those with heavier damage, deep pruning or heavy pruning should be carried out. Promptly cut off the frozen parts to promote the sprouting of new shoots; after thawing, carry out shallow early-spring plowing and weeding, combine with topdressing of quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer, and appropriately supplement phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, so that the plants quickly recover their vitality, improve their cold resistance and lodging resistance, and promote bud sprouting and new shoot growth. If the frozen soil layer is deep, 1% urea + 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate can also be used for foliar topdressing. Frost damage brings certain wounds to plants, so shallow plowing and fertilization should be carried out in a timely manner.

IV. Inter-row Mulching and Smoke to Drive Away Frost

Firewood, straw, turf, leaves, sawdust, barnyard manure, rice and wheat husks, and rice straw can be used to spread over the tea garden before the soil freezes, requiring about 1500-2000 kg of straw per mu; straw, weeds, pruned tea branches, etc. can be used for mulching; when the temperature drops to around 2°C, set up piles and ignite them according to wind direction, terrain, and area, which both prevents late frost damage and accumulates fertilizer.

V. Mulching to Prevent Frost and Strengthening Fertilizer and Cultivation Management

For young tea trees, before low-temperature cold waves arrive, shade nets, etc. can be used to cover the canopy, or plastic film or straw and weeds can be placed over the shade nets; or rice straw can be placed directly over the tea bushes; strengthen fertilizer and cultivation management and apply sufficient base fertilizer; apply organic fertilizer or nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium chemical fertilizer to raise soil temperature and soil fertility; for tea gardens with relatively light frost damage and originally good plucking surfaces, the pruning degree should preferably be shallow rather than deep, keeping the plucking surface as much as possible. For those with heavier damage, deep pruning, heavy pruning, or even stooling should be carried out.

VI. Shallow Plowing and Fertilization to Cultivate the Canopy

After thawing, promptly carry out shallow early-spring plowing and weeding; if the frozen soil layer is deep, 1% urea can also be used for foliar topdressing; after frost damage occurs during the spring tea budding period, while pruning and trimming, foliar fertilizer should be sprayed in a timely manner; because the upper leaves of frost-damaged tea trees are frostbitten, the start of spring tea plucking may be slightly delayed, so spring tea plucking should leave 1 large leaf, while summer and autumn tea should be plucked according to conventional practice. This is not only conducive to cultivating a good canopy, but also allows more high-grade famous and superior tea to be plucked, reducing the losses caused by frost damage.