A good way to tell if a plant is sensitive to cold is to feel the leaf at night. If it cold sensitive it will feel clammy cold. I guess that is because cold sensitive plants don't have the ability to draw their moisture into the stems and roots when they get cold. Frank Cooper central Illinois zone 5b ----- Original Message ----- From: <gardenpt@aol.com> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 1:03 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] FROSTS > Cold damage occurs at various temperatures. > > For sensitive plants such as tropicals, chilling damage occurs below 55 > degrees F. This is true for the previously mentioned basil and coleus. > > For hardy plants, the damage occurs at 32F or below. And as has been > noted in earlier posts, it often occurs somewhat below 32. The reason: > plant cells contain various components which act as a sort of > anti-freeze. > > When plants are unexpectedly freeze-damaged, the gardener can often > prevent permanent damage ( at least in part) by hosing off the the > affected plants before sunlight suddenly thaws the tissues. > > Jean, in Portland, OR > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - > http://mail.aol.com/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >