Coachella Valley: protect your plants from frost

Brett Manion owns Madison Street Produce in Indio. “Everyone knows Madison Street for its strawberries,” he said.

In the farming business, he said the threat of a winter frost is not something he just plows over.

“You can’t take chances with crops, it’s so expensive. We prepare for the worst. Everything you have put into it you can lose with just a couple of hours of cold temps,” said Manion.

Overnight temperatures will dip in or below the 30s, which may prompt a frost advisory for the high desert Wednesday morning. And, for the Coachella Valley Thursday through Saturday.

To protect his crops and your plants at home, water them well before the advisory. The moisture retains warmth. If you can, bring plants inside or cover them with blankets, towels or newspaper to protect them from frost.

“For the strawberries we run the water. The tomatoes plants, we grow them in a greenhouse environment and heaters to blow hot air to protect it,” said Manion.

Once the freeze has passed, remove the covers. If left on during warm winter days, they could create some damage.

“Uncover them during the day so it doesn’t get too hot in there. It could really do damage if the sun is too strong. It can really warm up the temperatures.”

Manion said if all goes well, his strawberries will hit the stand come Dec. 15.

“It’s a very expensive crop and crop failure is not an option.”