MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Friday was the last opportunity for South Florida farmers to protect their crops ahead of an impending cold front.
Growers worked tirelessly to irrigate their fields, aiming to seal the ground and retain moisture to prevent cold air from reaching the root zone.
“This land does, it holds a lot of moisture, so we’re just putting enough to seal the top,” David Torbert, the farm manager of Torbert Farms near Homestead, told Local 10 News. “That helps keep any heat units that you have in the ground, so that the day of the cold, you’ll have at least warmer land to start with.”
Torbert Farms grows zucchini, yellow squash, green beans and sweet corn.
Torbert said, “Another reason we water is we try to hydrate these plants. They’ll actually sweat.”
“They’ll (perspire) to try to keep themselves warmer. But if it stays below that 32 degrees for more than two hours, generally, they’ll freeze,” he said. “We may water some fields that we haven’t gotten to tomorrow, but after that, you pretty much just have to sit and wait and just monitor temperatures.”
Farmers are also closely monitoring wind conditions. They’re hoping for just enough to keep dew from settling on the plants, which would turn into frost.
“Although they are calling for 30-40 mile per hour winds Saturday night, with the temperatures, that could be harmful as well,” Torbert said.
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