Safe but very slimy/mushy IME. Been there, tried that. All depends on how much frost exposure. Try just boiling a few of them first and see if the quality turns out ok. Dave

Anthony, Sorry to hear of your deliema. I would reduce the sun for a bit. I usually put stressed plants on the west side of my house for a week and then move them into full sun after that. There is little you can do to encourge growth and I wouldn't fertilize them when then are stressed in this way unless you really thing the soil lacks nutrients. Of course if the roots are warm the plant will grow faster but I don't know how you could do that outside of a green house. Greg

Hi and welcome to the friendly forum ;-) It really depends because one person's idea of a cold snap isn't necessarily the same as another's. If it was below 30 degrees (-1 C), for more than a couple of hours probably they are in bad shape. But depending on how wet the leaves get has a big effect on the damage in those circumstances, as well as how well the sheets kept the wind off and moderated the temperature drop, none of which I can see from Florida ;-). Probably there's not much to see, but the wilting you describe would be worth posting to get others' opinions. If it was mild, short and protected, the plants may be craving sun and getting the temperature up as high as possible with maximum sunlight is a priority if they were mine. Yes, it does freeze here too, light freezes are what I contend with all winter, jumping between -2 C and +2 C (in breeze anything in the 30's F (somewhere around 5 C and below) can cause frost damage if unprotected, especially if there isn't a nice warming sun ASAP. One thing I'm going to do this winter is buy one of those cheapo digital thermometers that shows the high and low for the last 24 hours besides the current temp, and put it in the covered area to see whats going on overnights. You can get them for well under $10 US from the popular auction site from the country that ships out billions of them for less that it costs for postage here. But even then, the temperature varies all over the place under so I'm not sure what good it will do, though it's definitely worth a try. Not sure how helpful that would be in a northern climate but like I said, we skirt freezing through the winter probably a dozen times, what's to lose... What varieties are you growing, ... Best luck growing them and if you can show us a picture please do. PC

I live just inland from Cairns. We had major frosts a couple of weeks ago. My thermometer is situated 2m off the ground and under an overhang of the house, so it didnt record the coldest temperatures that others did. All the grass and many garden plants and trees have died from the frost. Some of the tropical plants have succumbed incredibly from the sudden cold weather we had. As you may have heard, places received down to -10 degrees on the Atherton Tablelands. We, where I'm living recorded closer to 1 degree on a couple of mornings with other mornings also recording 2-5 a few times. It is still mild with only last Tuesday morning we recorded 6 and two nights ago 5.4. As mentioned my thermometer is situated 2m above the ground and within a sheltered site, none of my plants located near the thermometer were at all affected by the cold however outside without the roof/awning of the house to protect them, they were scorched. Many Spathodea's 20m tall had their crowns burnt, Large mature Schefflera actinophylla's lost all their leaves, a Schefflera bractescens up the road seems to have died all together. Many restoration plantings in the area have been dealt a serious blow (frost). I have seen mature Elaeocarpus grandis, 20m tall killed by the frost. There is a planting of over 2000 Blue Quandongs, for timber, just up the road from here. They all were standing proud at about 3-5 m tall and at least 75% of them have been totally killed by the frost. There is a frost band where all of the plants died and then another band on the highest side of the planting where they have mostly survived. There are mature Wodyetia which have all their leaves burnt to black however seem green in the centre's. Mature Coconuts in Malanda seem to be fine- surprisingly. Mature Cyathea cooperi's growing along the creeks on the tablelands - have no leaves left...this is predictable though. I was in Cairns a couple of weeks ago, doing some work on a hillside and looked at the ground to notice the Praxelis clematidea had brown leaves as a result of the cold...I was standing at 60m asl at the most. I was staying at the Daintree village the night of the worst frost and a local told us that it had got down to 6 degrees that morning. A friend at Whyanbeel, just north of Mossman recorded cold (not frost) damage there. Trees which are very susceptible to frost: at least up here. Elaeocarpus grandis, Ficus septica, Ficus hispida, Delonix regia, Cassia javanica, Acmenosperma claviflorum, Homalanthus novo-guineensis, Alphitonia petrei, Cyathea cooperi, Schinus molle, Syzygium malaccense, Alocasia macrorhiza (exotic one), Pandanus species- especially oceanic species, Spathodea campanulata, Scindapsus, Pawpaw, Banana's, Dracaena fragrans, Allamanda cathartica, Euphorbia pulcherimma........Duranta had burnt tips and the ground covering Lantana totally died (possibly a good thing). There are lots of species I have seen with burnt leaves.and also alot...