Protect Plants from Sudden Frost or Freeze
Botanists Develop New Way to 'Freeze Pruf' Plants
Botanists have developed a ground-breaking spray that helps a plant survive hard frost and sudden freeze, extending the growing season by at least a month for most growers and gardeners. This non-toxic spray, called FreezePruf™, from the Liquid Fence® Company, improves a plant’s freeze tolerance up to 9.4° Fahrenheit, depending on the species. 

The spray protects plants from the devastating effects of frost and freeze and saves home gardeners, garden centers, and commercial growers potentially millions of dollars from damaged plants. It lowers the plants’ freezing temperatures and enhances the plants' natural mechanisms to resist freeze damage.

“Lighting smudge pots to protect crops or covering plants with plastic are time-consuming and risky,” says Dr. David Francko, the lead developer of FreezePruf. This new spray just may be “the holy grail of horticulture,” says Dr. Francko, a botanist and dean at the University of Alabama. “Spray plants once before each season or right before a freeze event to protect plants and extend your growing season by two weeks in the Spring and two weeks in the Fall.”

Last year Americans spent more than $38 billion on their home lawns and gardens. For customers who spend hundreds -- even thousands -- on shrubs and flowers, the threat of a freeze is a serious issue. With some 43 million Americans growing their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries in 2009, protecting that crop and extending the season another two weeks means more vegetables and longer blooming flowers in the fall, and earlier planting in the spring.

The non-toxic, inexpensive spray has been successfully tested in a wide variety of flowering plants, vegetables and fruits, as well as banana plants, palms, and tropical foliage. It’s available to commercial growers and will be on the shelves of garden centers and home improvement stores nationwide in September.

Spray Works at Three Levels
FreezePruf is an industry exclusive mixture of biodegradable, food production-grade ingredients that work together to protect the foliage and flower both externally and systemically.

The eco-safe, water-based spray contains five ingredients that work together to lower the freezing point of plant tissues, strengthen cell walls and membranes, and coat leaves to reduce water loss and retain the active ingredients within plant tissues. “FreezePruf has the unique ability to reduce both the freezing point of water inside plant tissues and ice crystal damage when ice does form, thus enhancing a plant’s natural ability to survive cold temperatures,” says Francko. “As a matter of fact, plants can be frozen solid and still be viable,” declares Francko.

The unique formulation and mode of action add a half-USDA Zone equivalent or more to the cold tolerance range of all major ornamentals and crops. “So a plant that is hardy to the low-to-mid teens in Zone (8a) can be grown with little or no damage in Zone (7b),” says Francko. “It's like moving your whole home landscape about 200 miles farther south.”

This news is a real plus for homeowners and growers alike.
“The existing sprays typically protect plants in weather only as low as the mid to upper 20s Fahrenheit,” says Francko.  “Our spray works all the way down to below zero Fahrenheit, depending on the plant you’re working on. It really does take advantage of the plant’s genetic pre-adaptation and improves it. And that’s the real difference with FreezePruf: It will help protect your plants whether you live in Florida or Minnesota, in Zone 10 or Zone 4.”

Inside The Liquid Fence Company’s headquarters, computers and phones are humming from growers, nurseries, and retailers eager to get their hands on this new plant discovery. “Of the many different products we sell for gardeners and growers, FreezePruf is one of the most revolutionary products we’ve ever introduced,” says Edward Abraham, president of The Liquid Fence Company.

The protection lasts up to 6 weeks. Dr. Francko recommends, for best results, to spray 4-6 weeks prior to the first or last hard frost date or right before a hard freeze episode. Although it can be nearly impossible to determine first and last frost dates, visiting the farmersalmanac.com can help!

For more information call The Liquid Fence Company at (800) 923-3623, or visit www.LiquidFence.com