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Good question.
As fall arrives and winter lays in wait, you need to begin to think of exactly when to dismantle and winterize your misting system. Turning it off to early may damage your cuttings, too late and your misting system itself may be damaged. Read this article on winterizing your misting system using an air compressor, and this on on winterizing your misting system using gravity, for a few things to consider before you begin to winterize your misting system.
Now that you have an understanding as to how the winterizing process is done, you need to figure out exactly WHEN to do it. That is not as hard as you may think.
The one thing you need to know before dismantling your misting system is the difference between a frost and a freeze. Kathy Purdy at Cold Climate Gardening has already written a great post on the differences, so I wont get into all the details, but to excerpt her article:
Both [the frost advisory and the freeze warning] are only issued during the growing season. A Frost Advisory is issued when the predicted temperature is expected to fall to 36 degrees or lower in the next 3 to 30 hours during the growing season. So temperatures 35 to 40 range would also dictate a frost advisory. A Freeze Warning is issued when there is an 80% or greater chance that the temperatures are expected to fall to 32 degrees (F) or lower in the next 3 to 30 hours during the growing season. If the temperature is expected to fall below 28 degrees (F) this is considered a Hard Freeze.
So basically what we need to worry about when deciding when to disassemble the misting system is when the temperature will fall below 32° F (0° C). If the temperature is predicted to fall below 32° the water inside the piping, solenoids, and misting nozzles will freeze. When water freezes, it expands. This expansion is where we run into problems. A misting system that freezes has the potential of having the piping, solenoids and mist nozzles breaking because of this expansion. Depending on exactly where the freeze occurred, you have the potential of water continually running onto the ground or your cuttings because of a water main break, your cuttings getting no water when they should, or the cuttings getting too much water if the misting nozzles are broken.
To minimize the likelihood that you will have frozen and broken misting components you need to be sure you drain the system before the first freeze.
As I write this, Maine is experiencing very cold temperatures. This is very unusual for October. Just two days ago I made the determination to drain my misting system for the winter. I did this based on the weather prediction that the evening temperatures would get below 32° for a few nights. This time of year, the cuttings I took a month or so ago are essentially semi-hardwood anyway and misting them is almost a moot point. If I keep them watered, they should eventually root. Even if they do not root, the crop is worth much less than my misting equipment.
One thing to remember when making the decision to drain and winterize your misting system for the winter is the impact of frozen and broken equipment. It is much easier to start a new crop of softwood cuttings in the spring than it is to replace misting equipment. Just keep the cuttings watered until the ground freezes and they should be fine.
Be sure to grab a copy of the “10 Reasons You Should Be Using Intermittent Mist” title=”Why you should be using a misting system to propagate plants” free report
