Frosted corn isn’t as delicious as it sounds (Ontario frost update)

After the terrible frost the weekend of May 23rd that saw some areas in Ontario dip to -3 degrees Celsius with widespread frost throughout corn, soybeans and fruit and vegetables crops we thought we would give an update on how the frosted corn and soybean plants are doing.

Thankfully, after the frost event there was warm weather for a few days followed by a widespread rain. With warm weather,the corn plants were able to continue growing. In the case of some of the frosted plants, it was evident that the dead leaves were inhibiting the new growth; dead leaves often smother the new growth. Hopefully, because of the past weekend’s rainfall, the new growth on the corn plant will have enough power to push through the frosted off leaves and continue growing.

As for soybeans, any that were badly frost damaged have now been replanted (since the growing point of soybeans is always above ground, any soybean plants that were frost-damaged would have been beyond saving). The warm weather followed by the rain we received should get the soybean seeds germinating quickly–as long as there was not too much rain. Too much rain can can cause ponds to form in the fields, which will affect germination and growth of new plants.

You can see on the picture that the frosted leaves have shriveled up, and that new growth has started to push through the dead plant material.