Product Information
The ability of plants to withstand frost or freeze is genetically determined. Although many have tried, there has been little success
in attempting to produce a foliar spray that enhances these natural strategies– until now.
A scientific-breakthrough
FreezePruf is a foliar / floral spray that increases plant resistance to both cold damage and cold mortality. Application of FreezePruf to foliage or flowers of healthy monocot and dicot plants, improves cold tolerance by approximately 2° to 9° F, depending on the variety of plant and the duration/ intensity of frost or freeze event.
Developed by botanists at The University of Alabama and Miami University (Ohio), FreezePruf protects the plant externally and systemically by enhancing its natural “anti-freeze” like properties. It also adds extra frost / freeze protection capacity to a plant’s normal capabilities without replacing or diminishing the plant’s native capacity. It’s as though FreezePruf moves the planting location 200 miles south, the equivalent of about one half of a USDA zone.
How it works
The FreezePruf formula is a proprietary combination of cryoprotectants, a surfactant, a cell wall reinforcing compound and an antidessicant. This patented combination produces a synergistically beneficial effect on plant foliage and flowers, including:
- Reduces the environmental temperature at which foliage and flowers first become damaged by cold
- Reduces the environmental temperature at which plant foliage and flowers are killed by cold
- Improves healthy plants' cold tolerance by approximately 2° to 9°F, depending on the variety of plant and the duration/ intensity of frost or freeze event.
- Enhances the strength of cell walls
- Depresses the freezing point of both intracellular and extracellular compartments in plant tissue
- Stabilizes the cell membrane against ice crystal damage
- Enhances absorption across the leaf / flower surface
Why FreezePruf (and Nature) have differing effects on plant varieties:
- FreezePruf adds to a plant’s natural ability to tolerate cold. Plant species vary greatly in their natural ability to tolerate cold (See Plant Groups below), and there is considerable individual variation even within a cultivar or variety.
- A plant’s health and prior care effect how well it will tolerate cold. A drought-stressed or diseased plant, or a tropical plant that is already experiencing seasonal senescence (yellowing of leaves, brown leaf tips, etc.) due to shorter days and cooler nights, will not respond as well to FreezePruf.
- Both the duration and intensity of the cold event will effect a plant’s and FreezePruf’s performance. Each frost or freeze event is unique in terms of duration and intensity of cold, wind chill factor, relative humidity, snow and ice cover, minimum temperatures and total time below freezing. Even within an individual landscape, microclimates occur and low temperatures can easily vary by several degrees.
FreezePruf performance:
In general, FreezePruf will add approximately 4˚ to 6˚ Fahrenheit to published hardiness values of plants (about the equivalent of ½ of a USDA Zone rating) (see listings below). The overall improvement range is approximately 2˚ to 3˚ F (¼ of a Zone equivalent) to more than 8˚ to 9˚ F (¾ of a Zone equivalent) over untreated plants that experience the same intensity (low temperature) and duration of cold, windchill, snow/ice cover, and other variables. The following is a generalized grouping of popular garden and landscape plants organized by their ability to tolerate cold as reflected in their USDA Plant Hardiness Zone rating. For plants that are not specifically listed, consult the cold tolerance information on the ID label that came with the plant or any reputable gardening or landscaping reference book that describes the plant’s normal cold hardiness rating. FreezePruf is not intended for use on succulents.
| Plant Group 1: Tender tropical plants (USDA Zone rating 10-11) and new spring foliage and flowers of evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs that are intolerant of any frost. Includes... The foliage and flowers of many popular annuals and frost-sensitive perennial ornamental plants (coleus, begonia, impatiens, bananas, cannas, elephant ear, Mandevilla, peace lily, hydrangea, lantana, etc.), tender vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, squash, etc.), many tender culinary herbs (cilantro, oregano, basil, etc.); and the newly-emerging leaves and flowers that appear in early spring with most popular deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs (dogwoods, maples, azaleas, peaches, pears, ash, figs, deciduous magnolias, crape myrtles, etc.). |
Plant Group 3: Warm-temperate plants (USDA Zone rating 7-8) that tolerate longer-term cold and winter minimum temperatures ranging from 10 to 20° Fahrenheit (Zone 8) to 0 to 10° F (Zone 7). Includes... Palms (cabbage palm, windmill palm, pindo palm, Mediterranean fan palm, dwarf palmetto, etc.) and a wide variety of Zone 7 and 8 broad- leaved evergreens, including Camellia sasanqua cultivars, Fatsia japonica, live oak, Southern magnolia, and others). |
| Plant Group 2: Subtropical plants (USDA Zone rating 9a and 9b), hardier perennial bedding plants, and the flowers and new growth of winter-blooming evergreens that will tolerate frost and short-term hard freeze events without extensive protection. Includes... Many citrus varieties (Satsuma mandarin oranges, Meyer lemon, kumquats, and other cold-tolerant citrus, etc.), hardier bedding plants and vegetables (snapdragons, columbines, mums, pansies, chives, parsley, peas, etc.), flowering evergreens (Camellia japonica cultivars, philodendron, loquat, oleander, Awabuki viburnum, Knock-Out roses and other cold-tolerant varieties, etc.), palms (Mexican fan palm, Canary Island date palm, sago palm, and other Zone 9 palms and cycads). |
Plant Group 4: Plants with USDA Zone ratings of Zone 6 (winter minimum 0 to -10° F) and colder. Includes... Many needle-leaved evergreens, hardy evergreen hollies and boxwoods, and the hardiest cultivars of Southern magnolia (“Bracken’s Brown Beauty” and “Edith Bogue”, etc.), and needle palms. |
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