FROST: general rules from experience....

Lots of strains of cannabis can handle a pretty strong frost. I've had plants handle frosts as low as 28 degrees F without killing the plant.

Things to consider, some strains are more sensitive to frost than others, if they are in pots this can make them more sensitive.

Sativa strains tend to be more sensitive to frost than Indicas. Indicas and Indica dominant hybrids are capable of handling frosts as low as 28F. but there have been reports of sativas handling frosts just as well.

I'll leave this sticky open to discussion for other experienced users to post their experiences, I will compile it into this. I felt this was needed as this question gets asked a lot when a frost comes by.


you can protect the plants if they are of manageable size or if you are handy enough to build a sturdy setup.

this can be as basic as a pvc greenhouse with plastic wrapped around, or even sheets if properly secured to not touch the plants... or as large as a full car port with greenhouse grade plastic secured.


how much the temperature rises the next day also tends to define how the plant deals with the frost. if it frosts and it rises up to 65 degrees+ with sun in the daytime, the plant is much more likely to take the frost and keep growing vs a plant that takes a hard frost and sees a 45 degree day with clouds....


cooler temperatures (55-40 degrees F) will definitely bring out some purpling in some strains, and cause flowering to speed up, nights that dip into the 35F zone boost this even more, bringing out even more color.

sorry for the organization of this thread, guess I'm too much of a stoner after all

It was 27 when I got up this morning so it may have dropped to 26 overnight. My plants did fine (sativa doms). I put some compost and extra mulch and am optimistic for tonight (again 26) ...

nice, I guess that's more evidence in favor of sativa being frost sturdy as well.

those plants are in the ground correct?

Yeah - I'll let you know how they fare tomorrow

this year I chopped mine two days after first frost. got down to 24 with 30-40mph winds, after that they started dying RAPIDLY haha.yeah, when they're in the ground theyre more tough it seems. i just hate having to deal with the anxiety of when its going to freeze over

ilovethegreen said:

this year I chopped mine two days after first frost. got down to 24 with 30-40mph winds, after that they started dying RAPIDLY haha.yeah, when they're in the ground theyre more tough it seems. i just hate having to deal with the anxiety of when its going to freeze over

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yeah I've never let my plants go down to a 24 degree frost, I believe 27 degrees is probably the limit. possibly one or two degrees more but doubtful.

We went down to 27 last night again and I think they can handle that although they've been losing a lot of fans over the last couple of weeks. Every time we drop, more fall colors come out. We are having a lovely change of seasons. Fortunately, for the next couple of weeks we will be sunny with highs in the 60s and 70s so they may fill out a bit.

I will say one thing for the cold ... when I checked yesterday, all of my plants had an astounding swelling of the trichs. The cold snap really put the plants on task

Laney said:

We went down to 27 last night again and I think they can handle that although they've been losing a lot of fans over the last couple of weeks. Every time we drop, more fall colors come out. We are having a lovely change of seasons. Fortunately, for the next couple of weeks we will be sunny with highs in the 60s and 70s so they may fill out a bit.

I will say one thing for the cold ... when I checked yesterday, all of my plants had an astounding swelling of the trichs. The cold snap really put the plants on task

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yep it really does!

if frost kills a plant, how long do you have to harvest it? or can you? are the buds still good after a plants dies a 'natural' death?
thanks!

2d9s said:

if frost kills a plant, how long do you have to harvest it? or can you? are the buds still good after a plants dies a 'natural' death?
thanks!

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while I have no personal experience to confirm this, I see absolutely no reason why the plant would lose all it's potency just because it died. just harvest it as soon as you can, when it's done its done!

I could see it dramatically effecting flavor, and possibly effecting over all high slightly, but I wouldn't call the bud trash by any means.

buds are still good after theyre frozen and dead. depends on how long they were dead...

I've never had frost kill a plant and I tend to leave them alone to ripen, weather or no. That's because, in most places, there will be one or two light frosts (like I just had) and then a clear spell, during which the plants will quickly ripen. I've lost a lot of leaves from these weather dips. The buds are fine, though. I guess it'll just make trimming easier

i drowned a plant (no holes in the container... ) and as it died, it began to smell like a rotting, very pungent, breakfast sausage - 4 weeks later the dead, white stem still smelt - hence the concern if a plant dies a (natural or other) death before being 'harvested' what the result would be...
thanks for the first hand info.
this week things are supposed to chill quite a bit here so im wondering what to do in case they wilt, die or if it will even come to that...
thanks!

2d9s said:

i drowned a plant (no holes in the container... ) and as it died, it began to smell like a rotting, very pungent, breakfast sausage - 4 weeks later the dead, white stem still smelt - hence the concern if a plant dies a (natural or other) death before being 'harvested' what the result would be...
thanks for the first hand info.
this week things are supposed to chill quite a bit here so im wondering what to do in case they wilt, die or if it will even come to that...
thanks!

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I like to put a little 5x5 greenhouse-ish box over my plants if its not ready to take a frost. it helps keeps temps up quite abit

I would have loved to cover my plants but they were way too big (even though most were topped &/or LST'd). Still they only have to last a couple more weeks. I'll be cutting a couple within a few days. Including at least the top half of my 12-footer.

Dude thank you so much for this thread...last nite was first frost and tonite is a freeze warning. I had thought when it frosted they were done. Its been around 35 at nite but dont expect high 20's for the next two weeks.

ExtremeMetal43 said:

Dude thank you so much for this thread...last nite was first frost and tonite is a freeze warning. I had thought when it frosted they were done. Its been around 35 at nite but dont expect high 20's for the next two weeks.

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no prob I know how it is being a scared newbie and a thread like this is a light in the darkness,glad it helped!

ExtremeMetal43 said:

Dude thank you so much for this thread...last nite was first frost and tonite is a freeze warning. I had thought when it frosted they were done. Its been around 35 at nite but dont expect high 20's for the next two weeks.

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Your plants will be fine but it's definitely a very anxiety-provoking time. I've had light and hard frosts most years. I'm very stubborn about pulling early and my girls usually fare well. This year has been one of the worst, having gone down to 26 the other night (3rd and worst frost this year) but the gals are hanging in there.

There is only one night that is expected to go to freezing (31) over the next couple of weeks a lots of sunny days (60s and 70) so I was reluctant to pull them and now they will enjoy some sun and finish to the max

the first frost of the year was on sunday night, i checked my pumpkin patch today - tuesday - and everything seemed fine. the temperature dropped to -1*c so it wasn't a hard freeze - the weather network also posted a frost warning. the only difference i found was that top colas were 'browned' and withered a bit but the rest of the plant parts (colas underneath, leaves, stems, roots etc..) seemed intact.

here are two photos of the top cola of one of the plants. the first one is from friday (before the frost) and the next one is from tuesday (2 days after the frost).

hope it helps as i had no idea what to expect as well...