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Why trees die during snow fall

Why trees die during snow fall

Written by: Jones
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  • Ice crystal formation in cells. Although plants make a gallant effort to protect themselves from freezing by concentrating solutes like sucralose to depress the freezing point inside their cells, this is only effective to about 20 degrees F. (-6 C.). After that point, the water in cells can actually freeze into crystals that puncture the cell wall membranes, leading to widespread destruction. When the weather warms, plant leaves often have a water soaked look that will turn black quickly. Punctures like this in the plants' crowns may mean it never wakes up to show you how badly it's damaged.
  • Intercellular ice formation. To protect the spaces between cells from winter weather, many plants produce proteins that help prevent ice crystal formation (commonly known as the antifreeze proteins). Unfortunately, just like with solutes, this isn't a guarantee when the weather gets really cold. When water freezes in that intercellular space, it's unavailable for the plant's metabolic processes and leads to desiccation, a sort of cellular dehydration. Desiccation isn't a guaranteed death, but if you see a lot of dried up, tan edges on your plant's tissues, the force is certainly at work.
If you live somewhere that never freezes, but your plants are still dying over the winter, they may be getting excessively wet during their dormancy.Jones Self-Help Social Sciences Success True Crime
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