no fertilizer.. EVER ....

it all depends on whether the buds are viable ..

NEVER use a black pot to cover... on a sunny single digit winter afternoon ... it could have been 100 degrees under there ...

why did you think they needed protecting???

anyway. i hope they make it ... if the buds are black and mushy.. or turn such soon.. they are probably goners...

if the buds are hard.. and nice tan color [not really knowing what conifer we are talking about] ... they have a chance ...

a picture would be worth a few hundred more words of speculation ...

good luck

ken

Plants need to breathe. Sounds like a case of the wrong idea.

Dax

The may not be dead - time will tell.

Ken - I disagree. Black pots don't heat up that much - especially in winter. If that were the case, it would be impossible to grow anything in them.

sali ...

i read the facts to understand that they inverted the pot.. and used it as a cover ...

on a 7 degree BELOW ZERO sunny winter day ....

i will bet it MIGHT be hot enough under an inverted black pot ... to cause the plant to thaw ...

get them dormant.. keep them dormant.. and you are all set ...

if you create a circumstance.. where they heat and refreeze all winter long .... you will have problems ...

let me put it this way ... on a twenty degree day, full sun ... my kids can walk on the blacktop driveway.. bare foot ... i dont approve.. but they have done it ...

and.. you just might get away with things down in z8 FL that we in snow country.. might not ... unless you have up north experience ...

ken