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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] New Experience: Frost!

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  • From: <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>
  • To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] New Experience: Frost!
  • Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:18:03 -0600

Here in Northern Illinois, frost is always an issue in early spring. We use the mentioned water treatment along with our trickle irrigation. Not only does the freezing water create heat, but the water going into the ground will also create heat, usually a degree or two. to help with the monitoring of the temperature, you can check out http://weather.weatherbug.com/ where you cna get your local weather on your computer desktop and set a low temperature warning that will alert you when a certain temperature is reached. If you set it for 34 to 35 degrees, you will be able to protect your trees before a freeze can hurt them. This is a free service if you don't mind the ads or you can subscribe, as we do. Hope this helps!

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard

----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>
To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] New Experience: Frost!


You can get a few degrees of frost protection - which may be all you need -
by spraying water onto your susceptible plants at night. As water freezes,
it releases a little heat - the water will freeze on the plants leaves,
warming them just enough to protect them; the ice also provides a bit of
insulation. We had 26 degrees last night here in Sacramento; my citrus is
undamaged.

There are other sprays designed to give more frost protection than water
alone, if need be. If you have enough reemay or other ag fabric, that sort
of blanket would give you enough protection - even a sheet. I don't know
how many or what size trees you need to protect. I've protected single
trees from much colder weather with a light bulb hung in the branches and a
sheet. Most citrus we grow here in northern CA should be able to survive a
few nights in the twenties just fine. Some of the mandarin (and other
citrus) orchards are up Highway 80 in Newcastle, where this is a more common
occurrence.

~ Stephen

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Spidra Webster
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 12:27 PM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: [NAFEX] New Experience: Frost!

I was wondering if the folks from areas that regularly have to worry
about protecting their fruit trees/plants could help me with some
advice. We've been experiencing unseasonably cold weather here. I've
already got frost damage to some of my citrus and other plants in the
yard because by the time the weather forecast came in a couple weeks
ago, it was too late to go to any nursery and get cloths or whatever it
is I'm supposed to do. I'm a native Southern Californian and I've
never had to deal with preparing for frost damage.

Given that some of my plants have already been damaged, what the best
approach for further forecasts of frost? Should I be cutting off the
old frost burn or leaving it in place? Should I be using paper, cloth
or plastic to cover my plants? What's the best way to prepare? Please
excuse the ignorant questions but you wouldn't expect a sheikh to know
about ice skating, would you?

Spidra Webster
http://www.spidra.com
Berkeley, CA









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