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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Freeze damage follow-up

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  • From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Freeze damage follow-up
  • Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:29:38 -0500


Here in east Kansas it looked like the freeze a couple weeks ago nulled any
chance for fruit. Now it looks like we could have some pears. Someone on
the list mentioned plants can re-bloom. It looks like that's what happened
to the pears.


I'm glad to hear it. My Northstar cherry had just started to bloom when the freeze hit, and it's blooming again, too (though not very many blossoms this time).


Blackberries are re-foliating and sending up new canes. Strawberries coming
back. Our strawberries were hit much worse than others in the area.


I don't have blackberries, but many of my black raspberry canes died. Others, especially those closest to my garage, are sprouting new leaves, and all of the roots are starting to send up new canes. My strawberries are looking fine, but I'd covered them with straw.

Oddly enough, though, straw didn't help protect some things (currants and one gooseberry), and might even have hurt. Most of these appeared to come through the freeze just fine, but afterwards, the leaves and young shoots started dying. This happened with my irises, too (which I hadn't covered, since they aren't edible). They looked good right after the freeze, but the leaves all slowly died in the week or so after that.


Someone mentioned they had serious twig dieback of persimmon because of the
frost. Perhaps that's what's going on with the persimmon and paw paw, as
there is no new growth coming back. The trees may be dead. They were pretty
small.

Apricot foliage was damaged worse on the Hargrand (100% damage), but it's
putting out new foliage as are the japanese plums.


All of my fruit trees had 100%, or nearly so, foliage damage (they're all pretty young), but my Japanese plums have come out of it the best here, too. Of course, they hadn't sprouted out as much as the others, either. My Asian pears still look the worst, but one of them is sprouting out again.

You mentioned twig dieback. One problem I've noticed is that almost all of the end buds (next to my pruning cuts) seem to be dead. At least, there are very few trees where these have started sprouting new leaves, even when the rest of the branch is greening up again. One branch on a young peach tree even split lengthwise at the tip. Maybe the sap froze and split it?

Should I re-prune these trees now, to cut off the dead stub? Or wait and prune it off later, if it really is dead, either later this season or with my normal dormant pruning next year? I'm still learning how to prune. Though I've read a lot about it, I need experience. But if the end buds on my pruned branches are dead, the next one is going to be on the opposite side of the branch - exactly the opposite of where I'd planned. So perhaps I should prune back even further, to a better choice? Although, considering how bad my trees look, I suppose I shouldn't stress them any further right now.

Advice, anyone?

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5a)

--
The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. - John Stuart Mill




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