To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] cold night
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 08:46:30 -0500
We'll spray them with
water... and cross our fingers.
Maria,
Aaaahhh, it's too late for me to warn you! You put the water on the
ground, not on the trees! They figured this out after I myself had damaged
or witnessed damage to a number of trees that were sprayed during cold
nights.
Take note you all, the water goes on the ground, and the heat from the
water rises and warms the trees and air. Water on the trees in small
amounts seems to cool the tree even further via evaporation. I did this to
a peach tree once, it was badly damaged as a result though the unsprayed
peaches were just fine, they didn't even lose their blossoms. In large
amounts the water freezes on the branches and breaks the tree. In large
enough amounts the leaves inside the ice seem to be ok, but if the branch
they are on is broken, its a moot point. I don't remember where I got this
info, but it makes sense, esp compared to the disastrous effects of water on
the tree. I read about it not too long before the Big Easter Freeze
Disaster, and told Hector Black the night before it happened. He was
already set up to spray the water over the plants, and can probably tell you
what happens when you spray water on blooming blueberry bushes at 18
degrees. At least I only covered mine with plastic, which did nothing
really to help in the wind. Donna