We pretty much had no winter. The fruit trees were blooming very early and as excited as I was . . thinking about getting peaches and pears and figs . . I knew there was a possibility of a late frost. Sure enough, tomorrow night, if it gets down to 29º, we will likely lose this year’s fruit crop.
Freeze – Accuweather.com
I watched as a few days ago, Saturday’s low was supposed to be 34º and I was so hoping it wouldn’t go lower, but it did, and then they said it would be 32º and now the low is predicted to be 29º.
Commercial fruit growers are equipped with smudge pots or ways to spray the blossoms with water so it freezes at 32º and doesn’t allow the temp on the blossoms to drop much below 32º, but we aren’t equipped to do that.
I’m hoping the temp at our house doesn’t get as low as they’re saying. At our location, our temps are often 3 or 4 degrees warmer than predicted for in town so all we can do is wait and see what happens.
It’s pretty disappointing but, it’s Mother Nature and we certainly can’t control her actions!
Sherry in Carrollton, Texas says
Unfortunately, we usually have a freeze before Easter, no matter when Easter is!
JudyL says
Just this morning I pulled all the sheets off the trees. Only about half the trees were covered and we never had a frost so all was well. It got down to 34 last night and I saw frost on some of the roof tops when I was in town early this morning but I think tonight was the last night to have to worry about it.
Susan says
Here’s hoping the temperature doesn’t actually cause freeze on that 2016 crop! They’re facing that here, too, but are lucky that the raspberries and other things aren’t blooming yet. However, all the flowering-only fruits are blooming, and I’m hoping the real fruit trees are waiting another week! I love to go pick early peaches at the farm.
Rebecca in SoCal says
Yes, you can whine! It’s rather late for such cold temperatures, and can you see any of the fruit trees recovering now? (pouty face)
Helen Baczynski says
If you have some Christmas tree lights, put them in your fruit trees and keep them lit overnight. They give off just enough heat to protect the buds. The have to be the old type of lights, not LEDs. I protected a couple of trees that were frost sensitive that way when we lived in Vegas.