Those are nice and convenient but in my experience in heavy wind when you have a large tarp, they are insufficient, and, you will still need to anchor your structure (kite) to earth. 
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What does he have planted? Lots of plants can take 27
Been there, tried that) They snap off easy when wind is strong !
I’ve been worried about the temperatures and the snow you got last night. We had 0, only warm rain but tons of wind. It is now sunny outside with no snow. I am worried about your peaches!
Well, we got to 3.5 degrees F this morning. Looks like I was 5 degrees colder than the station about 3/4 of a mile away on a ridge. That is typical. https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KIACORAL10
The reason I bought one of these weather stations was because I will often see the night-time temperature oscillate due to wind variably blowing the cold air out. One of the basic digital thermometers would often never capture the lowest minimum. You can see that my temperature dropped once then rose and fell again in the middle of the night. A real excellent spot for an orchard! Ha!
We will see what the damage is in the coming days. At least I am a ways from bloom.
Had a few below 0F readings in N Iowa…probably where the snow was deepest.
I’d imagine tonite will be the coldest for the SE. I see Orlando is calling for 37F.
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WOW! Maria! I didn’t know such a thing existed…thank-you so much! That would undoubtedly be a great thing to use on this whole project. I think I’ll have to make you a partner on this multimillion dollar invention too. hahah
Seriously though, great suggestion. Thanks.
I used to have a hoop house made from tube steel and what I used in the corners to hold plastic on was the thick wall underground black sprinkler tube. Just cut it into workable lengths then cut a slit length wise so you can snap it around tubing. You sometimes have to cut out a 3/8 strip out to make it easier to open up. These will not come off. I will look to see if I can find a pic.
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JustAnne4 has a great idea with the crisscross twine. Used on big hoop houses to hold their plastic down. It works!
we’re getting a taste of the cold here in NE Florida, some of the lowest temps we’ve seen all year. They’re prediciting a record low tonight, but we won’t see a hard freeze, so I’m not all that worried.
Last night wiped out almost everything. A few peaches weren’t quite in full bloom but other than that I’m done for the year. I hope olpea faired better than me.
Oh wow Roy. Sorry about your fruit damage. There’s gotta be a way to protect them. Just curious if you’ve ever tried the ammonia or Freezproof type products. I used ammonia on mine and can’t tell yet any damage, but I’m in zone 7b and we just got into the low 20s.
Oh Borer, that is the worst news. Maybe all is not lost. 
It’s crappy crappy here. I still see some late blooming varieties in green calyx and red calyx. I’m assuming most of these survived our two deep freeze events of 18f, but there was a huge loss of anything in pink, which was really a lot.
I tore apart a few fruit buds in pink, and I can tell from past years, these are toast. The ovary looks like it will never “fatten and” develop. It may have toasted our blackberries too, I don’t know.
We already lost many many fruit buds from the Dec. cold blast. These two recent extreme frost events almost finish us off, I think. Right now we have to decide if the orchard is worth spraying to protect whatever minimal crop we have left. I have already been communicating with our local FSA agent for a possible/likely insurance claim for our peaches.
I’m going to try to sell what we have this summer. I just spent $1200 on seed for sweet corn and another $700 in fertilizer I laid down, plus herbicides, plus tractor time. It’s been so dry here, I’m concerned if the pattern persists, it will all be a waste of money too. Not a good year for anyone with fruit in the lower Midwest. I a saw a report in one of the fruit mags which said this is comparable to 2007. Extreme weather patterns are not conducive to growing fruit crops in this area.
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Sorry to hear that Olpea. . .
I appreciate it Mike. But really, all studies show there is a complete crop loss in this area for upwards of 20% of the time, and a partial crop loss most of the time. Still doesn’t make it any easier. From a practical standpoint, I really think it’s advantageous to grow varieties which are more winter hardy and typically later blooming.
I noticed Galaxy flat peach bloomed as early as anything this year. That’s not something I read from anywhere, and not a good thing.
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Olpea, which varieties have green and red calyx? I am trying to identify the late blooming peach varieties? Thanks - Spud.
Olpea, I am sorry. I am thinking about you and your family and sending you good thoughts! Its in the 20’s here at night now and I have my fingers crossed, but my investment does not begin to compare to yours. Hang in something good will happen, it always does!
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