As expected we are predicted to be 31 on Sunday morning. Hopefully no lower. This is why I hate gardening in Oklahoma. Warm spells in February wake everything up and a freeze in March kills it. Everything but the apples have bloomed and leafed out. Even my inground fig survived the winter and is awake. I have enough flost cloths and blankets to get my stone fruit covered so hopefully I can save something. I bet the commercial peach orchard guys out east of me will be working their butts of.
Mike
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Sunday night low is 27 here in Omaha. I have to move some of pots back in for the night and after that the weather is back up in the 60’s again. I will cover some trees with the light bulbs for that one night.
Tony
We will get to 28 in northern VA this weekend… but none of my plants have actually bloomed yet. (plenty of signs they are getting ready to, but no blooms yet)
I hope it will be a non-event.
Tony–
There is another cold shot a week from now (after a shot of 70F or better early next week)…temps look very similar to this cold shot…so i would expect one more brush with at least some frost…maybe a freeze. After that it looks like your free…
NWS here wants to keep us around 26F to 28F the next 4 nights… nothing blooming so i’m fine. I will have to cover 2 planted trees because they are showing some green. All my seedlings will need to come inside.
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Low of 32 over the 4 day period, latest model shows 5-8" of snow Sunday night into Monday…
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Low as 24 here, but nothing has bloomed or leafed out yet other than potted trees in my garage. So not many work for me.
3-5 inches of snow on Monday and lows of 16 degrees on Tuesday in Central Maine…ugh. We always seem to get one of these late season storms though.
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All of my stone fruits are in full bloom and our low is expected to
be 34, and I’m going to spray everything with KDL just in case the
weathernan is wrong and it goes lower.
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Heatwave here. 85* yesterday.
It was 89 here yesterday, but it’s supposed to be 34 monday .
That’s crazy. I’m afraid that these unpredictable wild weather swings are going to become the norm. I bet that we see more and more greenhouse growing…even for fruit trees…as time goes on.
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I’m tired of the weather swings and extremes here. This time every year my plum and peach blooms get killed by freezes. I dislike the freezing cold of January and February as much as the extreme heat of July and August.
I told my wife the other day that when we retire we’re moving to someplace where the weather is more consistent and mild, like Cambria, California!
In Chicago, the night tempts are going to be 30, 31 and 26 for this coming weekend! I’m going to move my figs back into the garage and nothing can be done to the plums and pluots that are in progressed pink stage!
I hoped the weatherman is wrong! Or at least some positive microclimates on my site!
Tom
My most developed buds are at first pink. According to MSU at worst i will get 10% kill, which is just a good thinning really! So I’m not protecting my trees. At best 100% survival. Friday, Saturday and Monday low is 27 right at the edge of damage. 10% at 25F, so looks like I’m OK! Temps go back to the mid-thirties after Monday.[quote=“tomIL, post:13, topic:4899”]
I’m going to move my figs back into the garage and nothing can be done to the plums and pluots that are in progressed pink stage!
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Me too figs back in garage! MSU has no info on Japanese plums. For apricots 10% damage at first pink with a low of 24, you should be fine! If you have full bloom you might get 10% kill at 27F 90% at 24.
http://www.hrt.msu.edu/faculty/Langg/Fruit_Bud_Hardiness.html
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My Jostaberries have little leaves coming out. Does anyone know if a freeze will hurt them?
here is the really frustrating part, 3 days ago this last monday our high was 82 and Next wednesday it going to be 80
Now a freeze in between.
I don’t know for sure, I think it won’t kill plant, so that’s good! I have gooseberries like that too, and elderberries. My currants are all still fully dormant.
Again my location saved me as we never hit the 80’s not even the 70’s. The Great Lakes keep the extremes away. So plants are just starting to wake up.
I have a Rose of Sharon, and this plant is one sleepy plant! It usually does not start waking up till June!
My understanding is that the extent of damage (or not) is dependent on, not only the lowest temperature, but also other factors, including, length of freeze, humidity, wind, proximity to heat sinks and overhanging foliage, water content of the plant (recently well watered plants tend to suffer less injury), height of blossoms new growth above ground level, and more.
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If it’s any consolation I’ve already had freezes of 22, 30, and 24F in late February that took out the early blooming trees. They are now predicting 35 here this weekend. Usually it gets colder than predicted. I’ll be out in force covering things again. We almost always have 1-2 freezes in April.
This is why I have a greenhouse.
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That stinks. I may have to build a bigger greenhouse myself.