Thanks for that great info Olpea. I bought a Redhaven this year from Starkbros as a gift for a friend (selfishly I also wanted to see what this tree can do up here and I don’t have anymore room), I’ll be planting it when it arrives next week. I had been having second thoughts Since its a zone 5 tree and was thinking about changing the order to Contender, but your comments about Redhaven were reassuring.
On a personal note, I know many have already expressed their sympathy for what happened to your crop this year, you have mine too. I hope it turns out that you still get a somewhat decent crop and just have a bit more time for fishing during thinning time
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Why can’t i just put a couple of 5 gallon buckets full of water under a tree and then tent it with some blankets? Shouldn’t the water give off heat? Should also give off heat when/if it freezes. Showing 20F here Saturday morning. Praying for wind.
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Ray,
Thank you so much, I will give them a call. They are Titans. With 5000 acres, they must have about 500,000 peach trees. Don’t know if he’ll talk to me w/ 400 trees.
I hadn’t planned on applying anything for peaches after frost damage. As Blueberry mentioned I’ve only heard of Promalin for apples to cure some freeze damage.
I ordered some Kocide overnight to try to get it on before the frost Sat. morning. I need to spray something for bac. spot anyway about this time, so even if I don’t get in frost protection at petal fall, at least it should slow the bac. spot down for susc. varieties.
Btw, perhaps the guy was a little confused on the Mico Shield I use Mycoshield (an antibiotic) for bac. spot. I wonder if the guy got it mixed up w/ an anti-transpirant called Leaf shield. If the Titans will talk with me, I will ask them about it.
Again, thanks so much for making these phone calls!
I think buckets of water would cool down far faster than you might think. In freezing temps the water would be cold in an hour and probably slightly frozen by morning
So they would add heat…just hardly any? hmmm…
What about just covering the entire yard in a greenhouse?
lol! I think you’re right! It’s almost May and we lose our fruit? That’s just not right, It stings when you’re this close! I may have some I may not either, I have no clue? I’m doing all i can.
Nothing of mine is flowering yet, but man i worry about 20F temps even killing off swollen buds. I’ll cover what i can and hope for the best. I have a lot of blankets/sheets.
WalMart guys were putting out trees this evening. I should have stopped and told them not to waste their time. A lot of the trees were totally leafed out.
Sure looks like we move back in the other direct as we get towards mid month. Possibly some heat in the making. Light at the end of the tunnel.
Truthfully, I am thankful for every day it stays chilly, as we can get frosts clear up until the end of May, which is still seven or eight weeks away. I am hoping to actually get to taste my sweet cherries for the first time, some planted as far back as 2008. I have a huge bundle of bird net ready for the sizable Lapins tree if it sets fruit for once. Last year I had one cherry on one tree, so bagged it, but it disappeared bag and all. I didn’t expect an annual crop when I planted the trees, but even every few years would be thrilling. I am debating whether to try to cover at least some branches tomorrow night, but the wind might not allow that. The buds are swelling, but still mostly dormant.
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Ray, have you ever left a small portion of a tree unsprayed to compare, just to see if what you are doing is working?
I think the bucket might help increase the humidity in your tent if it was well sealed enough. You might even put a bucket of hot water under the tent before sunset if we are going to have a radiational freeze.
The humidity should condense and probably freeze on the inside of the tent. Water is strongly opaque to IR radiation, so having a frost layer on the inside of plastic should help keep the tree warmer.
A former boss who is a physicist explained this to me… he used a low tunnel inside a greenhouse to keep greens alive into January in the Chicago area. They don’t really grow, but the technique does keep them alive and they therefore store longer than if you cut them an threw them in a fridge.
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I thought i read something somewhere where it was suggested. I’m going to try because i only have so many light fixtures to use… even if it adds a degree… better then nothing. My in ground peaches are very light on flowers so i’d like to save what is there.
I would try if you have the materials. I use green soda bottles in my greenhouse and this winter put them in triangles around tender plants in the coldest nights. We’ve only gotten into the twenties a couple times but I haven’t yet had ice in the bottles by morning.
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Looks like we might really warm up in the extended range. This cold could be ancient history in a couple weeks.
I’m not spraying two trees, Santa Rosa and a July Prince.
Just talked with Clemson, and they’ve never heard of KDL
and they don’t really recommend any product. Unless you can
cover your trees with some light bulbs inside, you’re at the
mercy of Mother Nature. I spoke with Dr. Powell Smith, Lexington
County.
BTW Clemson’s county extensions phone systems are really screwed
up and very hard to get any one on the line. Edgefield is worse than
Lexington.
Just talked with Clemson, and they’ve never heard of KDL
and they don’t really recommend any product. Unless you can
cover your trees with some light bulbs inside, you’re at the
mercy of Mother Nature. I spoke with Dr. Powell Smith, Lexington
County. He doesn’t recommend Kocide or any other product. Once
you get below freezing, there’s not much you can do. According to him,
the study with Kocide was inconclusive. He said wind machines were
better.
Did you ever talk with Titan?
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Ray,
I called the number yesterday and it was disconnected.
KDL is potassium foliar fertilizer. Apparently the boost in available potassium is what makes the buds a little hardier. How far do the buds have to be open for this to be worth spraying? I assume that it wouldn’t absorb through the bark very well.
It’s supposed to get down to 31 here Saturday night, and I have a good many grafts which have taken and the shoots are about 3 or 4" long. Some are topworked but some are in pots. Do I need to bring all the potted ones in the house (once again) or can they tolerate the 31?
I’m watching the weather closely and hoping it bumps up a degree or two, but in case it doesn’t…
Thank you for the work and the information. It would be great if we could just spray something that made the problem just go away!
I did some research on Kocide which impacts the “ice-nucleation bacteria”. From what I read this bacteria can provide a nucleus for the formation of ice crystals which damage the plant tissue. In this case, Kocide reduces the bacteria that helps ice crystal formation rather than controlling the bacteria that cause fireblight or perhaps bacterial spot, but it needs to be applied 24 hours before the freeze. Since copper can damage green plant tissue, getting the rate that will help control the ice and not damage the tissue may be a challenge. I could not find any research study to support this - only the email I received yesterday
I already use Kocide on apples and peaches for bacteria control, so any improvement in ice crystal formation would be a bonus if I could get the right timing and proper rate.
Any experts on Botany have an opinion on “ice-nucleation bacteria” and its impact on bloom or fruit survival?