I suggest a 5 gallon bucket of water and a 200w to 300w fish tank heater for fire safety
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Or you could shove a bucket of water inside there that should give off some heat all night…a 5 gallon bucket. Otherwise i think you are good with those coverings. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to move in tonite.
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It’s better to use light colored covers if possible. Dark surfaces radiate heat more efficiently than light colored surfaces. Black will absorb more heat during the day, but radiate more back out at night and the freeze happens at night or early morning.
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Hello,
I really appreciate you posting this breakdown. Helps keep me grounded. I always dream of buying some land and starting a commercial orchard. This helps me keep it a dream.
I will stick with my 2 acre gentlemans orchard.
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I like this warm water bucket idea. Will report back after the weekend on the results of my efforts!
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I told you guys in Wisconsin…we might be the coldest spot in the nation Friday night.
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My fruit trees are full of tiny little peaches , plums and pears and they are too big to be covered up. I sure hope they will survive tomorrow night.
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Forecast here is for a freeze on Saturday morning, but 20 mph winds all day and night Friday. It’s gonna be tough covering my plants in a way that can survive that kind of wind.
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Forecast here has wind dying back late the afternoon
Hope so
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Forecast is 33 here … normally I would not be too worried but the last 34 forecast ended up being 30 in my orchard and fried my apricots. I have too much to cover but will be out with the blowtorch if it is close to 32.
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The warm water bucket doesn’t work. There is an old-wives tale in the greenhouse world that if you put buckets with water in your greenhouse it evens out your heat. It’s BS. Even if it’s boiling when you set it out It will be at ambient temperature within an hour and after that it does nothing.
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How do you plan to use your blow torch? Just direct it towards one tree at a time? How far from the tree? And for how long?
A hight watt light bulb is a sure thing for me in the past. I hung a shop light bulb on the center of the tree with the tarp covered. The heat radiated off the light was very profound.
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I have not settled on a plan yet, but my current favorite is to heat up all the mulch beneath the trees which will then give off heat until I come by for the next round of blowtorching. It will take maybe 15 minutes to make a full round of all the mulch in my orchard so I need enough heat in the mulch for 15 minutes. All I need is a couple degrees warmer so it seems doable.
An alternate plan is to heat up the trees well above 32 which will hold on, but it is hard to get a lot of heat into the trees without frying things. I forget the exact BTU but it is something like 100K, pretty absurd.
Absolutely. You don’t need much heat, but you need it somewhat continuously for as long as it’s too cold. I bet Christmas tree lights would work if you laid them out under a tree. This is the time of year I am glad I made the decision to not grow stone fruits! Of course, I got impatient and planted out a lot of my garden veggies and flowers last weekend, so I’ll be digging every bucket and big pot I have out of the garage and greenhouse to cover everything before dark.
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First time hearing of a “scorched earth policy” being used in a positive way. 
Reminds us that in our “sound bite” driven environment, context is crucially important…
Mike
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Using old Xmas lights in strawberry bed. I am then going to cover with double layer of row cover and then some sheets for good measure. I think I am going to try and get some lights around two blueberries and cover with a tarp. Anyone else planning on being up around 4 to monitor?
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I just set the alarm on my weather station for 34F. If it gets that cold I will get out in the orchard. I was going to do 4AM but remembered I have the alarm in my weather station.
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It seems like the forecast is accurate when they predict wind (and get that part right), it is supposed to be above 10 mph here all night so I’m going to chance it on the container figs. They can handle temperatures just below freezing as long as there is no frost.
How about spraying with water, do you think it will work? I am thinking of filling my pesticide sprayer with warm water, and spraying the trees around 4-5 am. Would the heat from the thin water film be good enough for a couple of hours?
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