Might as well make the guessing game on the pear blooms fun. What’s the coldest temperature you think these pears can handle? I sprayed them with copper and the orchard is on a hill. I have no estimate on wind speeds at this point. I realize there are different stages of bloom depending on the type of pear.
I know nothing but a simple guess would be 90% kill between 10-15 degrees.
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Speedster,
Here is a cheat sheet https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/pub__5191779.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjE_dWvtM3SAhWpbZoKHY6lDtIQFggfMAA&usg=AFQjCNFYCg5hxKTRgluX2elyqVaAPJ5CtQ. I’d say for sure 90% at 15 but I think those more open blossoms in the picture of the gloved hand can take even less. I think that copper spray will but me 2 degrees at best. If the wind starts up it’s like a wind machine and I could wind up with another degree of protection. It’s a hilltop orchard so the wind is higher speed which you know the old saying “location , location, location”.
Clark,
I don’t like to guess but about 6 years ago that my Korea Giant was in full bloom and the temp dipped down to 16 degrees and all the flowers dropped. So no fruits that year. Your pears right now are still in tight clusters so they may be able to handle a bit better than 16 degrees.
Tony
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Tony,
We will see how it goes. I may get a year off from picking some of these pears and im ok with that. Many of my other pears will be fine and are beyond swollen bud or bud burst but not tight cluster yet.
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According to the chart, damage starts at about 28F (10%) and at 26F (90%. Just wondering if 90% would be ideal for a tree with ample flowering. Our lows next week are predicted to be 29F and 27F. I worry more about my varieties that have not fruited yet but have blooms. This is a luxury of being a hobbyist grower as opposed to running a business.
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Auburn,
Have you sprayed with copper yet? You might think about covering them.
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I sprayed about 2 weeks ago with copper/oil. Will this help?
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Most definitely will help because copper kills ice nucleation bacteria. It takes around 10 days after it’s sprayed to be extremely effective so your in a good place with your trees https://www.apsnet.org/publications/PlantDisease/BackIssues/Documents/1988Articles/PlantDisease72n10_837.pdf. I know your aware Bill but for others reading copper has greatly reduced my blossom blight because fire light is a bacteria. Dormant oil is very effective controlling insects. Great combo spray which is what I use as well.
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I would say there are more factors that come into play that affect the actual percentage of damage than just the actual temperature. I had a couple of varieties of apple at 1st pink last year when we had a temp one night that got down to 19 degrees and I experienced no noticeable damage to them. So obviously something improved their cold tolerance. Last year I did not get copper sprayed this year I did but only 3 days ago.
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You’ll get a lot more wood growth. I might pull the fruit off my Bartletts because i’d like them to put on some more size. I let them put out a light crop last year and they hardly grew (the tree) in size.
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