No, what I’m suggesting is the sun and warmth is what pushes early spring growth. The soil is almost always nice and moist in early spring in the humid regions.
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Yep I agree the soil stays moist.
I’m not sure what causes the break in dormancy. I’m sure it’s some combination of heat, sunlight, daylight hours, accumulation of chill hours and probably varies from variety to variety.
With climate change there can be profound changes in the relative order of when plants and insects are breaking dormancy.
I thought this was an interesting podcast on the topic :
I believe I know what causes common fruit trees to leave dormancy sooner some years than others, and it’s mostly about late winter and early spring warmth and sun. More than average they flower sooner than average, even when earlier temps have been very cold.
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There’s a combination of factors…heat, sun, soil temps.
A day or two of early warmth doesn’t usually cause any issues since there’s a slower response with soil temperature changes. If you get a long stretch of above normal temps and warm nights then you start running more risk.
Soils don’t really start warming up here until mud season is over. Water has a higher heat capacity so it takes more heat to warm it up. Also, evaporation cools the air. Once the soil surface becomes less saturated you start seeing more diurnal changes in the daily soil temps with daytime heating.
Different plants i believe also use different measures. Some may use moisture, others soil temp, others daylight
Sure…there’s a combination of factors with different plants weighted differently. Native plants usually have enough protective measures to avoid spring cold damage. A lot of the european trees wake up before our natives do. Those invasive norway maples are always one of the first to leaf out. Our spring weather is more extreme than much of europe so when the norways get the signal to leaf out, they would normally be in the clear there while they’re still at risk for hard freezes here.
I mentioned sun, but it is probably overrated since I often have potted seedlings breaking dormancy in my basement despite low light conditions. The only thing with the sun is you risk warming up the solar side of the trees in the afternoon, getting the sap flowing, and then getting SW injury with harder freezes.
We saw 17.4F just before 6am this morning. I don’t believe I have anything past tight cluster here in the Southern Adirondacks so I should be OK.
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Two thermometers agreed that our low overnight was 16°F. However, neither thermometer was in the orchard in a slightly higher elevation.
A technique I learned from Steve Johnston of the Apple Castle in New Wilmington, Pa., for testing a bud after a frost or freeze is to slice the bud vertically. Then examine the base of the bud. If it is blackened, the bud will not produce a fruit. I tested buds from plum, cherry, peach, pear, and apple trees. Only a few, and none from the apple and pear buds I tested, looked deadly black. Should I allow myself to be optimistic?
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That looks like toast to me. I look for brown, not black. The ovules should be vibrant green. Even later on, I doubt they will change to black.
I hope I am wrong but those temps would be expected to fry buds at that stage. Anything below about 24F teds to cause serious damage IME. My orchard touched just below 25F for about an hour so most varieties should be unaffected. A lot of my peach blossoms are about at the stage of yours. Weird year- you should be at least a week behind.
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Man u didnt have to take long island seceeding to the other regional thread so seriously 
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Ha. I always crop Steve out up in Aroostook county so I tried nudging the map center northward to fit him in for once.
Here’s the LI special edition map for the defectors.
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Looks like most of Long Island was spared. Actually probably even better off than the states below us (except those that are near the coast) since you’re probably bit hit by the heat waves as much.
The low in my city (upstate) ended up being 27, forecast was 29-30. Don’t see any real damage on my pears peaches cherries or serviceberries. It was probably a couple of degrees warmer where they are, as they planted upslope from my house
i didnt lose too much. just possibly one paw paw and my one row bush beans i think. my potatoes have some frost damage on the tips but i think are fine. we’ll see if the paw paw comes back but i planted that row of beans knowing it might not make it, and it wasnt much of a loss it was direct sowed and easy. paw paw was only planted in fall but it was a variety i sort of regretted planting anyway so perhaps its for the best…
Also randomly one of my winterberry shrubs lost its leaves. not sure what thats about.
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thanks. woke to a very heavy frost this am. every thing was covered in hoar frost . very pretty. luckily everything is still fully dormant other than the rhubarb but that stuff is always bullet proof. for others that dont know, that 13f at the tip of Maine is Frenchvile airport, just up the hill from me. it likely got colder than that as im down hill near the st. john river.
Here in Sandy Hook, it seems the cots are toast, they were at split shuck stage. Too early to judge peaches, nectarines and plums, which are between full bloom and petal fall. Same for pears, which are at full bloom. Apples are about 25% in bloom, and some petals are showing signs of injury. The next 2-3 weeks will reveal the true extent of damage.
I like to wait 2-3 days before I do such dissection, the ovary color would be more clear then. This year, I think I will just wait and see how many blossoms turn to fruit…
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Ah…so you are way up there then. Yeah FVE is a little elevated and persistently breezy so they don’t radiationally cool much. All of the big cold is at the COOP sites like Van Buren, Estcourt Station, and in the Allagash. I had a friend who used to live in Fort Kent…he’s in the UP of MI now. But he would occasionally send vids of the diamond dust when it got cold and moist enough.
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I was surprised to have lost most of my cot crop as well… of course they were way ahead of other species. Mine are against a wall and survived similar cold earlier when they were in full bloom.
at 4 corners park in Madawaska theres a plaque stating the town as the most northern town in the northeast. i live just outside the town line. while Estcourt station is further north, the town is actually in Canada with only the customs building being in the U.S. the way its set up you can easily walk back and forth through both countries while walking in town there.
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