Northeast in for repeat of disaster of 2016?

We are expecting 60’s today and high 70’s tomorrow so I put down my Surround plus mega sticker (1 tbsp/gal of nufilm) on my apricots to try to keep them a bit cooler with the all-white treatment. Next year if we are looking for an early spring I will probably do a whitewash a lot earlier instead (lime), but this is what I had handy. I also included copper and oil in the tank. Maybe the early Surround will also help with annoying the early curculio. I may add Surround to my other delayed dormant sprays to generally bump up the annoyance factor for those devils.

Right now March is looking mostly OK, but this Friday is a low of 25F forecast that I need to get through. So far no cots are open but they are getting really close.

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Won’t 25F damage buds? I thought 28 or less did significant damage to buds, blooms.

See this chart: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/files/picturetableoffruitfreezedamagethresholds.pdf - I am at calyx red and 22F is the 10% damage number. So unless things progress a lot I should be OK.

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Even in west Texas with all our freezes I’ve rarely had severe losses before bloom. The buds are much hardier than open blossoms. It’s after bloom starts that the big risk begins.

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Abnormal winter hear has started to move things even up in Maine…asian plum flower buds are plump, pussy wilows are at silver, poplar the same and cornus mas blooms are starting to swell as well, this is about 3-4 weeks ahead of ‘schedule.’ We still have a good snow pack which I am grateful for, but this heat worrisome. Mid 50s today and tomorrow, them getting cold again which is a good thing.

Scott,

From your chart, it looks like 25 F is the danger zone.

I am kinda freaked out about the forecast calling for lows of 23 F on March 17 and 27 F on March 24 in my mountain location.

I wonder if throwing blankets or trash bags over the trees would at all help.

I have seen this chart before - last year I lost all of my peaches and 99% of my plums. I do not think we hit 23 - 24 degree temps required for 90% kill rate at full bloom for peaches and plums. I will cover a few of my trees this year starting Thursday as a precaution.

What cover material will you use?

Any reason to be confident it will help?

Blankets will help on things low to the ground like squash plants, flower seedlings, etc. Not sure if they would do any good on trees. How about an electric blanket? That would probably work. :wink:

My apricots are at red calyx now so its 22F. I put the white stuff on in the hope they won’t get to the next stage which is 25F.

I feel these numbers are pretty accurate, but temperatures in the orchard are very local and it may be colder or hotter than the reading you took. Also, multiple events compound the problem. Last year I had the problem of many freezes and bit by bit my apricot crop got chipped down to nearly nothing.

I ordered several three cover different varieties from amazon, search for Agfabric .95oz Fabric Large Plant Cover and Garden Fleece for Frost Protection. The reviews are good but who knows if they will work? If they work they are worth it to me, if not I threw another $60.00 out the window on this hobby :).

Most of my trees are in a bottom so it may be colder …

Baltimore airport shows 7 days in the 70Fs and a couple in the 60Fs…

Things are looking worse here, a few apricots popped in the most recent heat wave (and rain – no help for sap flow) of the last few days. Three to be exact, Tomcot Hesse and NJ77. We are now forecast for 20-24 lows for Sat and Sun so its clear I am going to lose part of my apricot crop. Again. The temps are any minute going to start sliding fast, and if none of the other guys advance and we stay more like 24F low not 20F I should be OK on the rest. This Fri and Sat are the nail biters for me, after that it may be in the clear.

Scott, Invite a bunch of politicians to your orchard and let them talk all night. The hot air will keep the frost away!

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Just check our forecast, the temp is supposed to go down to 9 F this Fri and Sat. I could not spray Surround as it’s been either rainy or windy since last Sat.

Apricot buds look to be more advanced than any other kinds. Low at 9 is two days in a row after several warm days is terrible…

I had the same problem spraying Surround but I did get it on this Monday. I think it was too late to help much though - we had 3-4 heat waves and I should have hit them in the 1st or 2nd wave.

Ouch, 9F is pretty low. Check the hardiness charts to see where you will come out. I think apples and pears will still be OK, probably same for Euro plums, but the other stone fruits may be at risk.

Looks like Sunday morning will be the one to worry about, but you may still get through… low 20Fs around Baltimore.

Wow- our forecast dropped like a rock. Saturday night was supposed to be in the mid to high 20’s as of a couple days ago. Now we’re forecast for 11F, after a steady progression down from 25F tomorrow night, 15F Friday. I don’t think most things are too far along. Mostly just the JPlums/Pluots/Apricots with swollen buds…

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Why do you think whitewashing helps? I understand how it deflects heat but it seems if it made much difference someone would have formulated something a lot easier to apply than Surround- like latex paint. I assume that an effective means of delaying bloom would have tremendous commercial appeal globally.

I would like for someone to attempt this in a controlled manner to see if it really works. I was going to experiment this year with insulating the ground after if froze solid this winter- but it never did freeze solid.

If apricots are all I lose to freeze this year, I will be celebrating.