33 degrees last night. Dew point about the same. I guess we did have a light frost but I haven’t been outside yet The same pattern the last couple nights. I haven’t put out any annuals or vegetables and it’s kind of a relief not having to cover them up or drag them around. Unexpected lows but then it seems anything is fair game these days.
Have my sprinklers still at the ready. Don’t expect any super low temps but then again I didn’t expect temps near freezing either. Apples at full bloom and some starting to lose petals. I’ve sprayed the pears and peaches and the apples not in bloom. First coat of surround on and then it rained super hard so I ended up recoating them.
Anyone else seeing freezing temps? I’m 6b Shenandoah valley and a bit of a microclimate low here. I do warm up in the morning pretty quick compared to other nearby temps. Set up an ambient brand weather station and registered through weather underground. I’m loving it!!
BTW predicted two days in the low 30s coming up within the next 7 days. That puts me in the 20s for sure. Will it ever end?
I don’t think I had a freeze since that big one on March 20th which wiped out most stone fruit and some pear flowers. I think it got close to freezing on April 10th, my basil planted outside is hanging on to dear life.
I had hundreds of pepper, tomato, and squash seedlings out in the backyard last night and am out of town. I was watching the temps on the local personal weather station (a few houses from mine and up about 6 feet) and saw it get to 38. I’m definitely worried that they might have suffered a light frost since the backyard is a bit of a frost pocket and the fact the seedlings are on the ground but the weather station is higher up. I could see it was totally still, so no wind to keep the cold mixed.
Joining. I’m in Kennett Square, PA. I don’t spray, and don’t grow anything that requires spraying at the moment. Low here last night was supposedly 32 or 33 but I didn’t see frost and don’t think it actually got below about 36… I need to reset the memory on my thermometer! (doing that now!)
Also Shenandoah Valley, it got down to 35 for a couple hours last night at my house. It got down to 32 at the airport.
I feel weird hitting the “like” on a post about how @sockworth lost their stone fruit flowers - the heart was meant to convey and commiseration. I think most of my peaches were frozen off too, but I had pretty low expectations, so it’s not so bad for me.
On April 10th, it got down to 25F here. I froze off the emerging leaves on a few fig trees that I put out too early. Hoping they recover. But other than that, I have only planted some cover crops which should be fine with the cold. I’ve been holding off on all the rest of the garden seeds.
@benthegirl It’s okay, my trees are small, so no big deal. I did have some peach-lets survive but I picked them off since the tree is small. I do expect in 2024 to start getting some fruit, so I hope next year is a normal year where trees won’t wake up 2 weeks earlier.
BTW, both you and @Rosdonald seem to have more similar climate with each other as compared to me. I get similar lows due to cold fronts (accompanied by high winds and change in humidity), but you both have much deeper morning lows due to (I believe) temperature inversion by being in a valley. Cold air drains off the surrounding ridges towards the valley at night when there are no clouds. I was surprised Shenandoah Valley can get so cold in early morning.
Yes, I think you are right. I may be the coldest of the two. I have made notes about cold hardy or late blooming peaches, pears, and plums and I’m going to try to graft over some of mine in the future.
Toka and empress blooms have been holding on for weeks despite the cold dips. Reliance peaches did well as expected but it’s too soon to tell for sure. I have a black boy peach graft that has bloomed profusely several years but never fruited. The same for this year and blooms were some of the longest lasting.
I have lots of red fleshed apple grafts and those are touch and go but I love the color and fruity taste. Unfortunately they are usually the earliest bloomers.
Maybe the group has some recommendations for cold hardy varieties.
I was out working on the pear trees last night. So many little fruits. It’s going to take me forever to thim them out! I sprayed two of the trees after a first round of thinning, I’ll try and get the rest done over the weekend. Past Jim always assumed future Jim would have more time on his hands. Past Jim was a naive fool.
Isn’t it appalling? I have 8 pears that need thinning. It’s beautiful yet daunting to think about the task at hand. Hopefully we don’t get another frost.
I was up in my Hosui pear tree last night at around 10 PM thinning the Korean Giants before I sprayed. I’m sure my headlight was shinning in peoples’ windows and all, but what else can I do, I am yet to be retired.
Down to 37 degrees right now and dropping quickly. Tonight is not one of the predicted lows. I expect below 30 temps Sunday night and possibly Monday night.
Weather station 2 miles from me is 2 degrees higher.
Hi Scott, do your fuzzy kiwis produce fruit in 6B/7A? Last summer I bought a fuzzy kiwi Jenny, which is supposed to be self-fruitful, but later read that there’s no chance of getting ripe fruit from the fuzzies because they require a longer growing season than we have.
Yes they have been very successful. Some varieties ripen too late but most will ripen in time. You need to pick right before the first hard frost and put into the fridge until February or so. Once in ten years or so the shoots will be nipped by a spring freeze.
It’s supposed to freeze next three nights here in the Shenandoah Valley, VA. A friend in MD (close to Scott) told me she’s been disappointed too many times and never puts anything outside until May now!
That sounds like me @benthegirl My sons helped me put compost in the raised beds today. I would normally have a lot outside already but none now.
it’s already down to 38 here 930 pm. In contrast Google says my location is 50. Talk about differing thermometers and predictions. It says low 32. That could be anywhere from 28 to 24 as a low for me. Talk about suspense.
and commiseration. I think most of my peaches were frozen off too, but I had pretty low expectations, so it’s not so bad for me.
