Thanks, Muddy. Yes that’s a DJI Phantom 4 drone in action. You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to get that shot with a continuous steady flight that kept all trees in view.
Dewpoint isn’t something I’ve paid attention to over the years, but I should probably start! Typically in winter there are 5-10 mornings where I’ll wake up and see a light frost on my wood chips in some but not all parts of the garden. It is usually gone by late morning. I’ve never seen frost on any plants. I have these sensors stuck into the ground which unfortunately only measure temps at the soil level. Last year the picked up 26F on the ground while it was more like 30F at eye level, which is where the weather forecasts measure.
Our area has seen less than 25F a few times over the years. Dec 2013 saw a week of low 20s that killed a ton of a local nursery’s stock. My outdoor pipes were all wrapped in towels when I bought my house. My plumber tells me of this one winter in the 80s when the water actually froze in the pipes, never heard of before. Needless to say, he was as busy as the HVAC guy in summer!
I commend your efforts. I wait for your success list eagerly!
I remember that week in December 2013. My bananas and macadamia tree were only in the ground for 6 months at the time and I was so inexperienced that I didn’t think to cover them. I remember seeing blankets on a neighbor’s citrus trees a few days later, but by then the worst was behind us. It only got down to 27F in my backyard, probably because I’m at 600ft elevation and spared from the valley lows. Luckily the macadamia and bananas were not injured at all, though the bananas did lose their leaves (which they do anyway even in mild winters).
Slightly off topic, I’ve alway been curious about the zone 9 differences…I live in zone 9, but that’s in Florida…it’s got to be different from a California zone9…Is the average temp the only thing taken into account? It would have to be since I’d imagine we have a lot higher humiditylevel here. Wonder why they don’t draw a distinction.
Yup. VASTLY different in terms of humidity. Which is why us folks in California rarely use the USDA hardiness zones. Instead, we refer to our Sunset zone, which is much more defined and refined just for us here in the western part of the USA. You’ll see both of those zones in my name description. USDA zone 10b, Sunset zone 23.
The winners so far: Longan, Starfruit, Jaboticaba, Allspice, Lucuma, Cabelluda, Suriname Cherry, Cherry of the Rio Grande, Cinnamon, Grumichama.
The losers: Mango, Lychee, Wax Jambu, Peanut Butter Fruit, Green Sapote, Black Sapote, Achachairu, Imbe, Luc’s Garcinia, Pitomba, Cedar Bay Cherry, Bay Rum, Cinnamon Apple.
Good update! I’m sorry for your losses but what a great experiment. Terrific that you now have new trees you may have never tried and others in your area can also benefit.
Like others said. Awesome experiment!
I just bought a Valencia Pride Mango but she’s staying in a pot for the foreseeable future here over in Livermore.
I live down the street from you near Los Gatos! I’m actually near 85/Camden area.
I have the following trees I will plant. Can you let me know which ones you think I can leave bare and which ones I can cover (christmas light technique) to save from frost?
Dragonfruit
Rose apple
Cogshell mango
Wax jambu
Sugar apple
Star fruit
Malika mango
Cherimoya
Longan (Kohala)
Jaboticaba
Green jujube
Sapodilla (Alono)
All of these will go in containers so I can move them inside in case of bad frost - with the exception of the Mallika since I will do that in ground.
I wouldnt bother covering Jaboticaba, Cherimoya, Longan, or Rose Apple. Starfruit is a gamble - really depends which variety you have, and I can only vouch for Dwarf Hart.
The others will probably need some protection. Sounds like you are at a lower elevation than me (I’m just up the mountain at 600’) so you may get a touch more frost.
I’ve never protected any of my trees before, so I can only tell you what I’ve read. Get some Agribon frost blankets, rated AG-50. Put some kind of structure around the tree to hold the blankets up without touching the plant. Get some old-fashioned energy inefficient christmas lights called C9 and string those up in the tree if you can. Blankets alone without a heat source can only do so much good.
Hi Josh,
Thanks for this great topic! i see you had 6 varieties of Jabuticaba. Which one you think did best in terms of cold tolerance and overall healthiness? Any idea how they differ in terms of test?
As of last year I have 10 different varieties of Jaboticaba in the ground. Those being:
Plinia jaboticaba “Sabara”
Plinia cauliflora “Paulista”
Plinia coronata “Restinga”
Plinia cauliflora x aureana “Red Hybrid”
Plinia aureana
Plinia phitrantha
Plinia cauliflora “Otto Anderson”
Plinia sp. “Grimal”
Plinia trunciflora
Myrciaria glazioviana “Cabelluda”
All of them performed extremely well this winter. Nothing seems to harm them in this climate. The only damage to the plants from cold is to the thinnest twigs that have not yet hardened off. I have seen frost covering an entire plant without long term injury.
I also have dozens of other Jaboticaba varieties in pots which were also left outside. They all performed well in winter.
The only trouble I’ve had keeping Jaboticabas alive has nothing to do with the cold. Certain species, such as Plinia salticola and Myrciaria dubia, are extremely pH sensitive. I have not been able to keep the soil acidic enough to keep them alive for more than a year.
Hello Richard, I seen the fruit trees you are growing and it got me interested in trying to grow some of them in my area. I am in Central Florida zone 9B. I am not familiar with your area but seems like some of the varieties you have growing would need more chill hours? is there something I am missing or would these be suited to my area as well? I am referring to the flavor grenade and such that dave Wilson nursery says require 300+ chill hours. Thanks
