Lee:

There is nothing anyone can do to help in these circumstances. Just watch and wait like so many of us are doing. If your blossoms are just beginning, there will be plenty more to follow those after the freeze, and most of those still in bud will survive.

Be thankful you don't grow apricots.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Trust me... Half my "protection" is in another county because of the wind. In calm/dead conditions, then i could see trying to cover, but forget it in the wind unless you have metal staking, plywood sheets, and heat!!!!

Jellyman, how are your apricots? Did they already bloom?

hairmetal:

Saw the first Tomcot blooms on March 22. The others, Puget Gold and Goldcot, followed shortly thereafter. It was an extraordinarily heavy bloom, but it's over now and all petals have dropped.

We have 30F forecast for Friday night, and 29F for Saturday, but I'm not throwing in the towel yet. Humidity and wind play a role in whether or not the pollinated blossoms survive, and I think many of them will unless we get down to about 27F. Anyone below that is out of luck. All the peaches have blossomed too, so if the forecasters are wrong I could theoretically lose those too, but I don't think so. I have never lost all the peach blossoms in close to 30 years of trying to grow peaches.

Apple clusters are beginning to spread, and I have some pears blooming, but see no problem for these fruits, which require substantial thinning anyway.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

We're looking at 23 Friday night and Saturday night, with peaches in pink and a few blooms open.

I'm not expecting too much this year...

jellyman-

I wish you luck with your crops. Hopefully after all this is done we can find out the extent of damage the cold really brought. I see KIAD (Dulles) has it going down to 25F @ one point, but that is the GFS model and its still a few days out.

LINK

Frank:

I am just 12 miles east of Dulles Airport. Dulles tends to get 2-3 degrees colder than I do at night, and in summer is usually 2-3 degrees warmer for the high.

I am sure I will lose some of the apricots and peaches on Friday and Saturday nights. The question is, will it be 20%, 40% or 100%. I hung a min/max electronic thermometer on the lowest apricot tree, so at least I will know exactly how cold it gets. Covering, Christmas lights etc. are not practical for me because of the size of the trees and orchard layout.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

The freeze didn't come, just what happened was wilting from the cold, I still got leaves and blooms on everything. I still got until monday to get out of this cold, so it could still happen.

Lee

Here in Oklahoma my cherry tree is LOADED with fruit along with the peach, pear, apple and plum trees. It is suppose to get down to 20 tonight and Friday night. Will it hurt more in this stage than blooming stage? What about spraying them with water before the sun hits them? Does that help any? If it's not the bugs, the rot, the leaf curl, the fungus, the deer, the wind or the heat then it must be the cold. I have beautiful trees and in the last 3 years I have only eaten about 10 peaches and 2 apples. I can't win for loosing. Sure wish some of you guys did house calls to tell me what I am doing wrong. Bring a heater with you when you come!

RAT

RAT:

Any of your trees at full bloom or post-bloom will be a loss if your tempertures actually reach 20F. Little fruits that have frozen will fall off. Sorry. A lot of us are facing these problems right now, but I know that does not make it much easier.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

We got to 24 last night, but what worries me more than anything is the fact that it's STILL below freezing. It's 29 right now.

I thought I wasn't going to have to worry about my trees, they were just barely peeking the tips of a few leaves out, but when I went to cover my perennials I happened to pass by my little peach tree we just planted last year and weren't expecting anything from this year. Imagine my shock and horror to actually see BLOSSOMS! We have a wire mesh cage around the bottom 1/2 of the tree anyway so we stuffed straw down in it, around the blossoms, then tied a heavy garbage bag over the tree with baling twine. It somehow stayed on all night, flapping in the wind. I surely do hope at least a couple of the blossoms survive.

If they're fully open, you'll probably lose them, but if they're still somewhat closed we might eek out a few survivors.

In full bloom, IIRC the threshold for 90% loss is 23 degrees. You lose about 10% at 27 degrees.

Peaches are about the most freeze resistant fruit at equvalent developmental stages. This is esp true of certain varieties like Surecrop that have been selected for resistance to spring freeze. I once had 13F two nights in a row in late March with Surecrop near full bloom. Actually had a few peaches on that tree. Until the bloom actually opens, Surecrop buds and most fruit buds can take a lot of cold.

The Fruitnut

fruitnut... i think i had 20F here last night... You think these are toast???

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Those'll be OK. Mine are nearly open and it's 27 right now, now expecting 20 tonight. They're toast.

Frank: I agree, yours haven't tanked yet. Hairmetal probably won't suffer a total loss either.

The Fruitnut

All this cold must be from global warming.

Good. Thanks. I think we need to figure out how to make plants bloom LATER... Dropped the temps for tonite...16F now for low temp. Not fun ;)

Give me a glimmer of hope here. This will only be the second year, in the five since it was planted, that my young apricot tree has actually been able to set fruit. It is about 12ft tall and is loaded with grape-sized apricots already. I had high hopes of several cobblers and even some preserves this year. Our forecast is for the nighttime temps to get lower each night through Sunday. Last night we saw upper 30's. Saturday night/Sunday morning it is supposed to be upper 20's. Do my little apricots stand a chance? Is there something I can do?

Skeetermagnet:

Yes, they do stand a chance, and it depends on how upper your upper 20's turn out to be. It also depends in part on whether you have cloud cover (good), or a clear, still night (bad).

I am looking at a very similar situation here. Last night, we got down to 30 and there is no apparent damage to blossoms on the trees or those that have already dropped petals. We also have colder nights forecast for tonight, and Saturday night, but even the forecasts from various sources differ. To me, it doesn't look as bad as some years I can remember when temps went below 25 in mid-April and took all the apricots.

It's not over until it's over.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I live in southern OK have peach tree with peaches-some about the size of the end of my thumb. What can I do to protect my peaches? My husband plans to cover it with sheets or a plastic tarp and sit an electric heater out...has anyone ever tried this? Also have tomato and pepper plants...ugh. and my heirloom climbing roses are all ready to burst into bloom. we are to get a freeze tonight and tomorrow. April 6 and 7.
Help please!!!!

I just received my cherry trees from rain tree and its 19F at 1:30 in the afternoon,and i think its going to get very cold tonite. I think i'll put them in pots and keep them out of the cold for a few days? none of the apple buds have done any thing here yet although the frost has been out for about 2 weeks. or should i put them in the ground, they look very dorment still?

tom:

There is no reason to keep dormant cherry trees out of the cold. Go ahead and plant them out immediately if you can work the soil. Putting them in pots for a few days is a lot of unnecessary work. They will be fine and will wake up when temperatures tell them it is time.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don, thanks so much for the advice, I'm pretty new to this so I realy apriciate the advice from someone that knows whats going on. Thanks,Tom

My fruit trees have already set fruit. Am thinking of wetting them down today before the freezing temps tonight. Will that help save the fruit? Have any of you tried this. Thanks.

newgardner:

Yes, I have tried it, and no, it won't help.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Everything in my garden is frozen solid. The low tonight is supposed to be 26. It's already 24 and not even 8 o'clock. My peach is blossoming, and my cherry is getting ready to leaf out. I doubt if anything will survive, and it's supposed to be below freezing for a couple more days.

Probably the only thing I'll be able to salvage are the plants that I still have in peat pots inside.

Maybe with luck I'll be able to grow some melons this year. Today will be Black Friday for my garden journal. :-(

I was doing a little surfing looking for some ways to protect plants and i found this from a guy who goes the extra mile or 10!

LINK