Hey guys and gals, with the temps we are having the next couple of nights what are some tips you may have on protecting citrus trees?
I have a 7 year old tree that is absolutely loaded with oranges. Since we haven't had a light freeze yet they are still that orangish-green color. Some of them are the size of my 2 year olds head! It's to big to cover anymore. Probably 10 feet tall and 12-14 feet across.
I know big time citrus growers will run their sprinklers all night and use the ice to help protect the fruit and trees. This is an option for me, but wanted to see if anyone had any other ideas.
Add Christmas lights and keep them on all night.
Halogen flood lights sold at Home Depot. They put out a bunch of heat.
In California the growers use propane fired heaters to keep a warm strata of air just above the trees. Warm is relative, in this case. I think the magic number is 28 degrees, if I remember right. If the wind is blowing it obviously makes the job more difficult.
Get naked and cuddle with it.
Quote:Get naked and cuddle with it.
OMG!! I was just typing that!! :thumbsup:
Quote:OMG!! I was just typing that!! :thumbsup:
Sounds to me like you are a caring and generous plant lover.
Quote:Sounds to me like you are a caring and generous plant lover.
Especially with woody type plants. :whistling:
Quote:Especially with woody type plants. :whistling:
Bunnies love nature! :thumbsup:
Trav, I'm a farmer (although not citrus) so I can give you a few tips that might give you about 3 degrees of relief.
First make sure you don't work the dirt under the tree. A crust on the soil will retain more heat. Also, bare dirt is the best thing, or if you have grass/weeds get them as short as possible.
Another cheap method that will absolutely give you a degree or two is to run a soaker hose and keep the ground wet. You'll want to start something like 8 hours ahead of the freezing point, and keep the water on until morning.
Also if you wanna take it a little further, go down and find the biggest fan you can and turn it on at night. The moving air will help prevent freezing. This is only assuming a radiation type frost.
Thanks for the tips everyone. I went with wrapping the trunk of the tree, protecting the graft point. I put 5 big buckets of hot water under the tree (another tip I found). I think all will be well. I probably lost some of the fruit, but it happens.
How long did you expect the buckets of hot water to actually stay hot (or even warm) while under the tree, outside?
The fruit that makes it will probably be some of the sweetest ones that you may have ever harvested. The freeze or almost freeze causes a massive sweetening of the oranges.
Quote:How long did you expect the buckets of hot water to actually stay hot (or even warm) while under the tree, outside?
I boiled water. Put them in 5 gallon metal buckets. Put them under at 10. Not sure how long it stayed hot but the water wasn't frozen over like the cup of water set outside. Gave off a nice constant heat for a given period of time. The less time it was freezing under there, the better.
Quote:The fruit that makes it will probably be some of the sweetest ones that you may have ever harvested. The freeze or almost freeze causes a massive sweetening of the oranges.
Freeze is a must, that is for sure. I just wish it wasn't for so long!