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| I spent the afternoon wrapping and putting 5 gallon buckets and 50 gallon drums over many of my small figs and fruit trees that are borderline for my zone. They are predicting 4 or 5 degrees F for my part of TN, which is nothing for some of you but pretty extreme for us. Just wondered if the rest of you are being hit hard and/or as worried as I am about your less hardy varieties? I know some of you were hit extremely hard last year and those that were are likely to be very worried about it. Good luck to everyone. What I'm really curious about is whether the predicted 4-5 degree F lows will be more devastating due to the fact that we really haven't had any winter at all here before this. It hasn't been below 20 but once this whole winter and only below 30 a few times. It was 62 degrees F here on Sunday! 3 days later and its going to be 5 degrees??? Just seems like that would make it worse??? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by Appleseed70 6 MD (My Page) on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 2:16
| Here in western MD our lowest predicted low for the week is 13 which is not at all unusual for the 2nd week of January for us (Z6). The 62 degrees (which we got also) was indeed unusually warm. All my trees are fully dormant and I'm not a bit worried. We also had only 1 time below 20 (I think) and thus far winter has been fairly mild. I figure we'll make up for it somewhere along the line. I don't grow anything borderline though...for these very reasons. BTW...57 degree swings inside of 3 days in Jan. is fairly unusual for pretty much all of us in the USA. The buckets and drums will help a lot...anything that doesn't make it was gonna get it sooner or later anyway....don't sweat it. |
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I'm worried about sub zero temps, so ths is OK. I do have some plants only hardy to about 0 degrees but they are in my garage, so are going to be fine. I know you have a ton more and cannot do that. Good luck! Update: |
This post was edited by Drew51 on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 9:09
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| We are going to have a cold spell here in Omaha, NE. in the next 4 days. Wed -5F, Thur -6F, Fr i-1F, and Sat -3F. I am going to turn on the light bulb Tony |
This post was edited by tonytran on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 10:41
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| We already got down to -5 F a few weeks ago and now it has moved east. I am crossing my fingers that this is the coldest we get for the year. Usually early January is the time of year that we get our coldest temps and the long term weather looks like we should be warming for a while. Currently the only thing that looks damaged are my blackberries with about a 30% die off of small leaves and twigs. Last year most of the vine and all of the leaves died when we went to -14. I have a hardy Chicago bent down to the ground and mulched over time will tell if this is enough. Last year it was wrapped and all of it died except for a little bit of the stem about half a foot above the soil line. If it lives I pan to keep the main trunk espaliered next to the soil line. |
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- Posted by mhayes8655 4 MN (My Page) on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 15:00
| I have 3 peach trees and a sweet cherry planted relatively close together and tented in my orchard with 2 layers of 6 mil plastic. I also have a 500 watt work light out there that I run if its going to be below ten. Last night when it was -9 I went out and checked thermometer inside tent and it read 20. I also have a peach and nectarine tented inside the garage with a light. On those 2 I know the buds are easily kept warm enough but I worry about the root balls getting too cold. the work light sits on the soil in one of the whiskey barrels, but of course heat rises. Can't wait till late March to see if this crazy plan worked! Good luck city man and to the rest. |
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