Frost protection for trees

Protecting fruit trees from frost in spring

In the seemingly warm spring season, summer residents often face the problem of spring frosts, which are also called returnable frosts. You should be vigilant about this and prepare fruit trees in advance so that during the flowering period a sharp drop in temperature could not damage the ripening crop, or even contribute to its destruction. As a rule, such frosts are characterized by sudden, sharp jumps in temperature, so at the last moment you will not have time to react to them, if you are not fully armed by the time of their onset. What should be done for this?

For the blossoming flowers of many fruit trees, including apple trees, a sharp drop in temperature already down to -2 degrees is considered an unacceptable value when it is necessary to sound the alarm and organize frost protection as soon as possible. In case of critical damage, the flowers crumble and die off, and from those who were able to stay in place, deformed fruits of an unpresentable appearance subsequently develop. You are lucky if the frost is short-lived and does not last long, and the temperature in the process does not drop below one and a half degrees. In this case, it is likely that the standard varieties of fruit trees will remain unaffected by a sharp cold snap. If minor damage remains on the flowers, then this is justified by the natural process of thinning and often does not affect the quality and quantity of the crop.

But in the case when spring frosts suggest the return of cold weather (hence the second name), then the flowers of fruit trees are in serious danger - if they do not provide them with proper protection from frost, in the worst case, they can die all at once, as returnable frosts are accompanied by even lower temperatures, as well as strong wind currents.

One of the ways to combat frost in weather when no winds are observed is to use smoke using smoke piles or bombs. However, you should not resort to this method when the wind is raging - the effectiveness of the smoke drops sharply due to the rapid dispersion of the curtain.

If frosts have a short duration, then sprinkling and watering can be used as an option. These processes should be started immediately, as soon as the air temperature begins to decrease by midnight to 2 degrees, and continue until an increase of about 3-4 degrees.

Trees of the creeping type, in which the crown is characterized by its location in the subsoil layer of air, are exposed to the lowest possible temperatures during frosts. But there are also cases where such specimens can serve as a measure of flower thinning. On average, the percentage of damage from the total is no more than 50%. Unfortunately, the harvest of stanches is more often affected by frost than standard trees, therefore it is often scarce and irregular. In order to reduce the damage caused by spring frosts, such trees should be placed on hills, for which additional protection should be taken care of in advance. Thus, you can save some part of the crop, although it is not a fact that you will contribute to its complete safety. When installing slates on a hill, you protect them primarily from cold air, since it usually does not accumulate there, but, as a rule, flows down below.

To ensure the maximum degree of protection of trees from frost, it is recommended to securely cover them with burlap or plastic wrap in several layers. Make sure that cold air cannot get under the shelter, so check the material for mechanical damage, even the smallest and seemingly insignificant, just before use. Trees should be covered with material in the evening, and opened only in the morning.

Before they begin to bloom, the crowns of stlanes must be raised to a height of about 40 centimeters above the soil level using stakes and poles. This procedure is due to the fact that on raised branches, unlike those that are closer to the ground, the flowering process is characterized as later in time.

Remember that the risk of causing varying degrees of harm during frosts also depends on the density of the crown of creeping trees. In especially dense crowns, the radiating surface inevitably increases during this difficult period, therefore they are subject to the greatest degree of danger. Thin the crown regularly during the spring pruning process, mainly in order to establish adequate air drainage inside it, so you can provide it with a certain level of frost protection.

If you do not delay the adoption of appropriate measures to protect fruit trees from frost, you can overcome this difficult stage and save the life of both your vegetation and the future harvest. Do not postpone everything until the last moment, react immediately to the first signs of an unusual drop in temperature and follow all the suggested recommendations. Good luck to you!