temps have held pretty well in my yard tonight, currently 30F...and steady. I checked my Cherimoyas this morning, and the are better off inside the "greenhouse" at 35-36F...anyways I think if this is the worst then things will be OK...

Wonder how Benny and Joe made it through....their areas looked to be 4-6 degrees F colder most of the night....

Hoping the worst is over, now I can concentrate on which varieties to select at the scion exchange this morning....

well.. from 430am onwards it changed alot.....down from 30F to 24F, and probably down to 22-23 F for a couple of hours....this morning I can see the leaves on Minnelola and Washington Navel have some areas that are burned...and this was mature leaves...Lanelate and Rio Red grapefruit left on the trees was frozen pretty solid by 8AM...tried to juice it, but need to let thaw before I can.....My pond fountain, which is 5ft diameter and 2 ft deep had frozen about 1/2 of top water....

Overall, it could'a been worse, but I've learned alot......

Protected Cherimoya Greenhouse never got below 32 F, and generally stayed about 8-10 F higher than outside...

Thanks for all of your help....if anyone can advise how long the fruit on the trees that were frozen will remain viable to juice ?? Should I pick it all, or OK to just leave on tree and use as needed, and for how long ??

OK guys, How much $$$ to turn the fan off?? (blowing all that cold air to you in CA from Canada!) I have all my citrus covered too. They are all heated with the large Christmas lights 24 hrs per day for the last 3 days. We havent been above 1c (34f) for 3 days now. My trees are quite small. The meyers have done the best no fruit or blossom loss yet. My St Ann Satsuma and more so my Juanita Tangerine leaves have curled up a bit. Not sure why - I think its from the heat of the lights and the fact the roots are dormant. Any suggestions?
Greg

Greg: Same here re: lemon tree size and method of protection. Our low on Thursday night by the water in Oak Bay was -5C (23F) but it was +12C (54F) under the cover of the mini greenhouse with the Christmas lights on. Last night it only got to -1C (30F) and they are predicting a high of 3C (38F) and a low of -3C (26F) tonight.

I thought I might turn off the lights during the day today. Otherwise at this temperature it gets up to about 16C (63F) under the cover and I don't want a flush to start.

1st : for experiencing something new...
2nd : for sharing your experiences...

I thought we had it bad....only have 1-2 more days of this..BUT you guys have it really tough...

GOOD LUCK with it all....

And now....PLEASE SHUT OFF THAT FAN !!! enuf is enuf !!!

EZ, Thanks for the encouragement. Leapfrog lives in the mildest part of Canada and I am not that far away. No block heaters and rarely a snow shovel. I have cousins in So Cal who got me hooked on citrus. Citrus plants are
hard to get to get - other than the common varieties.
I hope all get through this cold spell with minimal damage.

gregn- what variety of avocados do you have ? are they in the ground ? I checked mine this morning, and they are fine...I have Bacon and Mexicola Grande.....taking the freeze like CHAMPS !!

EZ, I have 2, a Stuart mexicola and a Mexicola Grande 4' ers. My avocados are in pots for now. I imported the same 2 for the University of British Columbia. They planted theirs in May 06. The grande defoliated the stuart held through
our 10f cold spell at the end of November. We will see what happens in the spring. They did not make any attempt to protect those two trees. Why??
I dont know...
G.