They are predicting an arctic blast here in Northern and Central CA in the next few days...Temps may get to low-mid 20's. How long at such temps will fruit still be OK on the trees ? I got grapefruits, mandarins, navels, and tangelos...

So far the Kieffer lime grafted unto my 50-n-1 tree has not lost a single leaf. This lime came from your tree. Our low so far has been 26 deg F, but this arctic blast can send temperatures down to 21 in our yard, even lower. Could be another record breaker for the weekend. It would be upper teens to low 20's three nights in a row, so I don't know if the sensitive trees will make it. At least this arctic blast creeps down so slow and hope that this is enough to harden the trees, but simply the temperatures would be well below than they have ever encountered.

But, I'll not go down without a fight, I'll go on leave to wrap the 15 ft tall trees tomorrow.

My plan is to place Christmas lights, then the plant protection blanket. At night, I will place a tarp over on the top, mix warm water and cool water and water my trees before sunset, and at early morning, I'll crank up my catalytic propane heater and radiate it towards the covers.

I might buy cheap candle from dollar tree stores and light them up around the trees, It would look like I will be going crazy and having a ritual in the yard.

Thanks Joe for the info.
I am getting ready in a few minutes to start covering them.

We certainly wish our California friends the very best of luck. Joe, the plan as you mapped out in the above post to protect your 50:1 tree should work even if the tree was in Colorado. EZ, there really is no exact answer to the question you ask, concerning how low of a temperature can your trees take and not be killed. As you probably already know, it depends on so many things -- hardiness, duration, temperature, wind, location, previous weather, and protection given. Our nights are to be in the negative numbers (below zero) for the next week. My trees should be OK because they are inside the greenhouse. However, there is still a price to pay. The propane truck was here yesterday filling my propane tanks. $1,292.50. - Millet

Gawd, Millet, that's a lot to spend for a 35 cents a pound for bananas!
Heh-heh.....
Wish I have that much dough!
My kids orders 4 hamburgers each just for a snack. It's good they like the cheap ones- the dollar each ones. And I am telling them, hey guys, you are making me poor. They just smile but order them anyway.
Benny

Once temps drop below 27 F the fruit will start to freeze & turn to mush. If the temps drop below 27 for a extended period you will lose them all without protection.

laaz- how long at such temps do I have before it freezes....I'm torn between monitoring the temps and squeezing the fruits to see if frozen...or to just go pick the trees tonight....

all are sweet enough to juice, but I was hoping to wait it out and see if the scourge passes by, or is for so little that I might get away with it...

I'm not too worried about the trees, just the fruit...I have my prized and much more sensitive Cherimoya to worry about making it alive !!

any advise appreciated....

Good Luck Joe and Benny.....we can tell each other how well we survived this Saturday at the scion exchange....are you both going ?

EZ

I'll be there at the exchange.

A little bit of good news, the lows are now projected to be in the mid 20's. But it could still turn for the worst...

My blood oranges aren't ready yet! Too sour to eat at this stage and are just starting to have pigmentation. I hate to lose such bountiful crop this year...

so joe...are you gonna let all your furit stay on the tree ? or pick the sweet enough stuff ?? what time are you gonna be at the exchange....I will try to get there early, and leave early.....I might be busy pickin' and juicin' this weekend !! (hahaha)....I'm not planning to even cover my in-ground trees...they are too big. I did move the potted 5 gallons, inside the Cherimoya greenhouse.....sort of doubled my odds that the heaters will be successful..plus I think the watered pots will help inside also...

Should I place buckets of 5 gallons water inside the greenhouses also to help ??

I'll try to be there at 10 am...

Will probably take all my ripe lemons and all mandarins, and perhaps the navels depending on the latest forecast.

Mine are easy to cover using the lightweight plant protection blankets that I stapled together to create two sheets of 10' x 25'. I also found a nifty trick to place a heavy tarp without ever climbing a ladder or the tree. I simply use a chopstick, taped unto a 20' PVC pipe, and then simply place the grommet holes unto the chopstick and off they go up. I simply have to retract the PVC pipe and then do another corner to place them on top of the canopies. But if the wind blows, you can't place them over.

This is from LSU

Quote:

Citrus fruits easily freeze at 26 to 28 degrees F when these temperatures last for several hours. Further, a longer duration of freezing temperatures is required to freeze grapefruit compared with sweet oranges. And tangerines and satsumas are the most easily frozen of the common citrus fruits.

We saw 23F at the end of November, and it stayed below freezing for over 3 days (we're too far North to get much daytime heating). At 23F my cold weather set up, which cost under $50, kept my lemon tree at 55F.

Of course it helps if your tree is less that 2 feet tall LOL.

Here's what the tree looked like three days ago:





With the current cold spell it was 32F this morning outside, and 63F under the plastic with the Christmas lights on. Tonight it is supposed to go down to 23F again, and then to bottom out at 20F tomorrow night. The tree should stay above 50F.

The protection involves a $40 mini-greenhouse (polyethylene), a $3 string of 15 outdoor (5 - 7 watt) Christmas lights and $1 worth of chicken wire:

This is not how I was envisioning enjoying the bumper crop this year....Go figure that it's my alternate bearing year to have a massive crop...ONly good news is I just tasted all varieties, and they are drinkable....I just hate to pick a ton, hav to enjoy it in next 4-6 weeks, give away half, and be staring at bare trees for the next 5 months.

The only other FUN will be to see how much there is...I'm planning to take 1/2 day vacation just to pick it all....Here's what the forecast is :

Area Forecast For: East Bay Interior Valleys
Issued: January 10, 2007 15:30:49 PST

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s. West winds 10 to 20 mph. Gusts to 30 mph in the evening.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of rain showers. Highs in the 40s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday night: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of snow showers. Lows in the mid to upper 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the 40s. North winds 10 to 20 mph.

Friday night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the 40s to lower 50s.

Saturday night through Tuesday: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s to lower 30s. Highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s.

Tuesday night and Wednesday: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s. Highs in the mid 50s.


MID-20's sounds like : YOUR CITRUS WILL TURN TO MUSH !!


Are there any good things that happen with the crop gone so early in the season ?? Like will I get better growth and more flower buds, and more fruit set in the spring ??? ANy good news will help !!!

Thanks,
EZ

EZ I don't know how long your trees have had to harden off, but any new growth (Or recent growth) usually will be burnt off. All flower buds will be killed. Best I can tell you is to try to protect what you can, very difficult with large trees.

My trees are a lot taller than EZ's. Mine are 10'-26' ft tall trees. I figured, I could easily cover EZ's trees since they're all in a row. EZ has at least 5 times more citrus trees than I do.