1
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Pictures from middle Georgia
« on: November 26, 2018, 04:27:49 PM »LaCasaVerde, I do have a well, but there is no way I could fill 50 ibc containers every two days. I don't understand the need of emptying and refilling them. They absorb heat during the day rain or shine and release it at night. I use 55 gal. barrels of water for thermal mass. In your zone with ocean influence, I am surprised you need that much thermal mass. I did not loose a single tree over the last two years, and some only had a couple of gallons of water under the cover. We reached 14 degrees f. at least twice both years. The biggest problem is long warm ups and then sudden deep cold. That is what hurt some of my trees the most. It also wiped out almost all of my temperate fruit and blooms the last two years. I have gotten more fruit from my citrus trees than my temperate fruit trees and I have almost equal number of each type.
TFN
I empty mine because I ran a 2 inch main out there and can fill 6 in about 20-30 min. These are the full size trees I want to keep after I weened myself off of all the others and culled them. Ive found the ibc at 68 degress when the temp is 20 outside- will retain adequate usable heat for 2 days.. after that the water will be too cold to reheat back to 68 degress for me unless I have a week or more of sun and higher ambient temps.. A 275 gallon Ibc container will not heat up as fast as a 55 gallon drum due to the huge mass of water. In a greenhouse envirornment i would not drain mine either but these ibc are exposed to the elements until the individual trees are covered. This way I can acurately regulate temps with constant control over water tamp for individual specimins. This will be inportant to you when you want to save just a few trees and dont have a greenhouse for each..
Also-A full size tree 15hx10 wide will not be warm enough with a 55 gallon barrel. Actually the 55 gallon barrel will regulate temps for a 22 sq foot area usually already permanatly or semi permanatly enclosed for the winter...say 4x5.5 foot area. If your full size trees are eventually housed in a greenhouse as others of mine are-- I would not drain the IBC containers or barrels then either.
I lost a lot of my citrus the winter of 2014 which ill never forget and im south of you... these were big trees.. satsumas, included- no proximity to the ocean could same me.... You are farther north of me and much cooler. Its good to have a contingency plant for your trees when they get fully mature..