Author Topic: Cold Snap this weekend for North and Central FL... (Read 10407 times)

puglvr1 · « **on:** February 10, 2012, 08:07:51 AM »

Its been so warm lately, I thought maybe the cold snaps were a thing of the past, apparently NOT!
Checked NWS (Weather underground usually slightly colder) and NWS is predicting a low of 36° for Sat night early Sun morning(wind gust as high as 20 mph) and low of 34° for Sun night early Mon. morning (around 8 mph) for me. Of course it can still change and get even colder. I won't be covering them on Sat. since they're predicting wind gusts up to 21 mph. Waaaay too windy to cover the trees, all the covers will just blow off anyways. I think I will cover my inground Glenn, its the closest to getting fruits since I've had this tree.

Just wanted to give a heads up for people out there that live in Central and North FL that have cold sensitive plants and trees. Most of you are lucky since you live South of me...shouldn't be an issue for you guys.

Will have to keep close tabs to see if any freeze warning will be issued tomorrow. Did I mention I HATE frosts/freezes!!

Good luck to us all...

Nancy

HMHausman · « **Reply #1 on:** February 10, 2012, 09:09:21 AM »

Thanks for posting this, Nancy. I have been lollygagging around thinking that winter is done with. I have to adjust some of what I was planning. Well, I guess it is still February so what did I expect. The silver lining.....maybe some additional cold will help jolt the lychee bloom. So far, lots of new vegetative flushes.....few bloom spikes.

Harry

phantomcrab · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2012, 10:00:18 AM »

I've also noticed some lychees producing vegetative flushes with no blooms. Others still appear dormant.

ericalynne · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2012, 12:34:19 PM »

I have been dreading another cold snap and keeping thinking to take down my winter preps. My Jean Ellen mango is flowering, and the jaboticaba has been pushing out new growth of 8 -10 inches. I will be bummed if it gets really cold.

Thanks for the heads up, Nancy. I was just planning a relaxing weekend....

Erica

puglvr1 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2012, 02:17:14 PM »

You're welcome Harry and Erica...keeping fingers crossed every thing makes it, especially the mango blooms!

puglvr1 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2012, 04:10:24 PM »

Few questions for you guys out there...my coldest night is Sun night/Mon morning calling for 34 degrees. I normally don't cover any of my Mango trees at these temps...but they are blooming right now. Do you think it would be fine left uncovered at this temps assuming the forecast holds true? My biggest concern is if I covered them, it would do more harm than good and actually kill the blooms when the frost cloth touches the tips of the flowers.

My trees survived 29-30 degrees( only for a couple of hours, thankfully) without any protection due to forecaster errors...of course it did have some cold leaf damage but they didn't have blooms at the time.

Anyone out there be able to tell me how cold your Mango blooms survived without covering? 30 degrees? 32 degrees? Should only be the last couple of hours before sunrise I'm thinking? Not consistently at those temps for any longer hopefully...

HMHausman · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2012, 06:45:49 PM »

The biggest problem is likely to be wind rather than cold. While open flowers won't pollinate, they will not burn up from the cold that is above freezing. Drying by winds whipping them is much more of a danger. I would leave them uncovered if you are confident of no freeze.

Harry

j-grow · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2012, 07:34:13 PM »

uncovered..........i swear i have done more damage trying to protect my trees than has ever happened by letting them ride it out. i think your a little north of me and have harder freezes but for 34-36 i would not mess with it. it looks like it will be a good mango year

puglvr1 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2012, 07:50:49 PM »

Thanks so much for your response Harry and J-grow. I have blooms in different stages, some of the blooms are open while others are still in the beginning stages. I'm hoping it won't be any colder than the predictions, we'll see. The wind will be a factor so...I'll hope for the best.

I will definitely check the weather very closely and hope they don't post any freeze/frost warnings for me.
Thanks again for your help and advise. I'm certainly ready for winter to be over with. I just want to eat Mangoes from my own tree,lol...

I'll post on Monday and let you know how cold it got.

puglvr1 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 11, 2012, 02:53:34 PM »

Just checked the forecast and they lowered my lows to 33 degrees for tonight...so I'm guessing tomorrow night will be even colder...I'm now under a freeze watch for Monday morning (3am to 8am)...so I will have to cover my Glenn I don't think I have a choice? I might place a frost cloth on top and then cover it with a thick plastic material. I really want to try and save these blooms...if I don't cover them I risk losing them anyways. I guess I have to try...

ericalynne · « **Reply #10 on:** February 11, 2012, 07:24:56 PM »

Make sure that your covers go all the way to the ground. Covering the top and leaving the bottom open does not help, in my experience. been there, done that, lost that tree. Using several layers of insulation also helps. I use cotton sheets, wool blankets and pplypro blankets. I also stick a incandescent light bulb in for the night. Good luck.
Erica

sultry_jasmine_nights · « **Reply #11 on:** February 11, 2012, 08:03:47 PM »

Uggg I see that it is actually gonna hit 21 here tomorrow morning. It has barely froze all winter then this (NW FL Jax area). This is why I am reluctant to put my dragonfruit in the ground here. It would definitely be toast on nights like this. We had to haul everything back into the greenhouse today. The best tool I ever got my dh was that hand truck LOL! I use it all the time in the winter

FlyingFoxFruits · « **Reply #12 on:** February 12, 2012, 12:18:33 AM »

Seems like tonight will be a nice night to go down to 32F, here near me in Orlando area....

The soil is still quite we from heavy rain a day or so ago...and the wind is slightly blowing...so hopefully it will be less harmful than expected...it should only be freezing for 2-4 hrs approx.

We are lucky in Central and South FL, that our actual freeze temps only last for short durations, and we are much more humid that some parts of CA. Although some parts of CA have been surprisingly warm I've come to find, thanks Nullzero! You changed my outlook about CA freezes and what you guys can grow!

I will keep u guys posted....I leave out certain trees to see what will happen to them!

I have a few mamey sapote trees, about 1 or 2 yrs old, and in 3-7gal pots, on the NW side of my home, unprotected...also have a 10gal aquarium with Red jaboticaba (healthy 6 month old seedling, 8 inch tall and 4inch pot) totally submerged...and also in same aquarium I have a regular Sabara jaboticaba 2 yrs old, just ripped out of the ground bare root, and placed with pot submerged in water, but not the trunk or any higher...just the root system....

I will post pictures of the aftermath if anything unusual occurs.

I generally never water jaboticaba, or let them stay saturated through freezes, so I'm curious to see what happens!

Say prayer for my little test subjects...I hope I don't kill these poor helpless souls! LOL

Patrick · « **Reply #13 on:** February 12, 2012, 06:09:57 AM »

I am currently at 48 degrees here at 6am.. Thank God!

HMHausman · « **Reply #14 on:** February 12, 2012, 07:43:06 AM »

I had 44.6 as low a short time ago. Not good for the ultra tropicals that I didn't bring in.

puglvr1 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 12, 2012, 07:58:54 AM »

7:30 this morning it was 35 degrees...although it was only for a short time. Tonight is suppose to be 31 degrees! Hoping it won't get that low...keeping fingers crossed. They're still calling for a freeze watch for tonight and as long as we're not upgraded to a "freeze warning" I won't cover anything except the Glenn with the blooms.

phantomcrab · « **Reply #16 on:** February 12, 2012, 08:16:56 AM »

38 degree low here Sunday morning.

BluePalm · « **Reply #17 on:** February 12, 2012, 08:52:49 AM »

My low was 33 this morning.

bsbullie · « **Reply #18 on:** February 12, 2012, 08:56:43 AM »

This type of thread is the classic example why members need to provide their location info. If someone posts, "it got down to 31 degrees" and we have no idea where this person is, what is the benefit of the post ?

BluePalm · « **Reply #19 on:** February 12, 2012, 09:29:57 AM »

I have it marked in my profile what my zone is, etc.; I don't know why it doesn't display...? It shows where I am if you click on my name though.

phantomcrab · « **Reply #20 on:** February 12, 2012, 09:43:34 AM »

Put it in your "Custom Title" box.

puglvr1 · « **Reply #21 on:** February 12, 2012, 10:01:33 AM »

Hi Bluepalm, I had the same problem and couldn't figure it out, I had to ask murahilin,lol...Phantomcrab is correct, you have to put it in the "custom box" or it won't show up.

Its 10 am and its barely 36 degrees...I was at 35 degrees till 9:30 this morning and it even dipped down to 34 for several minutes. Its going to struggle to get to 55 today our predicted high! NOT good! So far tonight forecast is 31 but its still early, that can change!

puglvr1 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 12, 2012, 12:13:31 PM »

For you guys that live in FL...if you haven't seen it before, I posted a link called FAWN (Florida Automated Weather Network) http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/. Its a pretty cool tool to see how warm or cold your soil temperature is in your town. Just scroll your mouse to your town and it will pull up the closest weather station...Of course its not perfect but will give you an idea appx. what the soil temps are. Mine is saying its 60 degrees while the air temperature is 46 degrees,

phantomcrab · « **Reply #23 on:** February 12, 2012, 01:46:33 PM »

A related NOAA site that lets you point and click on a map for a forecast:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tbw/
You can maneuver to other areas using the arrows.

sunworshiper · « **Reply #24 on:** February 13, 2012, 05:43:27 PM »

Hey puglvr, thanks for pointing me to this forum. How'd you mango blooms fare? I had 5 hours last night below freezing, low of 29.3. My shelters are doing their job, the low in there was 38. Tonight is forecast for 36, so I'm leaving the shelters up one more night. I'll take them down tomorrow.

News:

Author Topic: Cold Snap this weekend for North and Central FL... (Read 10407 times)