The Devastation (last weeks freeze New Orleans)

[greenman62]

so i had posted the other day about this
is was the day after
you cant really see the damage.
some leaves look perfectly fine 8hrs after a frost
4 days later, its another story.

i had just put in ground a Canistel from Top Tropicals
it was realy healthy looking too...

The Inga will loose all its leaves.
hoping it will come back ?






Abiu (left) Indian Jujube (Right) / Longan (foreground)



Achiote / Annatto   //   Black Sapote



canalevia


Cherimoya



Dragonfruit


Eggfruit  //  //  Eugenia Florida  x2


Feijoa  //  guava seedlings (undamaged ? !*%$#!)
 

Guava...  //  guava small-red fruit // guava small-leafed
 

(no ID ? Maybe West Indian Elm?)


Imbe


Inga / Ice Cream Bean





Jabo (large)



Jabo (small) (hybrid + Red)




Jackfruit


Jambul



Katuk



Litchi Tomato


Lychee


Lychee



Mamey  //  //    Mango



Mango


Guava Mexican Cream



Nanners



Naranjilla

 
Natal Plum


Natal Plum




Papaya


papaya

[huertasurbanas]

jaboticabas look good

dont you protect your plants at all?

[nullzero]

Looks like your going to lose most of your plants in the pictures, beside the guavas, Jabos, and lychee.

[JF]

Looks like your going to lose most of your plants in the pictures, beside the guavas, Jabos, and lychee.

Papayas and cherimoyas might make it....that's sad to see

[achetadomestica]

I didn't see your previous post. How cold were you and how long? I tell myself if this ever happens I will buy a serious greenhouse.
Mike

[Garcinus]

Ouuuch! What a massacre ! ..hope everything survives.

[Mark in Texas]

Sorry for your loss but you ARE in zone 9.  Recommend something that is a better match for your clime like peaches, fejioa guava, jujube, loquat, satsuma.

Low of 14F two mornings for us but everything tropical is in a large greenhouse with an 18' peak.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

most of that stuff should be fine...just treat them like normal, and wait for them to bounce back.

how cold did you get?

[Luisport]

There are cold records in US and Europe too. Next week i will get the actic cold blast arriving here and it will not be easy. They are forecasting the coldest temp on record in my area, maby with snow too...  i will report what we will get. 

[sjtropical]

That's devastating.  Inga, jabco, fejiioa, and jujube should fine. Did your temp went below 30?

[Bananaizme]

 Wow that really sucks ! Your plants were doing really well too. If your going to continue growing cold sensitive fruit trees you might want to invest in a greenhouse. Hope that many of your plants recover . I have too much money invested in grafted trees to gamble with cold temps. My stuff is in a unheated greenhouse with two layers of 6 mil plastic. This has done the trick so far. Best of luck to you in the future.

 William

[waxy]

Wow that really sucks ! Your plants were doing really well too. If your going to continue growing cold sensitive fruit trees you might want to invest in a greenhouse. Hope that many of your plants recover . I have too much money invested in grafted trees to gamble with cold temps. My stuff is in a unheated greenhouse with two layers of 6 mil plastic. This has done the trick so far. Best of luck to you in the future.

 William

Exactly this, Zone 9 isn't a joke during winters. They're long, harsh and sometimes no sunlight for days.
I have my investment in a heated greenhouse and 2x 6Mil poly. You can pick one up from the greenhouse website.
Do not buy the ones from the big box store, it's not meant for anything beyond a days use.
Goodluck with your current situation, hopefully a good amount will bounce back.

[NateTheGreat]

Your main dragon fruit looks okay to me, but I'd recommend cutting off all rotted sections. In the first of the three pictures, if the top section is squishy I'd say cut that off too, as well as the two obviously dead arms. The main section should be alright though. The third one's toast. Feijoa is pretty hardy, but it's one of my favorite fruits, so at least that one's okay.

[knlim000]

that sucks! greenman.   How are the plants in greenhouse doing?   Mine went down two 29F over night, all the banana not protected are burned on all the leaves. lychee seems to be pretty tough. My seedling outdoor unprotected in front of the house is actually putting out new leaves. 

[LivingParadise]

Ugh, the carnage...

Here's hoping many bounce back. I have often been surprised at things I thought died for various reasons, springing back to life from the roots sometimes as much as a year later... Not saying that should be expected, but it does happen on occasion - some plants just have a strong will to live!

[FruitFreak]

Can't even get through all the pictures, it's just too painful.  Most of them look toast.  Time for greenhouse!

[Solko]

Hi Greenman, I'm sorry to see such devastation,

I can certainly relate to how that feels, I went through more or less the same thing. Once I got interested in rare fruits, I started trying lots of different plants, mostly from seeds, from a climate zone that is 1 or 2 climate zones more tropical then the one I am in. I hoped to discover some of them that would do well in my climate, so when the devastation finally struck one winter, it should not have surprised me, but it was still brutal to live through it.
I must say that I did discover some plants that were unknown to me, that can do well one or two climate zones lower than they are supposed to grow, but most of the information out there was pretty accurate, which means that over 80% of the things I grew from seed for over tree years died, and I will not try those again.

I still am very much interested in growing rare fruit - I really do like to try new things and to grow what nobody else is growing or what people haven't heard of. But I have come to see the 'limits' of a rare fruit in a couple of more dimensions than climate zone alone. I mean rare things are found along the edges of what is well-known. But to try to find rare fruits that are rare because they come from a warmer climate is risky, precisely because of the risk of them doing well for a couple of years and then dying in one single cold event.
But rarity has other 'edges' as well; edibility, taste, size, commonality, etc..
I now look much more for special strains and cultivars of fruits and berries that are relatively well known, but underappreciated. These are borderline adapted to my climate, but are rare, because they are considered to be on the edge of edibility, taste, practicality of cultivation, practicality of processing, etc. Basically people don't grow them, because they don't know that one variety yet that tastes great.

There is so much fruit out there, that is relatively well known, and more or less appreciated, like Pitanga, Carissa or Loquat, or even plums or certain berries, that are somewhat appreciated, but for the most part only so-so when you taste them. But certain specific strains of these can be absolutely divine and can make you change your entire idea about them. I never had a good apricot until last year and would have never considered growing them until I found that one cultivar that changed everything...

I hope you and most of your plants will recover from this devastation, and that it will not diminish your enthusiasm fro growing delicious fruits! A greenhouse will be indispensable if you want to push the zone-edge. For me, a devastation like this opened my eyes to the other edges of rarity and made me look for different things to try out.

[waxy]

that sucks! greenman.   How are the plants in greenhouse doing?   Mine went down two 29F over night, all the banana not protected are burned on all the leaves. lychee seems to be pretty tough. My seedling outdoor unprotected in front of the house is actually putting out new leaves.

What kind of lychee is this if you don't mind me asking.

I have a 25g Sweet Heart that is taking up a lot of space inside the greenhouse.
I'd love to be able to leave it outdoors in the cold like you have been.

Thanks!

[greenman62]

that sucks! greenman.   How are the plants in greenhouse doing?   Mine went down two 29F over night, all the banana not protected are burned on all the leaves. lychee seems to be pretty tough. My seedling outdoor unprotected in front of the house is actually putting out new leaves.

Ugh, the carnage...

Here's hoping many bounce back. I have often been surprised at things I thought died for various reasons, springing back to life from the roots sometimes as much as a year later... Not saying that should be expected, but it does happen on occasion - some plants just have a strong will to live!

a couple of days prior, they said the low would be 35F
the day before it was changed to 31F
im sure it was changed again that evening.

When i woke up around 7:30 it was 27F at the airport.


i actually have a greenhouse.
It was my laziness and not looking at the weather report that night.
also...
it had rained for 2 days straight prior
all the roots were soaked, even had minor flooding the day before.

Looks like your going to lose most of your plants in the pictures, beside the guavas, Jabos, and lychee.

Papayas and cherimoyas might make it....that's sad to see

the Cherimoyas i have are very small, (3ft or so)
i am crossing my fingers.

The papaya are huge, and i am sure the trunk will come back no problem.
they grow so fast, its almost not worth it...
i am growing a few from seed NOW just in case.

large in-ground Jackfruit (7ft tall ish) has lost leaves before in a similar frost event.
i am guessing it comes back.
they just seem to take forever to  re-leaf. - June i think it was last time.

Jabos seem perfectly fine. One lost a few leaves / new growth
but shouldnt be a problem.

Lychee are fine, even the small one.
longan in a container is fine.

Katuk and Anattoo/Achiote lost leaves
but should come back (and have in the past)

Mamey lost all leaves, but should come back
it did 3 years ago when it was much smaller.
same with black sapote and starfruit
although the larger starfruit tree looks OK,
even though its loosing most of  its leaves

Muntingia should come back

Acerola didnt even blink !

Dwarf Namwa /nanner... lost leaves, but is fine
i had just harvested fruit  the week before.


I think i lost the following...

smaller mango seedlings - containers.
6ft tall eggfruit. got 3 months ago from Top Trops.
its in a raised bed, and the rain had inundated the soil
i think the whole bed froze solid.

lost the Abiu
Lost naranjilla (maybe it will come back from the roots? -they grow fast)
lost curry tree (small seedling)
lost Abika (Abelmoschus manihot) still small from cuttings
lost smaller dragonfruit (the one against  the house i just lost a few sections)

Taro lost leaves, unknown if it will come back from the roots
same with Cassava and Yacon


Here is something to note...

I had 2 mexican cream guava from Home depot
exactly the same.

I had put one in a larger container, and had been feeding it fish, worm castings etc...
all around taken better care for.
I had planned on giving the other away, but the guy  never came to pick it up.

the one that was cared for barely lost leaves
the other lost ALL leaves, and may not make it .
i think fish emulsion, diatomaceous earth, worm castings...
all  made a difference...
with the soil being very wet, maybe the small ones roots froze ?

[greenman62]

most of that stuff should be fine...just treat them like normal, and wait for them to bounce back.

how cold did you get?

weather station at the airport said 27F when i woke up
(just a couple of miles away)

Adam
in about a month i will need to buy several plants.
LOL...
looking for some more "cold-hardy" species as you can imagine.

looking for larger plants that can be shipped - but, also larger ...
(like a 7gal Grumi,   sapodilla, COTRG etc...)
you have ?

[pineislander]

Watch the dewpoint temperature next time, rather than just the forecast low. It is the temperature at which water vapor in the air begins to condense and is usually better predictive of the ultimate low air temp. Often as a cold front passes the following air is much drier and the sky clears which will allow more heat loss into the night sky and drier air is easier to cool down than moister air. Calm wind means the air gets less contact and the coldest air sinks down to low spots, even a 1 ft elevation can make all the difference across a field, and sloping land freezes much harder than flat land. Leafy trees overhead hold in heat compared to open sky. All of these variables can be designed to your advantage to some extent.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/life/home-garden/2015/03/31/understand-frost-freeze-dew-point/70707594/


You might consider grouping tender plants in such a way that you could tarp over them temporarily to create a microclimate, and use rented salamanders to get through overnight events. I don't mean to roast the yard but even a tarp overhead with gaps would help sometimes.
https://www.grainger.com/category/ecatalog/N-1z0dpxd