Author Topic: Major winter storm!  (Read 7561 times)

brian

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #75 on: April 03, 2021, 10:10:21 AM »
Mark,  sorry to hear you've had such poor luck with weather.  Two huge greenhouse hits in a few years must be awfully depressing.  You've scared me into getting yet another layer of backup for my own greenhouse - I realized I am also not equipped to handle a week without power during winter. 

I hope you replant and recover.   And those are some fine looking cattle :) - I wish I lived in a rural area

Mark in Texas

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #76 on: April 03, 2021, 12:43:53 PM »
Mark,  sorry to hear you've had such poor luck with weather.  Two huge greenhouse hits in a few years must be awfully depressing.  You've scared me into getting yet another layer of backup for my own greenhouse - I realized I am also not equipped to handle a week without power during winter. 

I hope you replant and recover.   And those are some fine looking cattle :) - I wish I lived in a rural area

Thanks Brian.  Like I said no one can plan for such an event. According to the newspaper we had 2,000 poles down. 

I don't think I'll have to re-plant anything!  I believe all survived.  Reed is pushing dozens of foliage along the 3 trunks.  For a Guatemalan it goes against everything you've read about it.   So much for that info, it's worthless.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2021, 10:45:46 AM by Mark in Texas »

spaugh

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #77 on: April 03, 2021, 05:05:02 PM »
Thats pretty incredible Mark.  Internet info is a lot of times not real world experience.  You are blessed even though mother nature tried to ruin the party, its just a minor setback.  Hope all is well in TX.
Brad Spaugh

Mark in Texas

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #78 on: April 04, 2021, 10:50:38 AM »
Thats pretty incredible Mark.  Internet info is a lot of times not real world experience.  You are blessed even though mother nature tried to ruin the party, its just a minor setback.  Hope all is well in TX.

Thanks bud, just sent you a PM.  Yeah, Reed just blows me away.  "Texas tough" fer sure, great fruit.

Talked to a friend yesterday near San Antonio who mentored me while I was in the choose/cut Xmas tree biz.  They lost 100's of seedlings in 3 big hoop houses that were being grown for the field.  Some of those same seedlings that were field planted 2 weeks before the 6F they got made it thru perfectly.  You never know......
« Last Edit: April 04, 2021, 10:52:37 AM by Mark in Texas »

850FL

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #79 on: April 04, 2021, 09:50:23 PM »
Quote
I don't think I'll have to re-plant anything!  I believe all survived.  Reed is pushing dozens of foliage along the 3 trunks.  For a Guatemalan it goes against everything you've read about it.   So much for that info, it's worthless.

plant some of those Reeds or Reed seedlings outside exposed and report back about it in a year or two, im not entirely convinced they will withstand the 'frost+ teens temps' vs just those low temps unexposed!

Mark in Texas

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #80 on: April 08, 2021, 06:44:36 PM »
Quote
I don't think I'll have to re-plant anything!  I believe all survived.  Reed is pushing dozens of foliage along the 3 trunks.  For a Guatemalan it goes against everything you've read about it.   So much for that info, it's worthless.

plant some of those Reeds or Reed seedlings outside exposed and report back about it in a year or two, im not entirely convinced they will withstand the 'frost+ teens temps' vs just those low temps unexposed!

They were not exposed to wind chill brought on by wind.   The output now is incredible up to 7' on the old trunks.

Reed is tough and what you read about its tenderness is bullshit. 

850FL

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #81 on: April 12, 2021, 11:17:23 PM »
Haha, well basically what im saying is that they weren't exposed to frost or sleet or even snow (or wind) being inside the greenhouse. So how can you be so sure they would survive outside and exposed to those elements at that same temperature?

Mark in Texas

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #82 on: April 18, 2021, 08:11:04 AM »
Haha, well basically what im saying is that they weren't exposed to frost or sleet or even snow (or wind) being inside the greenhouse. So how can you be so sure they would survive outside and exposed to those elements at that same temperature?

They wouldn't.  For starts we had a low of 17F that night.  My luck, it was one of the last below freezing lows of the event.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2021, 09:55:22 AM by Mark in Texas »

BQ McFry

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #83 on: April 18, 2021, 09:05:11 AM »
Sounds like Mark had an inadvertent experiment in isolation from wind chill with those Reeds. Perhaps they can handle still air at colder temperatures than commonly believed, but not windy exposure.

In many of the YouTube videos I've seen of "cold hardy discoveries" - the common theme seems to be that the tree grew near a concrete wall, or from a crack between concrete slabs. The sensible heat from a large mass near the roots probably helps offer avocado trees something of a slugging average in winter temperatures, so to speak.

I'd say that the 8a zone in N.C. is not as prone to extremes as Texas, since the Appalachians help block air masses. I've seen many weather events where Mississippi is colder than here, because those artic high pressures just ooze south out from Canada through the great plains, with nothing in the topography slowing them down.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2021, 09:07:30 AM by BQ McFry »

Mark in Texas

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #84 on: April 18, 2021, 09:49:45 AM »
Plants/trees are not humans, they are not subject to wind chill with the exception of inducing desication.  If you got bark, it aint a problem. 

Living in Texas for many years and watching typical Texas temp swings from mid 70's one day to sub freezing the next morning I've noticed it's a sudden temp swing that nails sensitive trees and plants and very much drives cold hardiness.  You can throw that book "this tree is cold hardy to 28F" stuff out the door.  If your trees have been subjected to near freezing temps before the big one hits they are in much better shape.  I think the effect is one of sap and sugars translocation. 

What's happening now is very wonky.  I belong to a very active Facebook gardening group called Central Texas Backyard Gardeners and folks are seeing all kinds of strange stuff like a flush of water shoots low on trees and shrubs, etc. and of course lots of dead material.  I have a few large Monterrey oak trees that normally would be pushing spring foliage in February. Most are still dormant or barely pushing - mid April! 

The Uri Winter Storm we got which bopped right into N. Mexico was unprecedented.   That super cold cyclonic system can and did move over mountains just as easy as plains. 

What's crazy is Reed is pushing shoots from just above the graft to to about 8' up.  The 3 trunks are those I selected that pushed after the 18F low in 2018. 

12' tree



Cropped shot of some of the shoots, some already 10" long


« Last Edit: April 18, 2021, 09:53:22 AM by Mark in Texas »

BQ McFry

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #85 on: April 19, 2021, 08:27:07 PM »
Living in Texas for many years and watching typical Texas temp swings from mid 70's one day to sub freezing the next morning I've noticed it's a sudden temp swing that nails sensitive trees

Yeah that's no exaggeration. Lubbock today went from the 70s daytime into a sub freezing warning tonight. The Texas 7b zone is much more volatile than 7b on the east coast. In effect, it's a shorter growing season, since hard freezes can still occur this late in April.

The USDA's scale, being based on "average minimums" can be deceiving to a novice gardener. In my area, you might get a light glaze of frost on the roof of your car in late March, but generally by then the serious freezes are behind you.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2021, 08:38:35 PM by BQ McFry »

Mark in Texas

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Re: Major winter storm!
« Reply #86 on: April 21, 2021, 03:28:30 PM »
Mother nature went on an Ice Beer drunk binge and can't get over her hangover.  We had a low of 41F this morn and I'm sure some areas were in the 30's.  I've got Monterrey oaks that look dormant with minimal bud swell and leaf output.