I broke one open with my fingernail and saw the pearly whites. Thanks for the tip David!
Rye Hefley So Cal ------------------------------ On Sun, Feb 2, 2014 1:25 PM PST David Doud wrote: >slice some incipient fruit thru the equator with your thumbnail or a knife - >healthy fruit will have pearlescent ovules - damage will show up as brown >tissue - >David Doud >voice of experience.... > > > >On Feb 2, 2014, at 4:12 PM, Rye Hefley wrote: > >> >> >> Thanks Con, >> >> The spacing is one 360 degee nozzlee between each tree so each tree is hit >> from both sides. >> >> The ice is gone now and the flowers are still fragrant. The petals are a bit >> translucent. Stems are still green but may be too early to tell anything. >> >> Yeah I worry about the off hour. I guess wait and see. >> >> Again thanks. >> >> Rye >> >> ------------------------------ >> On Sun, Feb 2, 2014 10:11 AM PST Con.Traas wrote: >> >> Hello Rye, >> I am not very expert in this, as I don't use the system, so hopefully >> somebody else can add more. Regarding the ice and icicles, these would not >> necessarily mean you had a problem, as long as there was a coating of >> unfrozen water on them at all times. This would prevent the ice from >> dropping below freezing point. The fact that the water turned off could be a >> problem though, as then there would have been no more unfrozen water, and >> the ice (and buds encased therein) would drop to the ambient temperature. >> 4gph sprinklers might not be adequate I suspect, or would not protect >> against a more severe frost (it depends too on how close they are spaced). >> When I looked into getting frost-protection irrigation for my orchards, the >> water use would have been many times (perhaps 6 or 8 times from memory) what >> I would have needed for soil mositure deficit irrigation only. I am afriad >> that I can't shed light on what a good rate would be, but I bet someone else >> here can. >> The good news is I would be very surprised if your trees were damaged by the >> ice. >> Con Traas >> Ireland >> >> ________________________________ >> >> From: apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net on behalf of Rye Hefley >> Sent: Sun 02/02/2014 17:01 >> To: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net >> Subject: [apple-crop] Frost protection via overhead sprinklers made >> mattersworse? >> >> >> >> Hello, >> >> So last night there was a forecast for 29° for early this morning. Frost >> NOT in the forecast. >> >> So I decided the forecast could change to frost while I was sleeping or the >> forecasters could miss it so I scheduled the sprinklers. This was my first >> attempt at frost protection as this is the first producing year for the >> orchard. >> >> First concern: I set the time too short and the sprinklers turned off at >> 6:30 (worst possible time). Don't ask me what I was thinking when came up >> with the duration, though I have degree in math, I don't have one in >> arithmetic. So it was off for an hour before I discovered it and turned it >> back on. >> >> Second concern: using 4 gallon/hour micro sprinklers that produce a thick >> mist, when I went out there at 7:30 the trees (flowers, leaves, wood, set >> fruit) were encased in 1/4" ice and icicles. >> >> So I think maybe the 4GPH nozzles deliver too little water for frost >> protection and just made it worse. Also being off for the worse possible >> hour made it "worser" still. >> >> What would be your assessment on the damage I did this year? (Fortunately >> only one variety that I care much about. The others haven't bloomed yet so >> no water on those.) Will the trees survive the ice? Will the fruit that >> already set be OK? Kiss the flowers goodbye? Will the new buds make it? >> >> If 4GPH is not sufficient, in the future what would be a better delivery >> rate. (Assuming I could avoid the arithmetic error from now on.) >> >> Thanks for your insights. >> >> Rye Hefley >> So Cal >> _______________________________________________ >> apple-crop mailing list >> apple-crop@virtualorchard.net >> http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> apple-crop mailing list >> apple-crop@virtualorchard.net >> http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > >_______________________________________________ >apple-crop mailing list >apple-crop@virtualorchard.net >http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop _______________________________________________ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
