Single Digit Temps this Weekend in Mid Atlantic

[figgi11]

Hi all! This coming weekend is supposed to be wicked cold with highs in the upper teens and lows around zero both days before rebounding. Will well wrapped / insulated unground trees suffer dieback at these temperatures for two days? It's been a fairly mild / seasonable winter and I'd be heartbroken if the extreme cold will permeate and devoid any protection on the trees. I'd hate to have considerable dieback because of two nights of single digit temps.

[Jamie0507]

Oh I hope not! I don't have any trees in ground myself (yet) but from what I've read it's the sustained cold temps below 15 degrees that are the most dangerous ones. What varieties do you have in the ground? Hardier types I hope? Looks like you bundled them well but I've also been told laying them down in a trench is the safest way.. Where are you located? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you but my "guess" is you may be okay since it's only 48 hrs of miserable cold I'm sure others will chime in with a more experienced opinion and pointers for ya too

[don_sanders]

I don't have any experience with over wintering trees but I bet a string of Christmas lights would get them through fine if you are really worried about it.

[figgi11]

Oh I hope not! I don't have any trees in ground myself (yet) but from what I've read it's the sustained cold temps below 15 degrees that are the most dangerous ones. What varieties do you have in the ground? Hardier types I hope? Looks like you bundled them well but I've also been told laying them down in a trench is the safest way.. Where are you located? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you but my "guess" is you may be okay since it's only 48 hrs of miserable cold I'm sure others will chime in with a more experienced opinion and pointers for ya too

I have one celeste, one brown turkey, one black mission, and two kadotas. Each year is a crap-shoot although this past fall is the first time I took "wrapping" seriously. The one year inground small kadota that I wrapped for the extremely cold last winter of 2015 survived unscathed, except that I uncovered it too early causing it to suffer dieback.


I wrapped each tree with a first layer of breathable weed cloth, then a layer of pink insulation (as shown in the previous post), followed up with a handful of tarp overlaps with stones gathered at the base. While I feel confident that this is more than enough for adequate winterization, I'm worried that the extreme cold, single digit temps, will make any existing protection irrelevant. I hope that's not the case. I find that total dieback results in poor yeild during the growing season.

[Jamie0507]

I think if your Kadota survived in the same wrap job LAST winter then I think you will be good to go for just a couple of days of single digit cold.. You must do one heck of a wrap job bc it was pretty bad last winter, not like we have this time around Mike (Taverna) really knows his stuff with wrapping trees (hes in Chi town! Talk about cold!) so I'd definitely soak up all the pointers he gives too.. Good luck to you & keep us posted this spring on how they all did!

[Taverna78]

Just my experience if you plan to leave covered for a while I known is make you itch but reverse insulation. Put paper facing inside because when it get little warm causes humidity and bare insulation against cloth material will cause rot. I cover my trees like tis every year. Make sure you protect the bottom very well that is most important. Should not die back at all if you got wrapped correctly and look good to me

[quackmaster]

I feel for you folks that have to deal with winterizing. Some of my trees still haven't dropped all their leaves yet and others are starting to grow, lol.

[F. Bennett]

All my in ground trees are still flowing with sap when I prune them. This may be the week that they degrade. Gonna be cold in VA too. Good luck!

[Taverna78]

As much as I envy you warm climates you guys(👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼) Figgi11 imagine try to have orchard when temps drop -40 below 0
Then is time to worry ahahahaha!

[figgi11]

Just my experience if you plan to leave covered for a while I known is make you itch but reverse insulation. Put paper facing inside because when it get little warm causes humidity and bare insulation against cloth material will cause rot. I cover my trees like tis every year. Make sure you protect the bottom very well that is most important. Should not die back at all if you got wrapped correctly and look good to me

The first layer before the insulation is weed cloth. It's breathable but more tightly knitted than burlap. Do you think they will suffer rot? When do you unwrap your trees? Some people do as soon as it gets above 70 in the Spring - only to be slapped with a night or two of freeze later on causing dieback. Do you just leave them covered until May 1st?

[Taverna78]

For covering trees either vertical or bent down to ground level I ALWAYS have do tis way. Starting from naked tree tis steps...

Prune back and tie up

Use non absorbent material (I use ply wood or broken up wood pallets and make like sandwich or tie pallet planks to insure is surrounded in wood and tie it snug around tree)
(Some people use roof tar paper and then cardboard but plywood is same protection just less one material. But to me anything with word "paper" in it ma be absorbent and cardboard def is)

So..... Tied tree wood applied then burlap or weed block then insulation paper side face in and tarp.

Secure tarp bottom with sealed bags of mulch for weight. Plus spring time use mulch to spread out. Must keep base protected well.

When spring come 45f and above I open tarp little to vent out. No open complete otherwise you ganna be play cover uncover game. Wait till stay above 50f and completely uncover. If it happens to frost here and there I just put old sleeping bag or blanket over but only if is ganna be heavy frost otherwise is be fine. And I wish may first. Normally is no till end of May early June.

As long as you no have moist soaked insulation touch tree you should be okay when in doubt vent your buckets. I seal mine up complete with little vent flap just big enough to stick my arm inside in spring to feel for humidity . People always say is good to vent too so it can breathe. my trees under ground burried completely with 1/2 pipe pvc to vent.

[figgi11]

For covering trees either vertical or bent down to ground level I ALWAYS have do tis way. Starting from naked tree tis steps...

Prune back and tie up

Use non absorbent material (I use ply wood or broken up wood pallets and make like sandwich or tie pallet planks to insure is surrounded in wood and tie it snug around tree)
(Some people use roof tar paper and then cardboard but plywood is same protection just less one material. But to me anything with word "paper" in it ma be absorbent and cardboard def is)

So..... Tied tree wood applied then burlap or weed block then insulation paper side face in and tarp.

Secure tarp bottom with sealed bags of mulch for weight. Plus spring time use mulch to spread out. Must keep base protected well.

When spring come 45f and above I open tarp little to vent out. No open complete otherwise you ganna be play cover uncover game. Wait till stay above 50f and completely uncover. If it happens to frost here and there I just put old sleeping bag or blanket over but only if is ganna be heavy frost otherwise is be fine. And I wish may first. Normally is no till end of May early June.

As long as you no have moist soaked insulation touch tree you should be okay when in doubt vent your buckets. I seal mine up complete with little vent flap just big enough to stick my arm inside in spring to feel for humidity . People always say is good to vent too so it can breathe. my trees under ground burried completely with 1/2 pipe pvc to vent.

Thanks so much for the info! Here in NJ, April always comes with a couple days of 80 degree temps only to be followed later in the month of a night or two below freezing. The first day it gets warm people generally unwrap the tree only to be disappointed by the likely night or two of freeze at least until May 1st.

When applying the tarp I made sure that I left s lip on the bottom to fold inward under the insulation so that the insulation wouldn't potentially soak up any moisture from the ground.

If there happens to be a day of two of unseasonably warm days in early spring, is it okay to leave covered?

[Taverna78]

Which way heat rise ? Is where you want vent.... You will be okay. Fico is withstand 37F at few days dormant. You see leaf you cover with blanket otherwise let her spread out and prepare for season.