Ughhh. Potential Nor'easter coming our way?

[Jamie0507]

This just isn't right.. Saw next week's weather forecast and it seems those of us living here in the Northeast are about to get pounded with a late snowstorm on or around the first legit day of spring! Not only that but we have a string of really cold nights being predicted on top of the Nor'easter! I'm seeing lows anywhere from 23-28 being predicted for about 5 nights straight.. I'm not too worried about the figs I moved outside already since they can easily be pulled back into the garage, but I have several young peach, pear, and cherry trees that I planted last spring with swelling pink buds on them that are developing more each day.. Not to mention the blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry bushes.. All of which are also beginning to break bud.. What can I do to protect them during this cold snap? I'm afraid they will all suffer severe cold damage..

If anyone has suggestions to protect them or info on the type of damage I might expect from these temps.. please do share them with me.. Dang it! I thought we were almost in the clear here in the Northeast weatherwise, but mother nature seems to have other plans to the contrary.. This just totally stinks 😔

[SarinaP]

I would go to the thrift store and get some sheets and light blankets for the budding trees. Drape the sheet over it and pull it somewhat tight, knotting at the base of the "lollipop" effect. Over that, drape a light blanket or even a big garbage bag or painting tarp and loosely tie at the bottom too. You'll create an insulating layer of air between the two and protect some of the flowerbuds. That worked well for me a couple of years ago with my peach and plum trees.

[Jamie0507]

That's a great idea Serena! I do have some old sheets but certainly not enough to tuck them all in so that should save me some $$ at least in my attempt to get them through this surprise cold snap

[COGardener]

I did this quite often when my trees were smaller, I also added a 25 watt incandescent bulb to stave off the extreme cold, this keeps the buds/pollen from freezing and being destroyed.

[Jonathan]

Wish you luck Jamie...
As i live in a tropical climate i never have this type of problem... anyway beat of luck jamie.

[Jonathan]

I would if i could... lol

[Jamie0507]

Dang it! Lol! I still had to ask I spent some time in SE Asia (Thailand) the summer before last and OMG was it hot!!! And beautiful! And the food was just SOOOO Delish! What I would give for fresh lychees right now! Lol

[Jonathan]

Yeap its hot out here... Lychees season ended mostly are imported from china...
haha glad that you enjoy your stay in thailand... there are alot of figs collector there too.. im planning a trip to bkk thailand on jun...
Hopefully i could make it...

[JohnnyK]

Maybe a frost blanket might help? I really haven't had to use one, so I'm not too sure how well it'll work... plus if you have a lot to cover it might get really pricey.

[Jamie0507]

Yes those blankets definitely get pricey! I've seen them in nurseries before and was tempted to get one, but in my case I'd need at least 10 to cover my young trees.. I too wonder how well they work for the money.. Hmm.. I think I will have to stick to the DIY version for now though lol! Thank you for the idea though Johnny

[Rafaelissimmo]

Dat's why I don't put out my figs til April 1st! Can't deal w the shuffle...

[Jamie0507]

It was that beautiful sunshine Rafael! Lol it lured me out early in hopes of getting a jumpstart on the season.. Plus this is my 1st year doing the shuffle so I'm still 'wet behind the ears' so to speak and was easily duped by mother nature lol

[don_sanders]

Aww, that's part of the fun. We had a good couple of weeks and everything was budding out.

The berries will probably be fine. At least I hope so. I don't think I'll be covering mine. My forecast is for 26/27F although it keeps going down the closer we get. Covering them before it gets dark couldn't hurt. Thrift stores have cheap sheets if you don't have something already.

Definitely bring the figs in.

[Jamie0507]

Yes I agree Don, it totally is part of the fun & excitement of spring! Unfortunately so are these cold snaps for us here in the Northeast ;( I will surely bring all the figs in.. Im glad to hear the berries at least should be fine though!

[smithmal]

Jamie, I'm in the same boat as you with several cherry, apple, pear, peach and plum trees starting to bud. I get my trees from an Amish nursery in Medina, NY (near Buffalo) so they are supposedly more cold resistant. That being said, I'd be willing to bet that Northern NY's cold temperatures stay much more stable and warm up much more gradually than in VA/MD/PA where we need to deal with cold snaps. Would a plastic sheet work just as well as a cotton sheet? My trees are much too big to be fully protected using a king sized flat bed sheet.

Thanks,

Malcolm

[Jamie0507]

I have the same problem with just one of the ten trees I have to cover.. The Anjou pear (which tends to be much more finicky than the others) is way too big for even a king sized flat sheet.. I'm not sure but believe I read somewhere that plastic is kinda risky to use by itself for protection with cold snaps like this. I think it's fine to go over a cotton type covering but not by itself. I was thinking of tying two king sheets together and trying to at least cover most of the tree before doing a plastic tarp over the whole thing..
Yes I think you make a great point with the fact that although Buffalo is quite a bit colder than by us (PA, Md, VA), they are probably staying more consistently cool without the extreme warm spells like we've had this year. Lets keep our fingers crossed and just do what we can to try to minimize our damage Malcolm..Geez I wish I lived in SoCal again right about now! Lol

[DBJohnson]

I'll be stringing an extension cord and space heater (or the double halogen work lights) out to the greenhouse for Sunday night and Monday night.

[Jamie0507]

So you sound like a man with a plan Bryant! What is the low you guys are expecting down there in VA?

[DBJohnson]

32F for dawn on Monday and 30F for dawn on Tuesday.

[Jamie0507]

That's not too too low Bryant.. But low enough that you definitely do want to take precautions.. I think your idea with the halogen lights will definitely do the trick.. Those suckers put off some serious heat! 👍

[eboone]

Jaime, the fruit buds on pear, peach etc should handle those temps as long as they have not opened, even if pink.

[Jamie0507]

Ed that is music to my ears! I sure hope they don't progress any further as the cold spell is due to begin tomorrow evening.. What a relief to hear this good news

[PA Figs]

Kelby and I had a few choice words with mother nature today. My greenhouse looks like a horder moved in. I left my big Conadria and Neri2 out. Two years ago the Conadria got hit by a late frost, "resetting" it and still produced the best figs it ever has.

[Jamie0507]

A happy ending! That's what I like to hear Oh yahh.. I'm pretty po'd w/mother nature myself right about now..especially after seeing 8-12 inches being predicted 😡

[BrooklynMatty]

I saw 8-12 inches in forecast , horrible. My plants are still in garage, I hope everyone has the best of luck this weekend and has no damage

[BrooklynMatty]

Like you said, first day of spring. ......this isn't right!

[GregMartin]

Yeah, we're forecast for that much up here in Maine....

[BrooklynMatty]

its been downgraded since i last checked. now 3-5, much better. Good luck Greg!

[Coop]

I am in full shuffle mode. Everything was breaking dormancy and the weather was so fine.
This is the only part of figgin that I do not like

[Jamie0507]

This weather is 'figgin' crazy! Lol! This is my first year doing "the shuffle" myself and I definitely let spring fever take over my brain too early.. I'll know better next year.. I hope.. Lol

[newnandawg]

Not what you guys up north are expecting but low-mid thirties and frost in the works as far as middle Georgia. Best of luck to all of you.

[Jamie0507]

Wow! This cold snap will be felt all the way down to Georgia then.. That is nuts!

[Taverna78]

AHahahah 😱

[GregMartin]

No, no...just joking...it's all very good

[Jamie0507]

Fabio he was just teasing you too.. Don't worry, he did not do the maloik to send the bad weather out to Chicago! Lol!

[Taverna78]

Ohhhhh😑👊🏼😂

[fitzski]

It doesn't look too bad right now for Eastern MA. Only a few inches but that could change as we're still 48 hours out.

So long as it's not 3 feet like we had a few years ago on April 1st. Yes, an April Fool's snowstorm!!!

[Kelby]

Forecasting 4-8" (or more) of snow for my corner of the world.

[cis4elk]

Like some already said, if the buds aren't open then they will likely be fine. Even if only some of them are open it's no big deal to lose some, thinning is good for fruit quality anyhow.
I would be careful using a fabric to cover if they are predicting 8+ inches of snow, it will collect a lot of weight. The blues will be fine, you will just flatten them under a sheet with a bunch of wet heavy snow on top; you could use a garbage can if the bushes are small enough.

[Jamie0507]

Thank you Calivin! I thought about them getting smooshed too if there were to be a ton of heavy wet snow on top.. Thanks to you all I am convinced that it shouldn't be bad enough to go crazy trying to cover stuff.. I only have two pears trees that are pushing really swollen flower buds at this point and they are probably too young to allow to fruit very much at this point anyway.. Gotta trust mother nature and these trees know what to do without my intervention I think.. Gosh it is hard though! Lol thank you for your advice! Much appreciated

[Dave]

...

[Dave]

me and you

[DaveL]

The good news is this time of the year it's snow today, gone tomorrow. We can only hope!

[fitzski]

I've heard a solid 8+ for Eastern MA. Oh well, at least it's not multiple feet

[Jamie0507]

Am I just hearing things wrong on the weather this morning or did the storm kinda shift direction away from us and into the Canada maritime region? Im now seeing Boston and Maine to get about 3-5 inches and maybe a dusting along the coast?

[DaveL]

Yes, works for me!

[GregMartin]

Jamie!!! Thank you!!! Just looked it up after reading your post...excited to not need to shovel (I'm in Southern Maine by the NH border)

[figgi11]

This just isn't right.. Saw next week's weather forecast and it seems those of us living here in the Northeast are about to get pounded with a late snowstorm on or around the first legit day of spring! Not only that but we have a string of really cold nights being predicted on top of the Nor'easter! I'm seeing lows anywhere from 23-28 being predicted for about 5 nights straight.. I'm not too worried about the figs I moved outside already since they can easily be pulled back into the garage, but I have several young peach, pear, and cherry trees that I planted last spring with swelling pink buds on them that are developing more each day.. Not to mention the blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry bushes.. All of which are also beginning to break bud.. What can I do to protect them during this cold snap? I'm afraid they will all suffer severe cold damage..

If anyone has suggestions to protect them or info on the type of damage I might expect from these temps.. please do share them with me.. Dang it! I thought we were almost in the clear here in the Northeast weatherwise, but mother nature seems to have other plans to the contrary.. This just totally stinks 😔

Hi there! I have a large peach tree that also started blooming. About 5 weeks earlier than last year. At first I was concerned about the lows but the forecast is only showing upper 20s tomorrow night now. Peach trees are pretty hardy though even if there are unexpected frosts or even a freeze. Fig trees are another story!

[Rafaelissimmo]

Now they are saying less than an inch of snow and low temps of 32 in NYC. That's a whole lotta nuttin'!