Tag Archives: Arctic Blast

Frost Proofing Key to Protecting Fruits

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Enigma, GA

While cold temperatures are to be expected in December, having them dip into the teens is very unusual in Georgia, and a major cause for concern amongst producers. It’s why they were left with some tough decisions on very short notice after a severe cold front to end 2022.

“We started trying to prepare the best we could, watched every weather report that came out,” says Tim McMillian, Owner of Southern Grace Farm. “So, we made sure that our frost protection was ready to go. We made sure that our row covers were ready to go, and, of course we had everything on the farm to make sure we had the water out of it and make sure it didn’t burst.”

With strawberries being the furthest along, getting them protected was a priority. While they were caught a little shorthanded, it appears this year’s crop was salvaged despite some minor damage.

“With the strawberries, we used row covers just like a blanket, like we use in our homes,” says McMillian. “Some of our strawberries we used one row cover and on some we used two row covers and we found that the two was better than the one. We think that where we used two row covers we’re going to be on schedule. We really don’t think it affected them that much, but where we used only one cover, we’re probably going to be a month behind with the, with the fruiting.”

However, protecting the citrus crop is a little more labor intensive as each tree must be individually taken care of before the freezing temperatures.

“With the citrus, we use wraps or tunnels or teepees. Inside of that wrap or teepee is an emitter that emits water, and it’s a spray. The theory is that it’ll create heat inside of that wrap and keep the graft of that tree warm enough that it doesn’t damage it,” says McMillian.

While these trees did suffer damage, the extent won’t be known for quite some time. However, the rest of the crops appear to be in good condition.

“With the citrus, it’s just way too early to tell,” says McMillian. “We think it will be six months to a year before we can really know just how bad it’s hurt us. With the rest of our fruit though, we have plums and blackberries and if you can grow it in South Georgia, we just about grow it. We really don’t think we’re going to see any effects.”

Even though this type of weather might be out of the norm, it is something growers will need to keep in the back of their mind when planning for the future, which is why this event can serve as a good learning experience when preparing for the next growing season.

“I hope we learn a lot from this and I hope that the University of Georgia and the Citrus Association gather information from all the growers across South Georgia and we can kind of figure out what worked best,” says McMillian. “I’m hopeful that this is going to be a learning experience and we will gain some wisdom from it.”

By: Damon Jones

Cold Winter Blast Impacts Georgia Citrus

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Ochlocknee, GA

Here in this citrus grove in Southwest Georgia, a battle took place – a battle for survival as the Christmas week arctic blast brought frigid wind and temperatures to the area colder than any they’ve seen in years, which meant growers, like Lindy Savelle, who owns and operates Georgia Grown Citrus, had to spring into action – working day in and day out to freeze protect their trees if she wanted them to survive.

“We freeze protect our trees using a Microjet that puts out fourteen gallons per hour per tree, and it’s the making of ice that creates biothermal units that keeps, keeps the temperature of the bud union of the tree from freezing. It’s so counterintuitive, but it works. And so, it was uh, quite incredible. We ran the system day after day without turning it off, but here on our farm, we turn it on at thirty-six and we don’t turn it off until it gets up to thirty-six, sometimes thirty-eight, depending on the chill factor. But it is huge to freeze protect these trees, um, I don’t know how you would really survive without doing something to protect them,” says Savelle.

For the most part, Savelle believes they faired pretty well, as they only lost a little bit of fruit on the trees left from harvest and had a few broken limbs, but much of the foliage looks as though it’s been burned, which Savelle says will have to be cut back and will most likely effect next year’s production.

According to Savelle, “When it’s frozen and it starts to thaw out, things start to happen. So, it takes time to reveal that. But say we had to cut back the whole, all of the foliage that’s on this tree or cut back the limbs because of burn back, that will affect production next year because you’re cutting off the production part of the tree. So, it could affect us that way. I don’t think for our Satsumas, we’re going to see a lot of production drop. But some of these other varieties, like the grapefruit, the Tangos, those sorts of things, and certainly any tree that was still putting on new growth; all of that’d be burned and have to be cut off. And that’s where you lose your production is anytime you have to cut limbs off, you’re going to lose volume.”

For now, though, Savelle believes that it’s just a waiting game, as they won’t know the full impact for a few weeks and still have two whole months of Winter weather ahead of them.

“Recovery’s just going to be looking and watching for the next few weeks. We won’t start cutting on these trees or trimming back anything. There’s really not much we can do until the Spring because who knows what January and February will hold for us. Because anytime you do anything to the tree, it’s waking it up. It’s not allowing it to stay dormant. And that’s what you want, you want it to stay dormant. And it’s likely that we’ll have another event, hopefully not this brutal, but it’s always a possibility in Georgia, we’re going to have a freeze event. So we just, you’re in the watch mode for the next two months really, uh, just to see what kind of damage you might have had and um, just kind of the wait and see,” says Savelle.