Hard Freeze Update

Well, I have to say, I am in awe of my hubby's ability to see a need or a problem, and figure out some easier or better way to deal with it.

We have several other neighbors growing blueberries for commercial picking as well. This includes our friends J & L who have been doing it for almost 4 years now. The rest are newbies like we are. Well, all our neighbors were frantically trying to pull all their baby blueberry bushes into sheds, horse trailers (with heaters), and garages to avoid the freeze. They were finding that it took 2 people about 2 hours to move just 1000 plants. All 4 of us growers have 4000 plants to move. Our one neighbor started moving pots at 10 a.m. and it took him until 9:30 p.m. I think he said to get all 4000 plants indoors. Our problem was that we didn't have anywhere to put 4000 plants. We have our house garage, but it was certainly not big enough to fit them all in there. On top of that, I was home by myself with a vomiting little girl. I didn't want to move them all by myself, knowing how long it would take, when she was indoors and getting sick every so often.

Well, hubby said not to worry, and he'd figure out what to do. He came home about 5:00 p.m. and started tenting the rows of blueberry plant pots. He fixed it up with larger PVC stakes, with smaller diameter PVC poles bent over in an arch, and fitted into the holes of the stakes. He then ran plastic sheeting down the whole line. We secured the plastic down with wooden beams to anchor it, and turned the micro jet sprayers on under the plastic. The water coming out of the ground is at least 65 degrees, so quite warm compared to the freezing air and driving winds we experienced last night. It worked quite well! It took us until about 8:30 p.m. to complete this job, and another couple hours to keep checking on it to make sure the wind would not whip the plastic up over a period of time.

Now I am going to tell you more than you wanted to know about this whole freeze-protection business when it comes to the blueberries in particular. Normally, blueberries should be in their dormancy stage during the late fall and winter. This happens because of the slow decline in the temperatures over a period of time. The trouble with our baby bushes is that because they are so small, you want them to remain growing throughout our "mild" winter so they get big enough to plant them in the ground in late spring or early summer. This is accomplished by continuing to fertilize them throughout the cold season. This keeps them growing throughout the winter, and they do not go dormant. If they are not dormant, they are more susceptible to cold temperatures.

We're not concerned about losing fruit at this point, as we won't have a harvest this first spring. In fact, for the past several weeks, we have been plucking off the blossoms every other day, to protect the plants from killing themselves by fruiting. They only have so much energy, and when they're this small, they can either put energy into blossoming and fruiting, or growth. If they try to do both, they most likely struggle and die.

Another factor contributing to our trouble last night, was the severity of the cold anticipated, combined with the wind. Normally, if you expect a frost or mild freeze (higher temps for shorter periods of time) you just turn on the overhead sprinklers and water the plants all night. The plants can even freeze over with ice covering them completely, and the 32 degree ice is warmer than the colder air, and protects them from freezer burn. But with the wind blowing, there was no way the water would cover them sufficiently, and they would be vulnerable. We were expecting 23 degree temps last night, and it was just too cold to chance. Here's a neat website for checking Florida weather in your area. They have several "stations" and you can pick the one closest to you for current up to date info. http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/

On a side note, somebody asked about our more experienced blueberry grower neighbor and what she does for a freeze. She turns on the water like explained above. But she has not had to deal with temps this cold before, and was taking her babies indoors as well. She took in about half of them and ran out of room. She was relying on her sprinklers to protect the rest (as much as possible because of the wind situation, but what else could she do?). The only trouble is, she turned the water on down by her house, which is quite a distance from the blueberry patch. She was so utterly exhausted from moving plants all day in the cold, and it was so dark and late by then, she never checked to see if the water turned on. It didn't, but she didn't know this until she got up at 3 a.m. to check, and found it not on. Oh, no!!! She turned it on at that point, but it was probably too late. We had seen 32 degree temps last night at 9 p.m. I think it was. She's crossing her fingers and hoping for the best. She'll be able to tell in a couple more days if she sustained damage or not, and chalking it up to a lesson learned the hard way.

I am proud of my husband though, as he is always thinking, experimenting, and fixing something to work no matter what is handed to him. He really rolls with the punches, so to speak. Our blueberry friend L even called him "innovative". That's a real compliment coming from the experienced one in our little "Blueberry Hill" community.

I should have pictures of us all out there last night working in the dark on the "tunnels" as L calls them. It was pretty funny! As I told you before, I am not very graceful (clumsy!). I went sprawling to the ground several times, having tripped on water pipes, and the forklift forks which I could not see in the dark. On top of that, we were hurrying pretty fast because it was so cold out. I guess strawberry growers freeze protect this way with tunnels, but C didn't know it. I'll get a picture this morning when it's light outside. I would have gotten one today, to attach here, but I was gone to work all day and couldn't take a picture in the day light.