It’s well-known that running irrigation overnight during hard freezes can save blooms and fruit from being destroyed.
During the weather in the teens last night, we attempted it with a big loquat tree that was loaded with blooms and fruit.
We used bungee cords to put a sprinkler up on the fence, then ran it the entire night.
What I didn’t expect was how much ice would accumulate on the tree. The weight of it was way too much, and…
Rats. That’s worse that losing the fruit.
Unfortunately, loquats aren’t well-suited to this area. Though the trees themselves are quite cold hardy, their fruits and blooms are not. They also have the annoying habit of blooming from November – January and setting fruit just as the frosts come.
There are loquat trees here and there all around our area, yet we almost never see any fruit. It’s really too bad.
Once the ice melts, we’ll see if we can save the tree through some careful pruning.
In the past, we saved our blueberry harvest by running sprinklers overnight. We just didn’t count on the weight of the ice on the big loquat leaves. Should’ve known better.
I’m a tropical boy. Still can’t get the hang of dealing with the cold and ice.
David The Good
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