Deja vu

[Nyboy]

Jan in Ny should be in low 20s, with much lower possable. Today Jan 12 weather forcast said we will hit 55!! Another warm winter!! Wonder how it is effecting long term , things like fruit trees that need chill hours.

 

[897tgigvib]

I'd kind of think that most of the varieties of Apple trees you grow there will have enough chill hours. There may be a few that'll get barely enough, but most will be alright. Have you had enough cold nights you think, like under 22 degrees above? Under 32 above?

 

[hoodat]

They're predicting night time frosts for Southern California the next few nights. 20s shouldn't bother most of the plants I have growing right now. Maybe it will thin out some of the weeds though. Next week is looking good though High 60s and even reaching a possible 70.

 

[digitS']

Last year we had TEG folks saying that upstate New York and the upper MidWest lost apple crops . . .

NYboy, I suppose the Washington State apple growers will be keeping a close eye on what is happening in your part of the country over the next several months. A big story several years ago was about the US importation of apples from China. I don't really have my finger on the pulse of that sort of thing anymore. China is having some extremely cold weather right now.

Extreme winter cold was what did in some of the early fruit orchards planted nearby. There are still a few, hereabouts.

Steve

 

[lesa]

Hoodat, it has been my experience that the plants you want to grow- get killed by the frost, long before the weeds do! The second I loose snow cover, I have weeds showing that are alive and well!

 

[vfem]

We're going through another overly warm nutty winter too!

What really shocked me was when they showed the pictures of snow in Israel! WOW!

 

[Smiles Jr.]

I just got back from the feed store and it's 61F out there. Man, I hope we don't have another winter like we did last year. Several of my Macintosh apple trees dropped ALL of their apples in early July. I had several hundred 1/2" and 3/4" diameter apples on the ground. The deer loved them and I made some pretty good ACV out of them. The rest went into the compost pile.

 

[ducks4you]

WE lost all of our apples and peaches and pears last year. What happened was a very warm spring for several weeks, then 2 days of freezing, around 20 degrees, when the fruit trees were fully flowered. I urge you to be patient.
I know that you live in a much warmer zone than me, but waiting until the end of February won't hurt your tree.
I bought two $5 fruit trees on clearance at WalMart last October--a peach and a GD apple. I potted them in big pots, watered heavily, and buried them in one of my beds, plus a mounded stall waste 6" above the soil line. I've done this before to keep the roots from thawing and freezing.
The peach is to replace my very old peach tree, once it gives up the ghost. The GD apple will be planted next to my horse's other GD apple, and provide some more shade in their turnout.

 

[MontyJ]

I also lost my apples last year, but somehow the peaches survived even though they were in full bloom when the temps dropped into the 20's This winter looks better so far though. We had the customary "January thaw", but temps have dropped back to 20's at night and low 30's during the day with colder weather expected.