Quote:
Originally Posted by Shimpy
Ron, I'm confused because the citrus farmers I've always heard about expecting a freeze water their trees to give warmth to them and they claim the ice insulates them from colder temps. They even fly helicoptors back and forth putting wind on the crops.
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I will try to keep this somewhat simply so it's not so confusing. The reason the strawberry farmers and orange growers turn on their irrigation when there is a freeze is to keep the fruit and leaves coated with a thin layer of ice. As long as everything stays coated with a thin layer of ice it keeps the fruit at that constant temperature around 32 degrees.
Once everything is coated and the irrigation
keeps running, the water running off the plant actually radiates heat back into the air help keeping the plant and fruit warm. If the water was to stop running then the fruit will freeze well below 32 degrees hurting the fruit, and if the temps drop around that 25 degree range for to long, it really does severe damage.
The best thing the farmer can hope for is for the weather not to warm up to fast after a hard freeze, that will give them time to harvest what fruit is ready. If it warms up to fast, the fruit will rot on the trees and plants and just be wasted. That's why our irrigation needs to stay off, once it runs then shuts off, severe plant damage will take place causing severe tissue damage.
That's just a short version of what happens, their is really a lot more to it then that, but that should help you understand why you need to keep your water off during a freeze.