Citrus trees at risk in cold weather

Some areas in the Valley and High Desert dipped well below freezing Sunday night prompting local citrus growers to take extra measures to protect their orchards.

Right now citrus trees are very vulnerable. However, even if it gets below freezing, there are simple things even home owners can do to minimize potential damage.

“Citrus trees are really sensitive to the frost,” said Young’s Nursery project manager Brenton Burke.

Anything below freezing, 32 degrees, can harm citrus trees.

“If they get cold, you are going to see damage in the flesh growth towards the top of the tree. You’ll see some of the leaves start to shrivel up,” said Burke.

At Young’s Nursery in Thermal, Burke advises to plan ahead. For large trees in a back yard, he said water will help protect them.

“Keep your irrigation on, keep your drippers on, and the warmth from the water will keep the tree warmer,” said Burke.

As long as the water is flowing, it shouldn’t freeze. However with California’s historic drought and current water restrictions in place, use that extra water sparingly.

For smaller citrus trees, like ones in pots for example, you can actually take the lights off your Christmas tree, wrap it around the tree and plug it in to help keep the plant warm.

“It’s just enough warmth. It’s not going to cook the tree, but it will create a warm envelope around it the tree, because it’s the duration, how long the tree is cold that you are going to see the most damage,” said Burke.

Wrapping a blanket around the small tree is another option.

So far at Young’s Nursery, it hasn’t been cold enough long enough to cause any damage to the trees.

“We saw a couple of cold temperatures in the last part of November, but I think last night was the first night that any of us really had to worry,” said Burke.

Young’s Nursery, like many growers in the Valley, took extra measures Sunday night to protect its plants.

“We keep our irrigation going, our drippers going when we know it’s going to get this cold and we also utilize wind machines,” said Burke.

Wind machines can warm up the air around the fruit as much as 5 degrees in some cases.

“That pulls the warm air down from the inversion layer and creates a breeze over the property that keeps everything nice and warm,” said Burke.

Young’s Nursery has temperature gauges throughout its property it monitors all night if necessary.

For other vegetable growers in the Valley, it will take about a week to see if the recent frost affected any of their crops.