Cold one in the NE tonight!

[Maya]

We are only supposed to get down to 36 tonight and it's real windy. Almost full bloom on most varieties except Honeycrisp. We didn't get much above 50 all day and the wind was howling. Bees were not up on the trees! :mad:

 

[aerospacefarmer]

We are only supposed to get down to 36 tonight and it's real windy. Almost full bloom on most varieties except Honeycrisp. We didn't get much above 50 all day and the wind was howling. Bees were not up on the trees! :mad:

Wind howling here also only 48 had some at full bloom last week so Hopi g. But did lose quite a bit back in early April That wind will be taking s lot of petals off the blossoms

 

[Maya]

32 this AM and windy. No cold, no frost! :)

 

[Maya]

The mountains nearby are snow capped...

 

[Corey Peterson]

Well that four letter word snow returned last night. 36 degrees this morning.

 

[chickenlittle]

I had a few snow flakes while mowing the lawn yesterday. Did not see any frost this morning n the back yard.

 

[WTNUT]

It's going to be challenging up here this year TC. Not sure how we are going to thin as our king blossoms took a big hit. Some clusters are down to 2's and 3's. Even Carbaryl will be tough to use.

Maya,

Why is it harder to thin when the King is damaged, but the others are coming along in the cluster?

 

[chummer]

I was planting in the snow and 30mph winds yesterday. The best part was no black flies. Best day of planting I have had this year. My trees are mostly at tight cluster. Chance of frost next two nights then hopefully in the clear. My neighbor restocked the bee hives Saturday so they are ready to go. I hope they weren't southern bees or they won't come out of the hive.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Wind is good with near freezing temps. We got down to 32 last night and I am hoping no frost. Already took big hit. Feel bad for you Wisconsin and Michigan guys. Mid 20's really suck at this stage.

 

[Maya]

Maya,

Why is it harder to thin when the King is damaged, but the others are coming along in the cluster?

The king blossom is the strongest in the cluster. When you use a thinning spray such as carbaryl (sevin) it will kill off the weaker blossoms and generally leave the stronger ones, the king. I don't have many kings, so I need to be very careful not to over thin. Normally it's very hard to over thin using carbaryl, now it will be hard to tell. I'm going to wait until very late to thin and gauge how my fruit set is. We have never had this problem before. There is also all kinds of other considerations when chemical thinning, fruit set, timing, sunshine vs clouds, cold vs warm....lots to think about as it is, now this!

 

[aerospacefarmer]

No thinning for me this year as the frost took care of that

 

[WTNUT]

Maya,

When you say wait to very late what do you mean by that? I really really wished I had practiced on one tree this year because I know I will have to thin with Sevin next year. I seem to recall you have to thin before the apples are 11 mm in diameter.

 

[Maya]

Maya,

When you say wait to very late what do you mean by that? I really really wished I had practiced on one tree this year because I know I will have to thin with Sevin next year. I seem to recall you have to thin before the apples are 11 mm in diameter.

WT, again, there is a lot to it. Read up on it. You can't just practice on one tree. Timing is everything but some varieties thin easier than others. You can thin at several different periods, each one having different effects. Carbaryl being a insecticide should not be used during bloom, but is best used 1 week after (moderate thinning) or 2-3 weeks after petal fall (8-14mm). 15mm+ is a "hail Mary".

For me 1 week would be good as thinning is generally more moderate at that time, but I think I will wait a couple weeks to better assess my needs, even then I will probably be very conservative.

Read up before you chem thin!

 

[Maya]

Woke up at 3:00 AM, 33 degrees, so I went out to go assess and there is a skunk under the bird feeder right off my back porch! Took another route and did some burning. Looks like we had a very light frost on the ground but I think the trees/ blossoms are ok. I'll get some picks later, it's beautiful out there. Honeycrisp started a bit of a king bloom yesterday. That's going to be a sight on my big HC's, they lost most everything last year from a late frost.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I heard on a couple Pa. weather stations ( TV ) yesterday that this is the 5th coldest May on record for the N.E. states. We sure haven't lacked for rain either.

 

[chummer]

We can't break the cold trend. Weather man keeps saying it is over in a couple days then he repeats himself every couple days. 31 last night and now again tonight. They keep dangling lows in the 40's but they never get here. Finally going to be in 60's-70's for next ten days so everything is going to pop now.

 

[buckvelvet]

Yeah its projected to dip down to 31 tonight here in W MI.

 

[WTNUT]

WT, again, there is a lot to it. Read up on it. You can't just practice on one tree. Timing is everything but some varieties thin easier than others. You can thin at several different periods, each one having different effects. Carbaryl being a insecticide should not be used during bloom, but is best used 1 week after (moderate thinning) or 2-3 weeks after petal fall (8-14mm). 15mm+ is a "hail Mary".

For me 1 week would be good as thinning is generally more moderate at that time, but I think I will wait a couple weeks to better assess my needs, even then I will probably be very conservative.

Read up before you chem thin!

Thanks I started reading a fair amount on line and should have read a LOT before next year.

 

[buckvelvet]

http://enviroweather.msu.edu/run.php?stn=ldt&mod=w_nt&da1=19&mo1=5&da2=19&mo2=5&yr=2016&mc=396&ds=cd

According to this Orchard temp chart we got down to 28.8 last night, sheesh!

 

[chummer]

I bet you guys thought this thread was done for the year. This is why growing anything in my area is difficult. This is a couple miles from my place. I will be heading up tonight to check for possible damages. Forecasted low was 42, this came out of no where.