I believe sun scald and splitting is a problem whenever you have temperature swings from warm to cold. If the tree is tricked into thinking there is an early spring and sap begins to flow, and then there is a hard freeze, it can split the wood. The side of the trunk facing south to southwest is most commonly affected since the radiation of the sun hits more directly on that side. On the other hand.... from what I can tell, this isn't really a problem with young trees. It stands to reason that thicker, older wood that traps more sap and absorbs more heat is far more likely to be affected. In your case, if the lower half of your trees are constantly shaded and/or covered with snow, I doubt you will ever have any issues, even if your trees are old. I believe the white plastic trunk covers will help shield from this sort of damage, but I've also heard that they can cause other problems, which in my view seems to arise from covering up canker and fireblight, or insect damage. Take the covers off after two or three years and you might have an unpleasant surprise. For what it's worth, I have weighed whether to paint or apply covers to my young trees, and I decided against it. If I see problems, I'll reconsider. But at least for now, I figure it's not worth the trouble, and might even possibly cause harm. No worries. I think your trees will be fine, given your conditions.

Thanks Katrina and Ken! Ken, as you figured, I first noted the damage on the south side of the tree (looked to me like that was where it started) and what looked to be more recent damage continued along the east side. The tree is warrantied for one year (I planted it in October). Since the trunk at its base is "girdled", with no bark for the first foot or so up from the ground, it looks pretty serious to me. I am wondering if there is anything I can do in order to promote the process for this tree to heal. I am not sure if there are borers present. When I peeled back the rotted bark I found what looked to be a green/grey caterpillar that was about an inch long. It was located between the bark and the trunk. There may have been two or three others that were also there - I saw a couple scurry away into the dirt. And, from what I understand, usually borers will scar the wood on the surface of the tree - I can see no tell tale scar patterns that indicate this. So, should I consider using the Bayer Systemic goo with these indicators / under these conditions? I agree with you, I like to use more natural means to take care of the garden. AND since I have a number of other trees that I have transplanted this year (and last) are there other precautions that I might take to avoid "bark scald" or "sun scald" from happening to other trees? (This year's plantings include Persian Perotia, River Birch, Purple Prince Crabapple, Alaskan Cedar and a Fraser Fir - Last year's crop includes two London Planes, and a Kwanzan Cherry). Thanks Again! And back to Ken - Just off a couple of letters - I am Ken Mareski from St. Clair.

Jose, Thanks for posting that information. I had seen it before when you posted it sometime back. It a good reminder and very applicable at certain times of the year. Some of these practices are indeed used by me the many Citrus growers in my area. They do work quite well. It is a well kept secret that Louisiana does indeed have a small (compared to Florida and California) Citrus Industry. The taste of Louisiana citrus rivals the fruit that is grown in Florida and California because it has a better sugar to acid ratio. Our farmers did a great job of protecting MANY citrus trees from the unusually cold winter that we had in our area this past season. I lost some but saved most of my citrus from the cold temperatures that we experienced. Fruitnut...... Wind chill is a function of both AIR temperature and its relative humidity level. And yes indeed, WIND CHILL CAN AFFECT PLANTS. Here is some technical information that I posted in another thread to help explain this multi variable phenomenon. [This is FYI only and for those other forum members who might want to know some "WHY's" behind potential leaf damage due to cold............it is not just about AIR TEMPERATURE. It is also about wind, leaf temperature, and air humidity level. On a windy night with clear or cloudy skies LEAF temperature will be nearly the same as AIR temperature. However, on a cold, clear night with little to no air movement.....leaf temperature can easily drop 3 to 4 degrees lower than the ambient air temperature. (It can drop as much as 8 degrees in my area.) This is because of the RADIATION heat loss of the fig leaves. The rate of heat loss of those leaves is a function of the air's humidity level. At higher humidity levels often frost will form on those leaves. So, while the ambient AIR temperature might only be 35 degrees F......the actual LEAF temperature might well be 31 to 32 degrees F. That temperature could affect tender new growth. In my area it is not uncommon for us to see frost form whenever the ambient air temperature is at 40 degrees F or below. This means that the actual leaf temperature reached 32 degrees F or below which froze the dew that condensed on the leaves as the dew point of the humid air was reached during the night. Late Spring frosts can kill fig trees in South Louisiana......especially if the outside air temperature has been cycling through several periods of warmth and cold. Yes, in my area, damaging frosts can form on fig leaves with ambient temperature as high as 40 degrees!! Ask me how I know and what I fear most at this time of year. Potential plant damage is really about leaf temperature and that is a bit harder to measure.] Dan

Mat, yeah I have 2018 and 2019 to write up. I have all my notes. Just have to find time. I checked out Pepiniere casse noisette website. They do not list their rootstocks anywhere that I can find. What rootstocks are your pears, peaches, apricots on? Honestly, a lot of what they are selling, at least in apricots, peach, nectarines seem to me to be VERY marginal for their climate. In many case they mention useful for growing in pots but if that is the case how are they propagating for sale? I don't want to disparage them without information but my impression is they might be reselling . You absolutely need to be buying based upon root-stock. For apples I am not only buying on Bud118 as it has best cold hardiness and is vigorus for our short seasons - Bud9 is just too slow. Train and prune to keep the size you want. Pears on OHxF87 or 97 and prune/train. I have found PAW-PAWs to be marginal in 4b - still 3' tall after 5+ years. Blueberries don't like my soil so Haskasps and Currants are much better. You have better options than Indigo Gem, Aurora is good though. Pink Lemonade is like a zone 5/6 plant, I see little chance of it surviving. Both Whiffletree and vigneschezsoi are good options. Be aware that a 1-2 year old bare root grape vine will bear fruit 1-2 years faster than the same year rooted cuttings you will get from vigneschezsoi. If you are only buying a couple might want to spend a couple extra $$ to get fruit a whole year or 2 earlier. Somerset and Trolhaugen are good. Had a couple Brianna this year, not enough to really say. Get Bluebell as well. I suggest 10-15' between vines. Can go closer but I am of the hack back 90% every year and then let grow. Trollhaugen can put out 12-15' of growth in 1 year alone - plant closer and you have to keep on top of canopy thinning to avoid overgrowth. Apples and pears will benefit from bagging with ziplocs. Grapes I bag with Organza bags when starting to turn color. So far I am loosing 99% of stone fruit (plums) to plum curlico and the rest to birds/racoons (can't bag plums - they rot). All peaches die. Trying apricots but no fruit yet. Don't get too caught up on types of fruit. Buy something disease resistant on a hardy, vigorus rootstock then topwork as you get enough branch structure. You will then be able to test fruit to see what you like or not within 3 years of grafting. My crabapple is now up to 65+ different apples grafted to it.