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Tropical Fruits

Freeze Damage Pruning Questions

13 years ago

Hi everyone, I know that we're suppose to wait till the freeze threat is over for me that's around the middle of March. My question is should I trim some of the completely dead leaves and branches(most of them at least)...my concerns are they are SO brown/dead that they might cause fire inside my enclosure when I have to cover and turn the lights(halogen workllight and or Christmas lights) on underneath...I'm thinking this is a "fire hazard"? What do you guys think I should do??

The leaves are really not falling off. Most of them are still hanging on the tree even though its dead. I'm so paranoid about starting a fire with all these dead leaves in the enclosure although I know that we're not suppose to prune till Spring... that's my dilema!

Thanks,

Nancy

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Comments (8)

zands
13 years ago
Highly doubtful those leaves are coming back. So why not strip them off and leave the branches for later? Then you have no fire hazard

As you plunge in removing leaves you will get a better fix on what branches can also be removed today. If in doubt leave the branch for later consideration

Yes stripping off just leaves is more laborious and you might have to use a ladder
hmhausman
13 years ago
Nancy:

Yikes, that is a hard sight to look at. How hot do your lights get? As you said the conventional wisdom is do no pruning until spring and leave the leaves too as additional protection from the cold. If your light temps are not close to the ignition point, whatever that is, I'd leave everything until spring. If the temp of the lights is anywhere close....trim away. Good luck with the decision. In the final analysis, trimming probably won't make that much difference, IMO.

Harry
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For me, freeze damage is a threat every spring. I know pretty much nothing about persimmons, but I do know grapes are extremely sensitive to cold once they have started to grow. I've seen plenty of damaged grapes here. At my place, any time the air temp drops below 40 there is danger of frost (I've seen frost when the lowest temp registered on my thermo was 39 degrees). If they get frost on the new leaves they are gone. Sometimes the shoot is fine if the leaves get zapped, but sometimes the whole shoot dies. Often they will push secondary buds after a week or two, but they are not as fruitful. Luckily spring is usually slow to warm around here and that keeps them from budding too early (mine are still just at the bud swell stage right now). Also late pruning can delay bud break. Grapes are the only thing I've suffered much damage on so far. My other fruits are not nearly as sensitive. I got 26 degrees last year when my peaches were in full bloom and still had a good crop. I got worried because the flower petals appeared to be damaged. Sweet cherries managed the 26 degree event as well. They were maybe a few days further along than my peaches when the freeze hit. Apples seem to flower late enough to miss the hard freezes. I know apricots are more sensitive, but I don't even try to grow them here.
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dibbit posted this on another thread and i thought it answered your ? perfectly. The latest from the Master Gardeners/Polk County Extension agent is to wait at LEAST 3 weeks after the frost before pruning out any "dead" stuff from your woody plants (trees and shrubs) - 4 weeks would be safer. Then cut back until you get live wood - i.e.; the cambium layer just under the bark is green. If you REALLY can't stand looking at them, then you can carefully take off the dead leaves, but be REALLY careful not to damage the buds that will be the source of the new leaves - do it SOON, before the new buds start growing. Perennials, on the other hand, you can clean up now. Water if the ground is dry, DO NOT FERTILIZE, and keep a close eye on the plants that had to leaf out again, as they should now be considered stressed, and thus prone to disease and bugs in the next summer.
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It sounds too small to cut that hard. You're not talking about a rare or expensive tree; if there's no new growth from the crown in a week or two, I'd replace it.
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Thanks, that's kind of what I was thinking...the dead leaves would act as protection from the next freeze, but then I remember being told that I should cut my freeze damaged lemon tree all the way down so it wouldn't waste all of its energy trying to keep the dying branches alive...that seemed to make sense too. I think I'll leave them alone til spring. They are in the front but the brown leaves shouldn't offend the neighbors any more than the "Sponge Bob" sheets that are covering them right now ;-)
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puglvr1
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the response Zands and Harry!

Since the trees are dwarf...there's not a lot of space between the bottom of the leaves and where I have the lights maybe 10-14"?? I'm using work lights 250-300watts and I just purchased a new one (haven't used it yet) that is 500 watts. They are the halogen type bulbs.

It really is very hard to look at...you would think after the 3rd year in a row this has happened to my trees (it looks like this every year) I would be used to seeing it, but I never am!

These are what I use...
hmhausman
13 years ago
Any warnings on the lights about distances to keep away from it and potential fire hazards?

Harry
puglvr1
Original Author
13 years ago
Harry, you got me...I will have to read the very fine print...as this is being used for what I'm sure is not exactly what the work lights are meant for. I think I need to trim those dead leaves, even though I know I should wait to trim, I would feel better knowing that I've done what I can to prevent something from starting a "spark" or worse.
sun_worshiper
13 years ago
Hi pug. Those trouble lights are pretty safe.

I have ornamental grasses planted pretty near my trees like this one:
{{gwi:1304617}}

Those grasses end up inside my shelters. This pic's a bit old, but the grasses are now fully brown and tinderbox dry. Even so, I have the trouble light sitting about 8 inches from them with no problem. For the trouble lights at least I think if you have 6-8" of clearance then you won't have a fire danger. They get really hot if you are touching them, but I can easily hold my hand at 8" away. So I figure that isn't hot enough to start a fire.

Let us know what you decide.
puglvr1
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Sunworshiper for that valuable information...exactly the info I was happy to read, helps a lot. I decided to only prune a few of the dead/brown leaves that were pretty close to where the light will be...the rest I left alone and will wait till March to prune.

Thanks again!

BTW, DH bought be a small portable greenhouse that I will put over one of my mango trees...most likely the Glenn since that one is planted in the open. He will put it together this week...I will post pictures once its up. Its a hoop style 6.5ft tall x 6.5ft wide x 10ft long...should work for a while since I plan on keeping this tree short for at least a few more years. I also have a utility heater with a tip over safety that I will use inside to heat. I will leave the green house up till the middle of March once the threat of freeze is over.

Hope this works!
sun_worshiper
13 years ago
Glad that helped.

The greenhouse sounds great! Looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing how it works for you!

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