Good job, George! I have to do something similar every late fall in Bay Area, USA (Zone 9B). I am worried about that big jackfruit's trunk. Here are a few suggestions: If you have metal tomato cages, then use them instead of those poles -- they will provide cross-structural rigidity. Or you can drive round stakes in the ground and use PVC pipes around them. Then use 3-way/4-way connectors to connect these pipes at top to provide rigidity. In USA, we get Agribon brand frost cloth and it has various levels of thickness - more thickness, more protection. So maybe those two clothes have different levels of thickness (and hence quality)? If you can get Agribon cloth there (AG-30, AG-50, AG-70) in big roll, you can reuse it year after year -- I have some that I have been using for 10+ years. Maybe u can dig up that rollinia and move it to greenhouse? Finally, I hope u will mound up dirt/leaves, etc. at the base of all those wrappings so that cold wind does not enter from the bottom.
I'm confident the jackfruit will be Ok, as last winter I didn't cover it from the top, only the sides. All the trees have mulch around them and up against the lower part of the cloth. I'm using AG-60 cloth, it's the best I found in Australia. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Well Done 👍. I have used green tree guards that act like a greenhouse for each plant from Bunnings for a lot of smaller trees when young. That’s hard to do when taller. I make a number of them joint to fit larger trees but there’s a limit to what you can do with that. I think the good frost cloth should pay off for you. It’s a lot of work for looking after Tropicals but if you get them to the stage of not needing protection like the Glen Mango it’s worth all the work put into it . All the best with theses trees 🌴
I've been doing some experimenting with frost cloth and I've found that it only gives about 1-2c of protection on 0c nights. However, when I added a buckets of water next to the trees as thermal mass, the trees got 4-6c of protection on 0c nights. So I think it is a good idea to put buckets or barrels of water next to the trees you are most worried about. More water (thermal mass) equals more protection. Also, it might help to put clear polythene around the sides of the tree, with frost cloth over the top.
We don't get the temperatures that you're having until July in the Newcastle area in New South Wales, yesterday it got up to 18°C so the days have been pleasant when it's at least partially overcast. The coldest night we've had so far has been 6°C & we don't get the 2°C nights until next month if we do get them, it might sit around 4-5°C at dawn for a couple of hours. I know that my papaya plants haven't been affected by the cold but next month that will change, they will grow back but & my smaller plants are protected inside of my greenhouse for frost protection. The mango 🥭 seedlings tend to hold up to the cold better !
all that work>>>YOU NEED A GREENHOUSE>>>Im building one special for the ice cream bean>>>blackberry jam, dragon fruit and black and red sapote>>>Although I have prickly pear cactus from texas in zone 6>>i do not even cover anymore>>>>my dragonfruit froze one year and i lost al that was above ground>>>started over from all the 2 inch that survived underground>>>>The tree of the year is che fruit and bayberry....I LOVE TREES
I'm in Zone 9B, so many subtropicals will grow fine here unprotected. The reason I covered these trees is because they are Zone 10 tropicals and I don't want them in containers. ps. I've been down the greenhouse path!
Good job, George! I have to do something similar every late fall in Bay Area, USA (Zone 9B). I am worried about that big jackfruit's trunk.
Here are a few suggestions:
If you have metal tomato cages, then use them instead of those poles -- they will provide cross-structural rigidity.
Or you can drive round stakes in the ground and use PVC pipes around them. Then use 3-way/4-way connectors to connect these pipes at top to provide rigidity.
In USA, we get Agribon brand frost cloth and it has various levels of thickness - more thickness, more protection. So maybe those two clothes have different levels of thickness (and hence quality)? If you can get Agribon cloth there (AG-30, AG-50, AG-70) in big roll, you can reuse it year after year -- I have some that I have been using for 10+ years.
Maybe u can dig up that rollinia and move it to greenhouse?
Finally, I hope u will mound up dirt/leaves, etc. at the base of all those wrappings so that cold wind does not enter from the bottom.
I'm confident the jackfruit will be Ok, as last winter I didn't cover it from the top, only the sides. All the trees have mulch around them and up against the lower part of the cloth. I'm using AG-60 cloth, it's the best I found in Australia. Thanks for sharing your tips!
It's a lot of work but a great job completed. It's worth it if you save most or all of the tender tropicals 👍
Definitely. That's the plan!
Well Done 👍. I have used green tree guards that act like a greenhouse for each plant from Bunnings for a lot of smaller trees when young. That’s hard to do when taller. I make a number of them joint to fit larger trees but there’s a limit to what you can do with that. I think the good frost cloth should pay off for you. It’s a lot of work for looking after Tropicals but if you get them to the stage of not needing protection like the Glen Mango it’s worth all the work put into it . All the best with theses trees 🌴
Yeah, some of these will need winter covers for atleast 6-8 years! Just in time for my pension :)
We use large and medium office binder clips in packs of 24 much cheaper on Amazon than any other resources
I've been doing some experimenting with frost cloth and I've found that it only gives about 1-2c of protection on 0c nights. However, when I added a buckets of water next to the trees as thermal mass, the trees got 4-6c of protection on 0c nights. So I think it is a good idea to put buckets or barrels of water next to the trees you are most worried about. More water (thermal mass) equals more protection. Also, it might help to put clear polythene around the sides of the tree, with frost cloth over the top.
My main concern was frost and wind. The added protection from cold sounds good, but I have around 30 trees to protect. Lots of work!
We don't get the temperatures that you're having until July in the Newcastle area in New South Wales, yesterday it got up to 18°C so the days have been pleasant when it's at least partially overcast.
The coldest night we've had so far has been 6°C & we don't get the 2°C nights until next month if we do get them, it might sit around 4-5°C at dawn for a couple of hours.
I know that my papaya plants haven't been affected by the cold but next month that will change, they will grow back but & my smaller plants are protected inside of my greenhouse for frost protection.
The mango 🥭 seedlings tend to hold up to the cold better !
all that work>>>YOU NEED A GREENHOUSE>>>Im building one special for the ice cream bean>>>blackberry jam, dragon fruit and black and red sapote>>>Although I have prickly pear cactus from texas in zone 6>>i do not even cover anymore>>>>my dragonfruit froze one year and i lost al that was above ground>>>started over from all the 2 inch that survived underground>>>>The tree of the year is che fruit and bayberry....I LOVE TREES
I'm in Zone 9B, so many subtropicals will grow fine here unprotected. The reason I covered these trees is because they are Zone 10 tropicals and I don't want them in containers. ps. I've been down the greenhouse path!
You can get metal pegs from kmart and stuff, they are strong and sturdy
Is that breadfruit? Coz you're planting toooo closed.. Breadfruit needs bigger space because it's branches will spreadout.
Not breadfruit. Not possible in my Zone 9B.