Peach Tree Freeze Protection

February 1, 2022

Andy Rollins
Upstate Commercial Fruit & Vegetable Agent

I’ve been busy helping several new small-sized farms across the upstate get established and prepare for planting next spring. I have also assisted with a nematode survey of all the upstate peach farms in conjunction with Churimani Kanal, Ph.D., and his graduate student and will continue this work next year.

I am the principal investigator in a trial looking at a frost freeze protection product from Washington State University. It is a cellulose nano-crystal product intended to protect the fruit from freezing temperatures. It has been shown to protect cherry trees from temperatures of 10⁰F to 13⁰F, which could be revolutionary if the technology can be adapted to peach production here in the upstate.

I held a regional blackberry meeting in Savannah, Georgia, with over 50 participants. My peach meeting was on January 22, 2022, and successfully attracted over 50 participants. My strawberry meeting will be on February 24, 2022, and my vegetable meeting will be on March 24, 2022. I have also co-organized a statewide peach meeting held online on March 10, 2022. I am very thankful for all the farms in the upstate counties I serve.