04/15/05 The frost hit

04/15/05 The frost hit

One thing fruit growers fear this time of year occurred in many parts of the region early Wednesday. Frost. REDMAN: The Dalles definitely had a fairly bad night. They probably lost some of their crop, not a huge amount but some. Wenatchee, the Heights area, they're behind in their bud development so they can handle a little bit more. And I know that they had some damage up there too. Gip Redman, Head of Field Services for Holtzinger Fruit Company in Yakima said the temperature got down to twenty degrees Wednesday morning in his area. And while some damage has been reported, Redman says it will be a while before data can be gathered to make a full estimate. REDMAN: You can tell within a day or so whether you've had some damage, and you can get some preliminary numbers like you reduce the number of bloom by ten, twenty, thirty per cent. But that's just the bloom. And so then it's relative to how many blooms you have in your orchard. Is it a heavy bloom? Then thirty per cent isn't even going to be noticed. At best, Redman says the frost serves as a reminder and warning for growers and fieldmen to be on their toes for frost potential this month. REDMAN: During April, all fruit varieties are sensitive to these same temperature regimes and as they get closer to bloom, the number of degrees between a ten per cent kill and a ninety per cent kill diminishes to a point where it's only two or three degrees.
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