Strawberry Plasticulture Advisory (3/4/02 - No. 2)
Vol. 3 No. 18 - Barclay Poling, Editor & Ext. Small Fruit Specialist,
NC State
Advisory in brief: This late afternoon advisory is being sent to remind all growers in our region (NC-VA-SC) to be sure to provide some form of row cover protection for their strawberry plasticulture, or matted row crops, tonight. This is going to be another night of intense cold with very high winds. Even straw can be beneficial, but row covers of 1.0 -2.0 oz/sq yard weight are your best bet (the heavier the better), and double covers work extremely well.
Additional notes: I have been monitoring conditions closely this afternoon with the assistance of meteorologist, Dr. Jay Schlegel, SkyBit. In our most recent conversation at 4 pm it is apparent that we may have even colder temperatures tonight than earlier forecasts. We are dealing with an intensely cold arctic blast tonight. Winds are in excess of 20 mph in most areas this late afternoon (Monday) and dewpoints are likely to go into the low single digits tonight. Temperatures may be in the low teens in many areas - just 24 hours ago forecasts were in the upper teens to low 20s. I have also learned that winds will be up a "good chunk of the night", as the front is not moving that quickly. It may not be until around 3 am before winds even start to subside. In speaking with a number of growers and agents in the region today, there is a "consensus view" emerging that a lot of the damage we got from last week was from the first night of high winds and low temperatures. I was surprised to learn today that we had areas in the NC Piedmont that went into the single digits last Thur morning (Feb 28) and with the very high winds of 2/27-2/28 there was considerable crown injury to unprotected strawberry plants (when you get below 10 F you can expect this). On the same farms, in areas where they had row covers out, there was only minor injury to some of the emerged flower buds. In situations this extreme, the row cover is the most critical tool we have to prevent crop failure.
Fig. 1. Single cover - 1 oz/sq yard. Upper Mountain Research Station,
2/27/02. We went below 10 F in this field on 2/28/02.
Fig. 2. Double cover treatment (each cover 1 oz/sq yd)
E. Barclay Poling, Small Fruit Specialist
Campus Box 7609
Kilgore Hall - Office 252
NC State University
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7609
919.515.1195
919.515.2505 (fax)
919.418.9687 (mobile)
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