Protecting fruit tree blossoms from freezing
When it comes to protecting fruit tree blossoms against spring frost, it is important to monitor the temperature of your orchard or vineyard. This way you can take timely action when the blossoms are in danger of freezing.
Monitoring critical temperatures for flower buds cannot be done manually. No one can stay in their field 24/7. Ideally, you should be able to remotely monitor the temperature to protect fruit trees from frost. Fortunately, there are orchard frost protection systems that alert you about icy temperatures and the risk of blossom damage.
Why you should protect blooming fruit trees from frost
“Spring frost, mainly during tree blossoming, is one of the mostly feared weather hazards in orchards. It accounts for greater losses in fruit production than any other low temperature stresses. Just a single frost event can lead to yield losses up to 90% in stone-fruit production.” - Climate change and spring frost damages for sweet cherries in Germany
You wouldn’t want 90% losses in your crops, whether in stone fruits like cherries and plums, or pome fruits like apples, pears, and quinces. Preventing damage in fruit blossom is of utmost importance for a bountiful harvest. To protect the flowers of your fruit trees, you need a reliable temperature monitoring system.
A blossom protection system
To properly measure the temperature in an orchard and protect your blossoms, you need the right equipment. Your frost detection system must be able to measure temperature and humidity quickly and accurately and send that information to the cloud. Additionally, this system must warn you in real-time about impending freezing injuries in flower buds.
Protecting blooming fruit trees from frost thus turns out to not be such an easy task. Crodeon offers the simple solution: Reporter.
Instant spring frost alarm notifications
When blossom damage is lurking around the corner you want to be in the know at all times. Reporter, our sensor module for remote monitoring, will send out alarm notifications whenever it's needed. Also at night or when you're far away from your fruit trees. Thanks to the compatible relay module you can even remotely switch on your heat gun or overhead irrigation as you venture out into the cold.
Protecting fruit trees from frost suddenly becomes a much more manageable task!
Professional weather station to register critical temperatures for flower buds
The Crodeon weather station features a multisensor that measures: temperature and humidity (dry bulb, wet bulb, dew point, relative humidity), wind (direction, speed), and rain (L/day). Which are the essentials to monitor weather in your orchard.
Our professional weather station comes with its own solar panel and internal battery to allow continuous measuring. All measurements are transmitted live to the cloud (Crodeon Dashboard) for real-time monitoring where they can be viewed or downloaded. Even in prolonged overcast conditions, Reporter continues to work correctly so orchard frost protection remains a given.
Versatile and autonomous blossom protection system
Reporter features an integrated SIM card that connects to the GSM network. This allows the system to continue to communicate correctly with the Dashboard even in the most remote areas. As a cherry on top: Reporter comes with a REST API that connects with your favourite agricultural software!
Connect additional sensors
In some cases an all-in-one weather sensor is not enough to fulfil your measuring needs, which is why Reporter's plug-and-play system allows you to choose whatever sensors you want to use. Such as a wind sensor, temperature sensor, temperature-humidity sensor, leaf wetness sensor, dendrometer or soil moisture sensor.
The sensor device has four connectors, which leaves three additional free ports after connecting a weather sensor. This allows you to connect extra temperature sensors to measure temperature at different heights for example. A leaf wetness sensor on the other hand can help you prevent diseases such as Pseudomonas syringae.
Rest assured, even during cold nights.
Reporter sends a live alarm notification when the temperature you set is reached. Protecting fruit tree blossoms from freezing with frost detection has thus become an indispensable part of the fruit grower's modern orchard. Visit our webshop to view all our sensors or contact us if you have any questions.
Sources
Chmielewski, F. M., Götz, K. P., Weber, K. C., & Moryson, S. (2017). Climate change and spring frost damages for sweet cherries in Germany. International Journal of Biometeorology, 62, 217–228. https://doi.org/link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00484-017-1443-9
