43
Growers fret over spring’s frosts
CANFIELD
The mild winter and early spring have been welcomed by many Mahoning Valley residents and have caused them to spend more time enjoying outdoor activities.
But the unusual weather pattern has presented challenges for agriculture and horticulture, as frosts continue to threaten early-blooming plants and as the proliferation of insect pests looms over plants and animals.
With spring flowers and insects having emerged a month ahead of schedule, and with the late March frosts, including one with 12 hours below freezing and a temperature plunge to 20 degrees, some crop damage already has been done.
“The reason the freeze is so damaging is because it was so warm before that for an extended period of time, which brought out all the buds,” explained Janice Hanna, Mahoning County extension 4-H and youth-development educator.
“Our fruit crops definitely got the most brunt” of the early spring frosts, said Eric Barrett, a Canfield-based Ohio State University Extension agriculture educator. “Peaches were in full bloom.”
Damaging frosts are still possible in the coming weeks, Barrett warned, noting that the normal frost-free period in this climate runs from May 20 to Oct. 15.
“I’m sure there’ll be fruit, but it’s too early to tell how much,” said Matt Haus, owner of the Haus Cider Mill, 6742 W. Calla Road, Green Township, which has apple and peach orchards and operates a roadside farm market. “The peaches were a little more vulnerable because they were in full bloom.”
“There are some buds that did get frozen. You can pinch them open. You can see black inside some of them,” Haus said. “What percentage is gone or damaged is unknown yet until they open up completely or set to fruit.”
“Every orchard is different” in elevation, temperature and wind conditions, Barrett noted. “Some might have 10 percent kill. Some might have 15 or 20” percent losses after a frost, he added.
“People who grow fruit and vegetables are some of the biggest gamblers there are in agriculture,” Haus observed.
Haus doesn’t use any protective measures for his tree fruits on frosty nights, but, twice this spring, he temporarily has covered many of his strawberry plants before frosty nights with well-ventilated nylon blankets, known as row-covers, to help retain heat over them.
Flowers on some of his low-lying strawberry plants that weren’t covered during those early spring nights were destroyed by frost, he said.
“The big thing this year is that it’s gotten so warm so early,” Haus said. He added that he began applying anti-fungal and anti-bacterial sprays to his trees in mid-March this year, a full month ahead of the start of such applications in normal years.
“There were a lot of insects out when we had those 80 degrees, so we are keeping our eyes peeled for maybe a bigger insect problem year because of the mild winter and early spring,” Haus said. However, he said his farm staff won’t use any more pesticides “than we absolutely have to.”
Because of the mild winter, one disease that concerns Barrett is Stewart’s wilt, which is caused by a flea beetle and affects sweet corn.
“These flea beetles are going to be all over corn,” Barrett said, adding that home gardeners also will be affected. “Flea beetles like to eat eggplant,” he noted.
“We’re going to really have to watch what we do with our sweet-corn planting and how we’re controlling insects on that planting,” Barrett said.
Noting that pesticides are costly and harmful to beneficial insects, such as bees, Barrett discouraged indiscriminate pesticide applications and urged those who must use them to adhere strictly to label instructions.
Those wanting to identify insects that concern them are urged to bring them to the extension office, 490 S. Broad St., Canfield, between 9 a.m. and noon Mondays and Thursdays.
“Bring it in to our clinic. We’ll help them ID it, and then we’ll talk to them about how to control that insect,” Barrett said.
Bill Snyder, extension office program assistant, told an anecdote about a man who complained last year of aphid infestation on mock orange plants, and who was ready to “let loose with all sorts of insecticides.”
Snyder examined the plants and found not only the aphids, but also lady-beetle larvae all over the plants. “They eat like 200 a day of the aphids,” Snyder said. “He would have killed those also. So I told him to leave it alone, and the larvae from the lady beetle actually solved his problem within a few days.”
The extension office offers many youth and community education programs, which, despite the early spring, will be adhering to normal planting schedules, Barrett said.
“We’ll adhere to our regular dates because we don’t want people to have to cover stuff up” on frosty nights, Barrett said. “We don’t want a new grower who’s 10 years old to plant a row of beans and then come up and a week later, they’re frosted,” he said.
Many 4-H program participants have livestock projects they take to the Canfield Fair, Hanna said. The early warm weather extended the period during which the young program participants will be able handle their animals outdoors, she observed.
Under these conditions, “When the fair time comes, their animals are easier to handle,” she said.
However, Hanna said the extended early spring warmth likely will bring a summer with more insects and parasites that will be damaging to the animals.