Strawberry growers need to keep a close eye on temperatures this weekend

By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’s strawberry growers may be reaching for the plant covers this weekend as an approaching cold front threatens to drop overnight temperatures into the 30s on Friday and Saturday in northern Arkansas.

The National Weather Service in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which provides forecasts for northwest Arkansas, was forecasting lows of 39 on Friday night and 35 on Saturday night. For central Arkansas, the National Weather Service at Little Rock was looking at lows dipping into the 40s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Strawberry season has been a mixed bag so far, said Amanda McWhirt, extension horticulture production specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

COVER UP! — Crop covers like those seen here can help protect horticulture crops such as strawberries, blackberries and blueberries during cold weather. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

“It started off looking really great — warming up really quickly early, and things started flowering very early,” she said. “It kind of made growers a little nervous because it was a lot earlier than normal — but that’s also exciting because you can start picking earlier and it helps on the economic side of things.”

In central Arkansas, some farms have been picking strawberries for three weeks, McWhirt said, adding “Normally we’d only be kicking things off.”

However, freezing temperatures returned in March.

“A lot of growers in the central and southern parts of the state were able to protect with row covers, but a lot of growers in the northwest corner, they had row covers on, but it just got so much cooler there that they actually lost a lot of the blooms that were open and even some of the small, green fruit,” she said.

McWhirt said that strawberries will keep blooming, so even though early fruit was lost, farmers were still able to get fruit later.

“The last couple of weeks have been perfect,” she said. “It’s been very dry, and the season has been going really well.”

However, “there is a little bit of concern about the cold temperatures moving in late this week, but hopefully, it will not dip down into the low 30s in northwest Arkansas,” McWhirt said.

Definitely been “ups and downs this season,” she said.

McWhirt estimates there are 200 to 300 acres of strawberries being grown in Arkansas.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

Overnight freezing poses potential damage to Arkansas fruit

By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — With the official start to spring less than a week away, winter is throwing one last curveball at fruit growers in Arkansas and the surrounding region.

COVER UP! — Crop covers like those seen here can help protect horticulture crops such as strawberries, blackberries and blueberries during cold weather. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

Below-freezing temperatures throughout much of the state made an appearance Monday night and Tuesday morning, with more cold weather on the way, particularly in the northwestern corner of the state.

The National Weather Service on Wednesday forecast temperatures in the 20s for Washington County beginning Thursday night, with an overnight low of 22 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday. The plummeting temperatures are part of a major storm front expected to enter the state Thursday.

While below-freezing temperatures are never particularly welcome for many Arkansans, the timing is particularly worrisome for growers of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Amanda McWhirt, extension fruit horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that blooms are currently visible on many strawberries.

“Strawberry blooms can be damaged at around 29 or 30 degrees, but a lot of growers use row covers, so that gives them a few extra degrees of protection when temperatures dip below that mark,” McWhirt said. “But the other thing that’s happening is that there are blooms on blueberries in some places, and blackberries have broken bud,” making the plants especially vulnerable to freeze damage when temperatures get into the low 20s.

About 200-300 acres each of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries are grown in Arkansas annually, McWhirt said. While the extent of damage caused by Monday night’s freeze is largely unknown at this point, growers need to take steps to protect their crops throughout the expected winter storm, she said.

“Producers can use row covers on certain crops,” she said. “In blackberries, they can use covers if they’re using the cross-arm rotating trellises. I’m recommending people put on their row covers now, especially as we’re likely to have rainfall, so growers need to get those on before it starts raining.”

As much as 2 inches of rain is expected in central and southern Arkansas on Thursday, potentially triggering flash flooding in several areas, according to the National Weather Service. Additionally, the likelihood of severe winds of 58 miles per hour or more is projected as high as 44 percent in southwestern Arkansas, with the probability of severe hail reaching 29 percent for the state’s westernmost tier of counties, from Sebastian to Miller County.

McWhirt, who co-authors the Arkansas Fruit, Vegetable & Nut Update Blog with several other Division of Agriculture horticulture specialists, said the key to protecting budding or blossoming fruits from cold weather damage is to know the thresholds of a given plant at a given stage and protect them when temperatures are expected to dip (or plunge) below those respective points. The Division of Agriculture offers many online resources for growers, including a chart of critical temperatures for several popular Arkansas fruit crops.

“In some areas, especially the northwest corner of the state, growers may want to consider double-covering — put two row covers on instead of just one,” McWhirt said.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.