FROST & FREEZE

FROST= Ice Crystals Formed by the Freezing of Water Vapor On Objects Which Cooled Below Freezing 32*. Cold Air Settle On the Surface of Vineyard Pushing Warmer Air Up.

  • On Cold Night In Early Spring Frost Can Damage Young Buds or Fall Frost Can Damage Grape Cold Leading to Frost and the Potential For Vine and Grape Damage.
  • Topography is Biggest Factor of Where Frost Goes and Where Frost Damage Occurs.,Cold Air Like Water Flows Down to Lower Levels, Where it Has a Chance to Sit and Accumulate. The Bottom of a Slope or Basin is More Susceptible or Prone to Frost Damage  Than Hills Sides.
  • Reductive Frost– Frost That Occurs Under Clear Sky’s Reductive Frost Can Be Protected Against by Drawing Warmer Air Down
  • Averted Frost– Frost That Occurs Under Cloudy Sky’s
  • Screen/ Air Frost– Temperature is 32* or Lower 1.5 Meters Above the Ground
  • Ground Frost– Temperature is 32* or Lower On Ground
  • Frosted– Term Used For a Crop or Area That Has Been Effected Adversely by Frost Damage

VITICULTURE– CHALLENGE–

  • Frost Damage= Ice Forms In the Plant Tissue of Buds, Young Shoots, Leave, Inflorescence -If Prolong Frost Damage Area Turns Brown and Die.
  • Frost Event= An Instant or Time Either Overnight or a Period In the Early Morning Where Frost Became an Issue
  • CHALLENGE– ~Frost~ Runs Like Water and Pools In Lower Locations

VITICULTURE– BENEFITS–

WIND MACHINE= Machine Used to Combat the Effect of Frost On a Vineyard Either by Blowing Cold Air Up-Ward or to Blowing Warm Air Down-Ward. This Also Reduces Humidity and Warm Vineyards During Spring Frost.

  • Wind Machine Can Be Portable or Fixed, Surfaced Mounted (Low to the Ground) or Up On Towers (High In the Air), Gas or Propane Powered.  1 Wind Machine Can Protect 10-15 Acres and Guard Against Temperatures That Can Drop Down to 28*.

SPRINKLERS/ Apersion= Using Water Sprinkling to Protect Against Spring Frost. When Temperatures Hit Freezing the Sprinklers Are Turned On and the Water Forms a Protective Barrier of Ice That Protect Vine Buds From Colder Temperature.

SMUDGE POTS= Oil Burning Heat Bearing Device Used to Prevent Frost From Settling In Vineyards. (Once In Fashion, Now Replaced by Wind Machines)

  • Chaufferette– French Burning Pots Used Primary In Champagne and Burgundy to Prevent Spring Frost.

FREEZE– Frost is More of an Issue Because the Fruit is Likely to Be Effected But Not the Vine Itself. Winter Freeze During the Dormancy Period is a Problem Because it Can Kill the Vine.

  • Freezing to the Ground- Term Used When the Vine is Killed Above the Roots Because
    of Freezing Temperature. In the Chance the Vine is Planted On Its Own Roots the Vine Will Grown Back. If the Vine is Grafted Onto Rootstock the Vine Must be Pulled, and a Grafted Vine Must Be Replanted.
  • Hilling Up the Soil– Using a Specially Designed Plow, It Pushes Soil Up Against the Vine Creating a Dirt Ridge Covering the “Graft Union”.  In Some Extreme Cold Countries They Cover the Entire Vine.  “Hilling Up the Soil” Creates a Blanket For the Vine, Preventing Trunk/ Vine/ and Cane Damage.

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ SOURCES” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced