Will my fruit trees recover from the freeze in California.?

Question

We had tempertures in the low 20's for several nights. In the morning, ice was on all of the plants. Because of the cold, all trees and shrubs have some degree of damage. Most plants are showing the damage with browning of the leaves and dropping of the fruit. What I need to know is will my Orange and Lime trees recover? Both trees look terrible, the leaves are currled and discolored and all fruit blossems are falling off. Is there anything I can do to help these two trees recover?

Answer 1

Hello Marilynn -

There is not much you can do other than wait and see what happens. Important to follow my general rule on cold-infected plants: Do Nothing! :) Meaning: Do not fertilize or over-water (in fact, underwater) because you do not want to stimulate new growth in your plants. Additionally, you do not want to prune - particularly citrus trees.

If the plants are old enough and established, when the warm weather remains consistent, you will see the dead growth is replaced with fresh/green vegetation. At this time, then you can prune out the dead wood.

If a night is to be particularly frigid, you can lightly sprinkle the trees with a mist of water. Sounds ironic (and is), but the freezing water will freeze first before it damages (further) the rest of the citrus tree.

Good luck.

Answer 2

They should be OK, but don't trim or prune them until spring. I know, they look so bad, but if you prune them back and we have another freeze, the frost will kill them. If you're unsure, call a good nursery.