Frost protection

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Greg.L

Well-Known Member
Joined
15/3/09
Messages
721
Reaction score
62
At this time of year I have to protect my vines from frost, I live in a frost pocket and without some sort of frost protection I couldn't grow grapevines. I use sprinklers that spray along the rows. As the water freezes on the vines a property of physics called "heat of fusion" comes into play. (not nuclear fusion). When water freezes it goes into a lower energy state, from liquid to solid, so it has to release some energy. The extra energy warms the buds enough to stop them freezing. You don't want your buds freezing! This means you have to leave the sprinklers on in the morning until all the ice melts, or the process reverses and the buds will freeze as the ice melts. It is a common error to turn the sprinklers off when the air temperature gets above zero, I have seen the damage.

IMG_20131004_062146.jpg




This is my vineyard this morning, the vines are covered in ice but there is no frost damage.
 
Back
Top