The tests of effectiveness of Frostbuster under excessive weather conditions in an apricot plantation

Frost protection was always a serious challenge in fruit and vegetable production. A lot of literature attacked the problem first with the prediction of frost weather (Young 1920), Hagood (1967) or estimating the expected temperature minima for the next night (Allen, 1957). Beginning with the 1970-es, new technical tools and systems have been tested (Bagdonas et. al., 1978). Let alone the methods based on heating, other approaches have been used, e.g. the wind making (Crawford, 1965) and water spraying (Gerber & Martsolf, 1979; Synder, 1986). Heating systems had nowadays another bust and became popular by the growers, because it is mobile and need no special technical equipment. The Frostbuster seemed by that reason to be feasible. Cooling by radiation during the winter is seldom windless whereas in spring, always the complete lull is generally the main danger. As in most cases, the late spring frosts are not regular, fortunately not every year, and rarely lower than 5°C, it was an obvious argument to make the tests with the Frostbuster under winter conditions. The only problem is that the trees are still leafless so the physical conditions are different. By that reason, conditions in autumn at the early frosts would be much more representative for our purpose. With the heat caching capacity of the leafy tree, like a tree at full bloom with the open petals, the latent and sensible heat carrying process is much more important. By that reason, more heat energy will be captured within the canopies of the plantation, around the trees, which diminishes the risk of damage significantly.