Kiwi fruit orchards can be exposed to the ravages of the elements and no more than that of frost.
In addition to creation of reservoirs for irrigation and frost control, we design specifically for individual orchards as each has it's own unique requirements. We supply all parts for the project and install them and of course test the system.
Contact us now and we will provide the most cost effective solution for your frost protection needs.
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There are basically two types of frosts that can be encountered – radiant and advective freezes.
Advective freezes occur when strong, cold ‘’arctic’’ air masses move into a region – they are often accompanied by winds that can be quite strong throughout the period and the humidity is typically low. The movement of the cold air through the orchard conducts the heat away from the sensitive plant tissues and out of the orchard space. Orchard heaters, wind machines and under tree sprinkler systems are relatively ineffective frost protection systems for advective freezes. Depending on conditions, over tree sprinkler systems can be an effective frost protection system. The higher wind velocities often found with advective freeze events negatively affect the sprinkler water application uniformity and diminish the effectiveness of the sprinkler system for frost protection. The required water precipitation rate is a function of temperature, air humidity; wind velocity, water application uniformity, bud development stage, and can exceed 12mm per hour. Water application rates approaching 12mm per hour can be detrimental to soil water logging, water runoff and tree limb breakage with excessive weight of ice and are not recommended.
In many fruit growing areas, the radiation frost is probably the most common type of frost during cold sensitive periods.
Radiation frosts occur when clear, cold, dry air has moved into an area where there are very few if any clouds, and the winds are very low. During radiation frosts, plant tissues, soil and other objects which are warmer than the very cold sky, radiate their heat back into space. This radiation causes the plant tissues to become colder and colder and result in sensitive tissues becoming 1-2 degrees colder than the surrounding air. During radiation freezers, the cold dense air settles toward the ground and begins to move towards the lower elevations. Often when the cold air is settling, an inversion condition will develop where the air temperature10-50 metres above the ground maybe several degrees warmer than mid-tree temperatures. Many frost protection systems such as wind machines, orchard heaters and under trees sprinklers depend on this inversion layer to be effective.