Netting, evaporative cooling and fogging all help mitigate heat stress.But when temperatures reach the levels they did in the summer of 2021, none of those tools alone offers enough protection. Growers need multiple methods to protect their fruit, Lee Kalcsits of Washington State University told growers at the Washington State Tree Fruit Association Annual Meeting in December."What we're seeing is that under these types of conditions that we saw this year, multiple strategies are the best,” said Kalcsits, the endowed chair for tree fruit environmental physiology and management.The early summer heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, dubbed a "heat dome” by meteorologists, brought recordsetting temperatures of 114, 115 or 118 degrees Fahrenheit relatively early in summer, depending on location. Temperature on the surfaces of poorly protected fruit, however, reached 156 degrees at times.
展开▼
