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<pre>In this discussion on frost in olive groves, I was chilled by the suggestion to
use sprinklers in the winter when temperature goes near zero. In the first
place, zero degrees centigrade is of no concern for the olive, at least in the
winter. In case of late frosts, if you really want to cultivate the olive in
that place, use any system you like (fans, helicopters, stoves, bare soil,
etc), but do not use over head sprinkler irrigation; the theory of how the
water protects tissues from freezing is right, but what will protect trees from
branch and limb cracking due to the excessive weight? You must irrigate all
night if you want the effect to take place, and the branches get covered by a
layer of ice. If this layer extends to leaves it becomes too heavy to bear for
the tree. The system is very smart, but it can only be used with deciduous
trees, when there are no leaves, or shoots are extremely small.
Andrea Fabbri
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