Under certain conditions, the winter hardiness of an apricot (Prunus armeniaca) reaches its limits. Read here when an apricot tree can freeze with tips for protecting against frost damage. This is how you can tell whether an apricot tree has frozen.
When can an apricot tree freeze?
Whenlate frost in March and April, the flowers on the hardy apricot tree freeze. As a potted plant, an apricot freezes to temperatures as low as -5° Celsius, regardless of the flowering time. Brown flowers, wilted leaves and limp shoot tips signal that an apricot tree has frozen.
Can an apricot tree freeze?
Whenlate frostin March and April, the flowers on the hardy apricot tree freeze. This is fatal for the crop yield because no fruit can form. If the thermometer falls below freezing point, there is no hope for the apricot blossoms at 3° Celsius. You can tell that an apricot tree has frozen bybrown flowers, wilted leaves and limp branches.
For this reason, you should protect a flowering apricot from frost by covering the treetop with fleece.
Can an apricot tree freeze to death in a pot?
An apricot tree in a pot is partially hardy even outside of the flowering period and can freeze tofrom -5° Celsius. The reason for the sensitivity to frost is the exposed position of the root ball. In the limited substrate volume of the pot, the root ball is significantly more vulnerable to frost than a planted apricot in the bed. This is what you can do to prevent an apricot tree from freezing in a pot:
- Best option: Put the potted apricot in the fall and overwinter it frost-free at 5° to 8° Celsius.
- Alternative: Place the bucket on wood (€38.00 on Amazon), wrap it with bubble wrap and put a fleece over the crown.
Tip
Monilia lace drought looks very similar to frost damage
An apricot tree with brown flowers, wilted leaves and dried shoot tips does not necessarily have to be frozen. The widespread fungal disease Monilia laxa causes a similar damage during the apricot blossom. Effective fungicides against the pathogens that cause Monilia drought are not approved for home gardens. The best control method is to cut back deep into the he althy wood so that the apricot tree does not die.
