Frost advisory for tonight alarms some Nova Scotia farmers

A frost advisory for the Maritime provinces has Nova Scotia farmers worried about their strawberriesand other vulnerable young crops.

"We're looking at lows between 0 Cand possibly 4 Cfor low-lying inland areas. So the likelihood of frost is there for tonight," Environment Canada meteorologist Barrie MacKinnonsaid Sunday.

"If we do reach the lows tonight we are forecasting in Nova Scotia, we could break record low temperatures."

Greg Webster, one of the operators of Webster Farms in Cambridge, Kings County, said the actualground temperature in low-lying areas could fall to7 C or8 C.

That is because the weather stations are typically measuring about two metres above ground level.

"When they are forecasting 1 C, it could be six or seven degrees colder. So there can be quite a significant difference.

Irrigation helps

Webster Farms grows strawberries, raspberries, beans, rhubarb and winter rye. Irrigation sprinklers will be used to protect plants tonight, Webster said.

`"We put water on itas soon as it starts to freeze. The water forms ice and the ice protects the plant. It also has to do with thermal dynamics the energy given off by the ice being formed keeps the plant at 32 For 0 C," he said.

"The energy goes into forming the ice, not freezing the plant."

There will be nervous farmers tonight, Webster said.

"A lot of people, if they don't have any equipment to look after it, will be crossing their fingers tonight."

Frost affects plant pollination

Keith Boates, who also farms inCambridge,said strawberries will be at most risk.

"Apple trees are mostly pollinated.There are some that have bloomed and some that haven't," he said.

"The risk goes down, once the pollination has occurred. Otherwise, the sex part of the flower gets damaged so that you don't get proper pollination."

Pear and plum trees have finished blooming as well, he said.

"But it's been quite sometime since we had a serious frost [this late]," he said.

Boates is hoping there is a high tide tonight.

The tides play a part in how the low temperatures affect the crops, he said.

"If the tide is in tonight, it will soak up the cold. "

It will warm up Monday when showers are expected to move in, MacKinnon said.

However, it is too soon for growers to breath a sigh of relief.

"There will be a possibility of frost, later in the week as a low-pressure system tracks south of the province," he said.