BROOKSVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) – The farmers at JG Ranch are working overnight to make sure they do not lose their strawberries to the cold temperatures that have come to Tampa Bay.
Farm manager Jeff Casey tells 8 On Your Side they will be checking the temperature throughout the night to make sure they do not drop too low. If they do, they have different plans in place to make sure the strawberries do not freeze.
“If it’s going to 31 degrees you wet the ground and the water will evaporate and keep it above freezing. If it goes to 30 degrees we have to use water and we put about a quarter inch of water an hour out there to keep that blossom from freezing,” Casey said.
Casey tells 8 On Your Side if the plants were to freeze now, there is not enough time for them to recover.
“If I freeze right now it will take the plants at least two weeks to three weeks to recover. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but we only have eight weeks of picking,” he added.
Strawberries are the main concern right now. Casey said the cold weather will not affect blueberries because they are not in season.
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