With January's arrival wanted to re-post this eight year old idea to protect your citrus. Have not tried but would like to learn if others have used this method...

Frost Damage Prevention Ideas?

Posted by softmentor z9/sunset13 CA deser (My Page) on

FrostCandles
I'll share my little invention that I use in mu citrus. I start with a jar candle, the little ones that are on

restaurant tables sometimes. The one's I use are about 2 1/2 inches across and 2 1/2 inches tall.
Next I take a 1 pound coffee can with one end out, the regular way you open a coffee can. Then I punch several

holes in the sides. I'd say about 6 near the top and 6 two thirds of the way down. This is with the open end as

the bottom so it can sit over the candle.
I set these out, with a little stick, maybe the size of a pencil, under one side, so that the can is tipped.

This lets air into the can for the candle.
The cans do a couple of things. First, when it's 30 degrees out, the candle wax will be so cold that the wick

will burn a tunnel right down through the candle and most of the wax won't burn. So the can keeps enough heat

in that the wax can melt and the candle burns the way it should. Next they act as little radiators. The idea

here is to heat a lot of air just a little. The heat from a candle by it's self would all just go straight up

and not help the tree. They also keep the candle from blowing out in a light breeze.
I do this with about 80 candles for 100 citrus trees. Of course being out at 2:00 in the morning, freezing my

fingers, lighting candles, is not a lot of fun, but it is a rather pretty sight.
Be careful for fire hazzard.
Do not place on or near mulch, branches, or other flammables. Clear a spot down to bare soil so that they are

clear of any material that can burn.
Do NOT put these directly under the tree as that will be to much head and will "burn" them. I place them 3 to 4

feet out away from the tree.
If you do this, you should monitor them closely. I will put a movie on, make hot tea, set a timer, and check

them once per hour after I have them set.
I got all my citrus through last years hard freeze. We had 3 days of more than 12 hours of below freezing temps

with a low of 10! one day and 2 more days with lows of 12. Nasty cold for citrus. The limes didn't fruit this

year. The trees are ok though. Everything else had fruit (see my page for a list of everything we have.
I also run irrigation water while doing this. the heat from the water helps too. Start irrigation water early,

several hours before the temp drops below freezing, to build heat in that area. If you wait until it starts to

freeze, it's to late. I start candles about 2 hours or more before temps drop below freezing.