I hate to say it, but it's looking like another freeze here in Northwest Arkansas again this year, though not as bad as last year. We have been having mild days, but about every 7-10 days we get 2-3 cool days (40's for high temps on some), and temp at or somewhat below freezing. Got to 31F about a week ago, and 29F a week or so before that. However the warm temps in between have caused our Emperor I, and Mikawa Yasubusha to leaf out. They survived the earlier temps with no damage, but now they are much more advanced. The Mikawa is fully leafed, and Emperor has shots to about 6-8 inches, though the leaves have not yet expanded. Now the forecast is for a low of 25F Monday morning, and since I live in a cold spot that means low 20's (we got to 12F in last year's April freeze). I working on ways to provide as much protection as possible, but don't know just how much cold they are likely to be able to take. Which is why I'm here, hoping someone will have some ideal as to how cold it can go without major damage.

Right now I'm planning on making multilayer covers from plastic, and I'm even considering adding a couple of very small incandescent lights (like holiday lights) under these covers to serve has a small heat source, but don't yet know if I'll be able to pull that one off. If I can make the light work I would think that would provide several degrees temp, but I may not be able to prevent freezing. At this point I'm trying to come up with ideals, but I also need some sort of target temperature to shot for.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Arktrees