Grower testimonials on various crops

KIWIFRUIT

Orchardist -Te Puke The orchard floor was white and ice had formed on all the orchard supports but the leaves where warm. We experienced no damage. ( 2 applications before the frost)

Whakatane orchardist Marco Crivelli says he worries less about frost these days after discovering the organic product ‘ThermoMax’.

“After losing half my crop one year I decided I had to find a solution. I discovered ThermoMax and these days I don’t have to worry so much.” Crivelli says he has been recommending the product to his orchardist neighbours and friends.

“It’s very clear how well the ThermoMax works. When you go out in the morning after a frost you can clearly see where you’ve sprayed the product – all around the sprayed area is white with the frost, but the plant you have sprayed is not icy.”

Te Puke Grower Don Managh has been using ThermoMax in the spring for the last three years, and says he is more than happy with ThermoMax

“Frosts have cost me a lot in the past and this has made a big difference. I have windmills too and would not be without either of them. The frost doesn’t get in, there is good fruit size and shape, no more bad pollination and it stops dumpy fruit.

A very low orchard in Whakatane region reports using ThermoMax twice before the frosts. They sustained far less damage than other years and less than their higher neighbours.

At KatiKati on Gold Kiwifruit “good control was achieved in -2C frosts on frosts at bud burst. The whole orchard was sprayed inspite of the lack of green tissue, yet no frost damage occurred.”

John Peddie of KatiKati has been using ThermoMax for two seasons and says the biggest advantage to ThermoMax is he can sleep through the night knowing he has 2 degrees of frost up his sleeve.

ND & R E Espin of Te Puke have been using ThermoMax for the past two seasons and stated “flowering period is much more compact, 10-12 days compared to 3 weeks in the past.” This has resulted in an ability to harvest earlier.

Rhys Davies, Orchard Manager at the Agrodome, has used ThermoMax for the past season on a commercial crop of Kiwifruit. Season 2005 saw the Agrodome able to harvest their Kiwifruit some 2-1/2 weeks earlier than last year. ThermoMax will be re-applied throughout August and September 2005 in defence against any Spring frosts that would otherwise adversely effect bud burst and subsequent fruit set.

Four Blocks – Tauranga area. Sprinklers, ThermoMax, Fans and Control. Fans and Control the same while ThermoMax provided 80% control against the sprinklers which provided 100% control. Temp –1.5C – .

 Good results have been generally reported, where two applications where applied, down to –2C. Lower temperatures showed increasing damage, in line with the HortResearch trial results.

Where ThermoMax had been used several times over the spring and early autumn, an independant consultant commented on the orchard, as being very different in growth from the surrounding orchards. It was growing like orchards 200mts lower down the hill.

AVOCADOES

Whangarei

“Trees appear to have denser flowering and a heavier fruit set than those of a similar age in another block that were not sprayed with ThermoMax”. “The flowering panicles seemed more robust, while it has been good fruit set conditions this year I still think the ThermoMax provided protection for the buds as they were forming from the light frost and cold air conditions prevailing from July thru to end of October.”

“I Intend to spray ThermoMax onto the whole orchard this year It will be interesting to see results then if conditions are more adverse than this year.

Pongakawa

”Two applications 7 days apart at recommended quantities. Frosts of -1C to -3C. No visible damage to fruit or trees. (2005)

GRAPES

Andreas Welte, the principal from grape consultancy company ‘Sustain-Ability’ in Motueka reports “ Trials with ThermoMax during 2003-2005 in Marlborough, Canterbury and Central Otago have shown good results of frost protection of grape buds (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir) in temperatures down to -2 degrees. No tips were burnt, no buds were damaged.”

Hawkes Bay

One application of ThermoMax two weeks prior to the frost provided good protection against the first October frost. Down to –2C. A second spray was applied the day before the second frost and no further damage was experienced in the two frosts that followed. In the -2C zone the first shoots appeared damaged with leaf burning however they survived well and went on to set fruit normally.

In 2004, frosts were experienced just as the buds where bursting ( no green leaf available to take the spray ) and burning was experienced at -2C

The No1 Family Estate Ltd, a grape grower in the upper South Island used ThermoMax with a view to improving fruit set. They found a much improved crop of Chardonay grapes resulted. Describing the previous season as poor, The Estate spokesperson referred to a much better fruitset and described their level of satisfaction as very high. He went on to say that even though they did not experience any frosts, benefits were gained from the better quality fruit set coupled with the comfort of knowing they had frost protection as well if any heavy frosts did eventuate.

TAMARILLOS

Pongakawa

Went through the 2003 winter with very little damage with temperatures to –3C. The June 2003 frost was to – 5C and caused the loss of all the leaves, with the trunks surviving well. Good regrowth occurred up to the October –3C frost. 4 applications of ThermoMax had been applied through the winter of 2003. The last 6 weeks prior to the October 2003 frost. Only slight top leaf damage (10%) was experienced in that frost.

  This experience was repeated in 2004 and 2005 winters. 2005 had a -6C frost and the plants survived very well to fruit normally the following season

ThermoMax Testimonials – transcripts from the video

Graham Reid – Orchardist, Te Puke

Graham: Without Glen’s warmth essence, these tamarillos wouldn’t have been here. They’d have been naked. We had a minus 3 degree frost. The worst I’ve seen for 5 or 6 years. When I came out into the orchard, we hadn’t been touched. It stopped a minus 3. Lynette: So were you spraying them automatically Graham: I was doing it anyway at about fortnightly intervals. We got 2 tickles of frost…. That’s when I’d stopped spraying for a while………..

……They’re looking a little bit tacky, but all the new growth’s fine. It’s just the older growth where they got a bit of a frost blast. The fruit are coming on now. Glen: They are setting well. Graham: They are all setting fruit, they seem slow, but every flower that is dying has fruit in it. There’s a lot of fruit on there. The only leaf damage you can see is from the two frosts I got caught with. But without Glen’s warmth essence, it would be a hell of a lot worse. It would be wiped out in here , there would be nothing, They’d be naked, they’d be dead probably.

FERNS

Levin

We used 3-4 applications only when frost threatened @ 1ml per litre. There was good control in the Autumn/Winter frost and better in the Spring Frost. I am very pleased with the results and will be using it again next year.

PASSIONFRUIT

We sprayed 5 applications two weeks apart @ 75 mls per 200 ltrs water. We had good results. There was a small amount of damage to the crop but we did start spraying late. There was a big improvement on the previous season.

MANDARINS

Gisborne

One application was used @ 250mls per ha by boom spraying. ThermoMax was applied in conjunction with foliar feeding our citrus. It was applied prior to frosts. We then had two consecutive days of light frost and there was no damage. Satisfied with results.

APPLES

Hawkes Bay

Very Satisfied with a better crop than first expected