How to protect your macadamia trees from frost damage
Orchard frost protection
Young macadamia trees are susceptible to frost damage. Symptoms of frost damage are:
leaves will turn brown and wilt
the stem can pop much like a burst waterpipe
flowers will die in spring frosts
macadamia nut development can be halted and flavour affected with autumn frosts.
To mitigate this damage you could:
wrap the stem of the young macadamia plant in aluminium builders insulating paper up to a height of around 40cm, or the first branch. The paper with a tar centre-layer is stronger and thicker and gives better protection than the cheaper paper.
erect 4 posts around each macadamia tree, and wrap the structure in cloth such as windbreak cloth.
cover the roof of the protective structure with quality frost cloth.
spray around the base of each macadamia seedling to maintain bare earth. This helps absorb maximum solar energy during the day.