According to Don Nightingale, the fruit set of Nightingale’s Apples is strong: “We’ve got nice crops, looking good. The drier season is definitely more favorable for growers.” However, he added it is too soon to tell for chestnuts, as they have not begun flowering. Although the trees are healthy, a late October frost did hit around 30-40 acres of chestnut trees at their property.
Orchardist Henry Hilton from Snowline Fruits said he protected his trees from that same cold snap by spraying them with water, which keeps the plants from freezing. “As long as you keep the water going it doesn't matter how much ice is there,” he said. “That latent heat just keeps the plants from freezing.”
Source: alpineobserver.com.au