Oh yeah, this has happened before. Orange tree crops can freeze on the tree, and it's happened for several decades that I'm aware of. Living in east Tennessee, we get these arctic blasts at least once a winter, and the Florida orange growers have learned a trick to spray water on the oranges in the trees, it freezes into ice and somehow protects the oranges from the worst of the cold. Don't ask me how that works, I just know that's what orange growers do to protect their crops from arctic blasts.
What happens is that the liquid water on the outside of the orange needs to freeze first and acts like temporary insulation for the orange and buys it a little time. It'll work for a day or so before the orange itself cools down to freezing.
Oh yeah, this has happened before. Orange tree crops can freeze on the tree, and it's happened for several decades that I'm aware of. Living in east Tennessee, we get these arctic blasts at least once a winter, and the Florida orange growers have learned a trick to spray water on the oranges in the trees, it freezes into ice and somehow protects the oranges from the worst of the cold. Don't ask me how that works, I just know that's what orange growers do to protect their crops from arctic blasts.
What happens is that the liquid water on the outside of the orange needs to freeze first and acts like temporary insulation for the orange and buys it a little time. It'll work for a day or so before the orange itself cools down to freezing.
THANK YOU! That makes sense.