Assessing cold damage of your blackberry crop

This past weekend, parts of NC dropped below the freezing point. You should be scouting your blackberry fields, especially low spots to determine if damage occurred. Look for black/brown centers in the flower buds.  To look for damage use your fingernail or a small knife to slice open flower buds. You can do it either lengthwise or horizontally.

We know that damage to the female portion of the flower bud occurs when the internal bud temperature is 27°F. Unlike strawberry, the floral buds are equally sensitive at all stages of bud development. (Data courtesy Fumi Takeda USDA)

 For lots more information on flower bud damage here is a link:
 https://teamrubus.blogspot.com/search?q=cold+damage