Impact of Smoke on Pomegranate Trees

[Eykca]

I live in Fresno CA and my car had a fine layer of ash on it yesterday morning. I was wondering if anybody has any resources or ideas about how the hazy days might impact pomegranate trees (fruit trees in general). Is the loss of sunlight significant enough to do any real harm?

[alanmercieca]

I have no idea, all I know is that when they are dormant, I keep them in near pitch dark for weeks at a time, nothing bad happens to them, I am not sure what would happen if they are not dormant, maybe it might force them in to dormancy! I am not sure.

[pombazaar]

I saw the haze this weekend, pretty crazy! Since this is a wildfire haze and not a chemical fire, I don't believe there will be any actual damage to your plants. If this were to happen in spring it could definitely have had an impact on pollination. Bees and wasps may have been late to the game causing your crop to be delayed. I doubt that the drop in temps from loss of sunlight will be significant enough to cause a forced early dormancy either. How low did the temps drop in your area?

[Eykca]

It was definitely cooler on the smokiest of days, but far from me to apply too much causation as I don't know what the high was supposed to be if it wasn't smoky. Compounding the issue, I did my very best to be outside as little as possible.

[greenfig]

My car in Pasadena was covered for 3 days because of the Bobcat fire. I don't know the ash affect on the fruit but I sprayed down the trees with water to wash them. So far the leaves are still green and the fruit looks good.