Together, they have discovered that gibberellic acid can rescue slightly freeze-damaged blooms and fruit. Another technique farmers can use to prevent freeze damage is their overhead irrigation systems to apply water to plants when it is freezing outside. However, if there is a light wind during this process, the water and ice will evaporate and extract energy from the plants. Under windy conditions, irrigation can actually cause blueberries to be chilled when water evaporates. Most blueberry farmers have drip irrigation systems on the ground.
Gibberellic acid is a simpler way to provide freeze rescue to plants.
In 1993, growers who applied gibberellic acid after the freeze improved their yields on almost all treated plants. Donnie Morris, a farmer in Baxley who has been growing blueberries for 18 years, is one of the many farmers who reaps the benefits of gibberellic acid. He is able to produce more than one-fifth of the 10 million pounds of blueberries produced in Georgia per year. Morris began applying gibberellic acid to his blueberries during the second year of the experiment. He is an enthusiastic proponent of the process, pointing to the impact the two researchers have made on his blueberry operation.