Frost protection for orchards and vineyards
Know hours ahead when your buds will freeze.
FrostNet listens to the plant, not just the air. Solar sensing posts forecast your buds' temperature, a Frost Canary counts down to the damage point, and FrostNet starts your fans and water on time, then proves it worked.
Canary cell 2 froze. Forecast corrected: damage point at 04:57.
Illustration of how FrostNet reports a frost night. Values are an example, not live data.
Why it matters
One cold night can take a year's income
Warm spells wake buds early. Then a single freeze hits fruit that can't take it, and most farms still decide by the air temperature, not the bud.
Crop lost in one event
B.C.'s January 2024 freeze cut production of peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries and wine grapes by up to 86%.
How much colder buds run
On clear, calm nights buds lose heat to the sky and run colder than the air, yet fans and sprinklers start on an air-temperature rule.
Average fruit farm
Typical B.C. and Ontario farms are small. A wind machine costs about $35,000, and sensor platforms charge $60–260 per acre each year.
Sources: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Statistical Overview of the Canadian Fruit Industry 2024; OMAFA, Wind Machines for Minimizing Cold Injury (2026); FAO, Frost Protection: Fundamentals, Practice and Economics (2005).
How it works
Predict the bud. Prevent the damage. Prove it worked.
Forecast your buds, hours ahead
Solar posts measure the air, how cold the sky is, and a bud twin, an artificial bud that cools like a real one. FrostNet forecasts each block's bud temperature and sends a prepare-today list 24–48 hours before a frost night.
About one post per 5–7 acresThe Frost Canary counts down
Four tiny sealed water cells, each tuned with salt to freeze at a different temperature, freeze one by one before your buds are hurt. A wireless coil reads them, and every freeze corrects the forecast on the spot.
Nothing touches your treesStart on time, stop when safe
FrostNet starts your fans or water at the latest safe time, doses water to the heat being lost, checks that protection is working, and stops only when a reference post says it's safe. A morning report shows what happened.
Your manual override always wins
The FrostNet post
One sealed post that reads the night like a bud does
- 01Sky sensorAn infrared sensor looks up and measures how fast heat escapes to a clear sky.
- 02Air temperature and humidityGives air temperature and dew point, the moisture that slows cooling.
- 03Bud twinAn artificial bud with a tiny thermometer inside, cooling like your real buds.
- 04Frost Canary headMatchbox-size pod with four sealed cells and a reader coil. Swap the cartridge when your crop stage changes.
- 05Solar power and long-range radioRuns all year with no cables, and reports every 5 minutes to a gateway on your farm's high point.
Why air temperature isn't enough
Buds get more fragile as they open
The same −2°C night can be harmless in early April and costly at full bloom. FrostNet tracks your crop's stage, and you click in the canary cartridge for that stage, so the countdown always ends before damage.
| Crop and stage | Damage starts near |
|---|---|
| Strawberry and raspberry blossoms | 0 to −1°C |
| Apple and pear blossoms, cherries | −1 to −2°C |
| Apple buds, blueberries, pears | −2 to −4°C |
Source: OMAFRA, Freeze Protection Methods for Crops. Exact values vary by variety and stage.
What you get
Fewer frozen blocks, fewer wasted nights
Hours of warning
A bud-level forecast plus a physical countdown, so you prepare in daylight instead of guessing at night.
On-time starts, safe stops
Fans and water start at the latest safe time and stop only when the reference post says it's safe.
Water matched to the frost
The Precision Frost Shield pulses water block by block to the heat actually being lost, not a fixed worst-case rate.
Sleep through safe nights
A phone call wakes you only when protection is needed. No more 2 am thermometer walks.
Morning report for insurance
Lowest bud temperature per block, which cells froze and when, what ran, and the water and fuel used.
Built to last outdoors
Sealed posts, no wires into the canary, nothing on your branches. Solar-powered with cold-safe batteries.
Precision Frost Shield
Water dosed to the frost, block by block
When water freezes it releases heat, 334 joules for every gram. Most sprinklers run at one fixed rate all night. FrostNet measures how fast each block is losing heat and pulses under-tree water to match it.
- Works on drip and micro-sprinkler lines you may already have, through the FrostNet Valve Kit
- Colder blocks get longer pulses; milder blocks get less water
- The canary in each block checks that it's working, and FrostNet adds water or calls you if not
Pulsed watering is a new method. Our spring 2027 pilot tests it against continuous watering on matched blocks.
Cost calculator
What would FrostNet cost on your farm?
Enter your farm. We estimate the posts you need, the one-time hardware, the yearly cost, and what stopping fans on time could save.
Before counting any crop you save from frost. Estimates only, based on your inputs; actual results will vary.
Pricing
Buy the hardware once. Choose a yearly plan.
You own the posts and install them yourself with the app. A dealer or electrician wires the relay to your fan or pump. Leasing is available through a finance partner.
Forecast
For farms that protect by hand
- Bud-temperature forecast per block
- Frost Canary countdown
- Prepare-today list 24–48 h ahead
- Phone-call and text alerts
- Morning report
Protect-Ahead
For farms with fans, sprinklers or drip lines
- Everything in Forecast
- Automatic start at the latest safe time
- Precision Frost Shield water dosing
- Checks protection works, escalates if not
- Safe stop from the reference post
Large farms and platforms
Already using a farm platform?
- FrostNet posts and canary as an add-on
- Bud forecast and countdown through an API
- Multi-block dashboards
- Talk to us about volume pricing
Pilot pricing for the 2027 season; subject to change. CAD.
2027 pilot program
Help us protect the 2027 bloom
We're choosing five farms in Niagara and the Okanagan for the spring 2027 season. Pilot farms get FrostNet free or at cost, and help shape the product.
Questions growers ask
FAQ
Does FrostNet replace my wind machines or sprinklers?
No. It makes the equipment you already have work at the right time. FrostNet starts it at the latest safe time, checks that it's working, and stops it only when it's safe. With the Valve Kit, it can also dose water on drip or micro-sprinkler lines.
Does anything attach to my trees?
No. The Frost Canary sits on the post's short arm, a hand's width from the outer buds. It sees the same sky and air as your buds, so nothing needs to touch the plant.
What is the Frost Canary?
Four tiny sealed water cells. Salt sets each one to freeze at a slightly different temperature, for example −0.5, −1.0, −1.5 and −2.0°C. They freeze one by one as the night cools, and the last one always freezes before your buds' damage point. A coil in the canary head reads them without wires.
What happens if the internet or power goes down?
The gateway runs the start and stop rules on your farm, so it keeps working without internet, and it has a battery backup. Your fan's own thermostat autostart stays wired too. If in doubt, FrostNet starts early and calls you.
How is it installed?
The app reads your farm's elevation map and shows where cold air collects. You push the posts in where it shows, about one per 5–7 acres plus one reference post away from the fans, and scan each QR code. A dealer or electrician wires the relay box. Posts can stay out all year.
Who owns my farm's data?
You do. We use it to run your alerts and improve your farm's forecast.
Is FrostNet available now?
FrostNet is in development. We are recruiting five pilot farms for spring 2027. Figures on this site are design targets and estimates that the pilot will test.
Who's behind FrostNet
Ummemisbah Bhisti, Founder
I'm an electrical and computer engineering researcher at Ontario Tech University, specialising in wireless charging for electronics. FrostNet uses that work: the same coil technology reads the Frost Canary through a sealed pod, with no wires or connectors to fail in the orchard. I started FrostNet because growers deserve to know hours ahead when their buds will freeze, not just what the air is doing.