By Clint Thompson
The Christmas freeze and mid-January freeze events provided much needed chill hours for Alabama’s fruit tree crops. But commodities like peaches are still lagging behind last year’s totals, says Edgar Vinson, assistant research professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Auburn University.
“(Chill hours) are up a little, but they’re actually behind where we were last year. We did get some chilling, but they are behind,” Vinson said. “We spent quite a bit of time below freezing, and we’ve learned there’s really not a lot of chilling being accumulated below freezing.
“We’re as much as 100 chill hours off where we were last year in some places and maybe 50 or 60 chill hours in other places, off of last year. I understand that a warmer February is being predicted, so our opportunity for accumulating any more chill is dwindling some. I want to be optimistic, but it looks like we may be a little behind, a little off in terms of chilling.”
Peaches need chill hours to mature. The required chill hours depend on the specific variety growers choose to plant. Some may require as little as 500 chill hours, while others may need as many 800. According to University of Georgia Extension, fruit trees require a certain number of hours below 45 degrees Fahrenheit to break down growth inhibitors in buds. This allows them to produce fruit in the spring.
The needed chill hours are recorded until around Feb. 15.
Vinson said before Christmas that peach trees were already behind in necessary chill hours due to unseasonably warm temperatures.