By Clint Thompson
Chill hours in Florida have been extremely low in recent years. It makes producing peaches, even those requiring minimal chill hours, challenging, if not impossible.
Ali Sarkhosh, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) assistant professor in horticultural sciences, spoke about peach production in Florida at the recent Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah, Georgia. He emphasized the lack of chilling to those in attendance.
“This year the chill hour has not been good. It’s very low in comparison to the historic chilling hours,” Sarkhosh said. “We have been recording the chill hours in the last seven years from the Fort Pierce area to the central Alachua county area. We see in those areas where peach has actually been grown in the last few years, the chill hours have been significantly reduced. This year the chill hour accumulation in Indian River is zero.
“Historically, they’ve been around 150 to 200. That’s what we have seen in the last few years.
Location Key
It does not mean peaches can not be grown in Florida anymore. But where they are produced will be the biggest determining factor in a state that can be widely variable with its weather patterns.
“Peach can still be a good crop for Florida, but good location would be very important to produce high quality,” Sarkosh said. “Based off the chill hour accumulation data, we think of something south of Gainesville and north of Orlando, that’s a good area, from the east to the west. Those varieties can be grown and harvested in that unique production window, from the end of March to the first week of May,” Sarkhosh said.
Peaches need chill hours to mature. The required chill hours depend on the specific variety growers choose to plant.