Jon, that was an articulate and correct explanation of the current thought on chilling units. However, I should point out that it's full of holes when it comes to apples, such as how "low chill" Anna and Dorset Golden (Bahamas) grow just fine in zone 4 upstate New York, where they blossom in April along with the other apples instead of in January like they do here. Or why on our 100 chilling hours we're still able to grow "high chill" super-hardy apples like Wealthy and Black Oxford, which incidentally blossom about the same time they do up north, even though it may have been 100 degrees here for weeks. I'd say day length may have something to do with it, but even that doesn't answer all the questions.
I just assure clients that "the tree knows what to do" and to plant whatever apple variety they want, and to ignore the chilling hours. Wish I could say the same for peaches (the disease-ridden bug-infested squishy-fruited chilling hour monkeys). Merry Christmas all Kevin Hauser Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery Riverside, CA Nakifuma, Uganda On Wed, 23 Dec 2015 14:57:53 -0500, Jon Clements <jon.cleme...@umass.edu> wrote: > It's not getting any better: > > http://jmcextman.blogspot.com/2015/12/dont-panic.html > > Comments/corrections from those more knowledgeable than myself on this > subject are welcome. (No climate change deniers allowed though!) > > Have a Happy Holiday. > > Jon > > On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 8:17 AM, Arthur Kelly <kellyorcha...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Should I be worried about this weather? Not that there's anything I can >> do about it. Mid-December and in the 50's in Maine! >> >> -- >> Art Kelly >> Kelly Orchards >> Acton, ME >> >> _______________________________________________ >> apple-crop mailing list >> apple-crop@virtualorchard.net >> http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop >> >> -- Kevin Hauser _______________________________________________ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
