Low chill hours in Texas threaten peach crop

Warm winter weather could mean too few chill hours for much of the state’s fruit production areas, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts.

Fruit trees, such as peaches and apples, depend on cool weather in the winter to promote proper physiological growth in the spring, said Dr. Larry Stein, AgriLife Extension horticulturist, Uvalde. If plants don’t receive the required number of chill hours, the plants are slow to leaf out and this typically leads to poorly developed fruit or no fruit at all. Multiple seasons of inadequate chill hours can kill plants.

This winter has been one of the warmest on record and has experts and producers concerned the lack of chill hours could impact the state’s fruit crops, especially peaches. Most peach trees in the Fredericksburg area need 800-850 chilling hours to break dormancy and set fruit properly, Jim Kamas, AgriLife Extension horticulturist in Fredericksburg said. The area received 525 chill hours this year.

“The trees look like it’s still winter,” he said. “Leaves are still slow to emerge.”

source: reporternews.com