“We have had 1,200 chill hours when the temperature has been below 7°C,” said Craig Rook, farms manager at FW Mansfield. “That is exactly what you want for stonefruit.”
Rook also reported that rainfall in January and February at the firm’s orchards has been plentiful, with 2.5 inches in the first month of the year and 3” in the second. “In fact, the soil is only just drying out now,” he added.
Blossom has not come on as quickly as expected given the unseasonably warm weather at the beginning of March and generally mild winter. “We did think that blossom would come out fairly rapidly, but as it hasn’t, that is good news for us,” said Rook. “If blooms don’t come out for another week, then we will be running very similar to last year. What we want to avoid are temperatures as low as -4°C - that would be damaging.” However, Rook added that a little frost is necessary to thin trees naturally.
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