California Peach Orchards in Winter
Even though the harvest is over, the growers are still very busy in tending to their orchards. During this time, California growers are evaluating crop performance, grafting new varieties of peaches, plums and nectarines if necessary, pruning for new shoot growth, preparing the soil with fertilizers and making irrigation pipeline repairs if necessary.
Winter Pruning
Pruning adjusts a tree’s potential crop size, but also stimulates new shoot growth for the following year. Essentially, the grower is removing “tired” branches called “hangers” to provide room for new “fruitwood” growth. Strong and healthy fruitwood is desired for producing vibrant and robust growing periods in the springtime that results in better fruit quality, size, sugar development and heavier bearing mature fruit.
A pruning technique: “Topping the orchard.” The trees are “topped” to maintain the ideal height of the tree. This is done either by hand (pruning shears) of by a tree-topping machine. Topping is also beneficial for worker safety… less time on ladders reaching for fruit high off the ground.
Chill Hours
How many “Chill Hours” are necessary?
800-850 chill hours are the desired minimum amount. That said, there are always exceptions. Depending on variety, some very early varieties need only 350 chill hours and some late varieties need 900 chill hours.
What do “Chill Hours” do to the trees?
Chill hours affect many things, one being “fruit set.” Think of chill hours as “sleep.” It’s like REM sleep for humans. The more “sleep” you get, the better you’ll feel. Consequently, if there are not enough chill hours, the bloom is spread out, meaning, mature fruit will be spread out longer over the course of season. The tree is tired. The grower has to go back into the orchard to pick more times. This is costly to the grower.
Tags: chill hours, pruning, stone fruit dormancy, stonefruit pruning, winter dormancy, Winter peaches
