The colder temperatures this winter have made fruit producers happy as the accumulated chill hours have been very good for peach and blueberry production. Continued cold conditions for the next couple of weeks should help make most varieties meet their needed chill hours this year without too much trouble. The biggest concern at this point is that if we go through a warm spell, the crops are primed to break dormancy and start blooming. That could be devastating if it were followed by another cold outbreak. Fortunately, the long-range forecast so far does not show that happening, but they only show predicted conditions through through the end of February, so it will certainly be something to watch as we go into March. You can read more about chill hours in Vegetable and Specialty Crop News at https://vscnews.com/alabama-peaches-chill-hour-accumulation/.
