bill
good morning. my orchard is the berkshires of western massachusetts, elavation 1300ft. my past records of 20 years show 18 to 20 days from greentip to full bloom on apples (given varietal differences-i don't grow red delicious) plums bloom about 2 weeks before apples, asian pears about 10 days before, reliance and red haven peaches about 7 days before apples. all of the above bloom has been at the earliest 25 days away (ie. april 24th) to start. is green tip early for you this year (and recent years)? our bloom dates have steadily gotten earlier on average. i've grown apples since 1982, and at this home orchard since 1990. i hope this helps. i don't do alot with degree days opting to observation of the trees directly and comparing with my records. probably some university websites could help with degree days. both UMass Amherst and Cornell have good sites. on a different note.... would you be up for a brief visit from a couple of fellow apple growers? my partner and i are planning to travel to visit friends in asheville and pittsboro, NC early next week for 12 days or so (bloom really isn't till early may here!). we plan on coming down the blue ridge on the way to asheville. i haven't been in your beautiful country since walking the appalachain trail in 1976. best of luck this year alan surprenant brook farm orchard ashfield, massachusetts Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 06:18:36 -0700 From: bsharp1...@yahoo.com Subject: Apple-Crop: degree days and apple bloom prediction To: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net I am In the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and we are about 1/2" green tip (or a little further) on Red Delicious. It is supposed to be quite warm the next couple of days and I am trying to predict when apple bloom may be i.e.. will it be within the next week. Does anyone have info on using DD to predict bloom? We are not yet at bloom on peaches, but I expect it to start tommorrow.. Bill Sharp _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_2
