2018 ASHS Annual Conference

A 0.50 ha peach orchard was established during March 2015 at the NFREC-Quincy. The cultivars and chilling units were as follows: Gulfking (350), Suncoast (375), Flordacrest (400), Flordaking (400), Gulfcrimson (400), GulfPrince (400), Gulfsnow (400), GulfAtlas (400) and Gulfcrest (525). Flordaking and Flordaking are melting flesh peaches, Suncoast is a melting flesh nectarine, and the remainder Gulf series are non-melting flesh peaches. The chill units recorded for 2016, 2017 and 2018 were 550, 350 and 625, respectively. Trees were 2.5 – 3.0 m tall and 2.3 – 2.8 m wide by the second leaf. Yield varied from 2 to 24 kg, and fruit weight varied from 60 – 118 g depending upon the cultivar. Freeze events occurred on 15 March 2017, and on 9 and 15 March 2018, virtually eliminating the entire peach crops. Trees were well passed full bloom, (with the exception of Gulfcrest in 2017) when the freeze events occurred. Thus, despite a general warming trend for winters during the last two decades, erratic winter temperatures remain a potential problem for the culture of peaches in north Florida.