I've read of putting gallon jugs of water in the freezer, then in warm
weather putting them around the base of a tree, covering with sawdust to
keep them cool. Haven't tried it, but it's supposed to work. You could try
one tree and let us all know if it blooms later than another one like it. I
just bought some 1,000 hour peaches, and looking at the seedling trees I
have blooming already, wondering how many chilling hours we've had. Anyone
know chilling hours on AU Amber and some of their others? I just planted AU
Rubrum and Rosa down in a hole where the wind won't get them, in hopes of of
getting more blooms through the spring, in exchange of course for more brown
rot on the fruit. (I'd like the luxury of having a crop to lose some of) I
don't think Bill is going to find a slope to plant his trees on in Nebraska
though.....
Oh, there was that POMONA article where someone on the prairie said to
let your peach trees go ahead and grow straight up like they want to. He
said a lot of his spring freezes were convection freezes, full moon type,
and that everything below the 8 ft mark froze. That's EASY to try, just put
down your pruners. Donna
[NAFEX] Pears, peaches, and other fruits for Central Indiana. (Zone5)
, (continued)