Axel:

Wow, those are low chill cherries. The primary problem here is they would bloom too early. That would be the case in a lot of other areas. I'm glad to get a report on that interstem.

Flavor King pluot doesn't behave like a low chill for me. It is mid to late season bloomer. But I think my hrs are about 800 Utah. Flavor Queen and Flavorosa are my earliest blooming pluots/plums. With the amount of chilling I have, I may be confusing chilling requirement with the amount of warmth it takes to initiate bloom after chilling is met. The heat requirement of cultivars varies just like the chill.

Give us a report on what struggles to bloom later in the season. Thanks!

The Fruitnut

Here in Monrovia, CA, we have a weather station that has registered 233 chill hours so far this year.

In flower right now, apparently fine with this low chill, are nearly all my trees. Those not in flower have swollen buds and are almost ready to flower.

The first to flower, clearly the lowest-chill of all, is Tropic Snow white peach, which is almost past its prime. Other early flowerers are the following peaches: Mid Pride, Eva's Pride, May Pride, Galaxy; Inca plum, Arctic Star white nectarine, Emerald Drop pluot (the latter rated at 400hrs).

A little behind these are Flavor Delight apriums, Flavor King (4-500hrs)& Flavor Grenade pluots, Burgundy (400 hrs), Catalina (400 hrs), Green Gage (500+ hrs) plums, Blenheim (500 hrs) & Goldkist apricots, and so on. Really, everything I have growing (about 30 varieties of stone fruit) has had sufficient chill.

So what gives? I can only conclude that the total number of chill hours required by many trees is far less than advertised; possibly this is true only if the chill hours come early in the season, followed by warm weather, like we have had this year.

This year I bought an Emerald Beaut plum, which supposedly requires 600-700 hours, to try it as an experiment. We'll see how it does in the next couple of years.

Brian

Now this a great thread. Over here in C.Texas we are having what has become our customary up and down winter. Ice one day 70 degrees the next. Four days bareley if at all above freezing and then 3 days of sunny 75. The only trees starting to bloom at all are my low chill aplles and they are only just starting to go(inevitabley I will have to put them in my gh latter to protect the flowers from hard freeze). Nothing else is even close to looking like it wants to bloom now and it is hard to tell if it is because they havn't finnished there chill hours yet or if we are still getting enough cold to keep them from starting yet. Can't tell.

Scape

scape: It's likely you haven't had enough quality chill hrs. We have had a very poor chilling yr even up here at 4500ft. I think we had 29 days in Dec and Jan with a high of 70F or above. That is way above normal. One or two colds days then 3-4 warm days, CA chill came early and compactly compared to ours. I'd bet I've had 800+ hrs outside below 45F but interspersed with 500-800 hrs above 60F. On the Utah model that isn't much chilling. On the hrs below 45F model, it is good. But some of those models weren't made for crummy TX weather.

The Fruitnut

On top of our hill in Los Angeles, a large potted Royal apricot rescued after blooming last year is blooming mightily now. I don't know where it was living before I got it. Other trees acquired and kept same ways which are blooming now include babcock peach, Spice Zee nectaplum, Jonathan Apple, and Royal Lee and Minnie Royal (about to) Cherries. It's interesting to note that my Pink Sparkle and Akane apples which have been in our ground unmoved for a few years in a sunnier warmer spot than the potted trees are not anywhere near blooming right now. This would appear to contradict the hypothesis that any apple will adapt to low chill over time in same place. That contradiction may be contradicted by fact that other trees are in pots on white cement and heating alot more even if the pots are 45 gallon and painted with insulating avocado-green paint (instead of left black). Although we had no choice but to pot these trees, we hoped doing so would benefit us in staggered harvest and this result is promising.

Oops. I forgot to say planted in ground with unblooming apples in warmer sunnier place are notoriously low-chill Snow Queen nectarine and Red Baron Peach, also looking dormant.

well I figured I might as well post just for the heck of it not that I have much significant to say given that some of you have many trees that are blooming and are probably producing age. I'm near Phoenix, AZ, and last year I planted a Desert Delight nectarine... I'm not sure if it's a very good variety, but it is blooming beautifully right now. so I guess so far I'm the one with only one tree (I just bought the house last year, so that's my excuse :)
My quince is probably fairly low chill hours too but it isn't showing any signs of wanting to bloom yet. I think it is waiting for warmer weather.

I'm with you Fruitnut, the chill hour schemes dont seem to fit the Texas weather pattern. I spend alot of time at the end of every winter hoping that my trees will get enough chill to bloom but not too early so they dont get hit by the last bad frost we'll have.

Green desert, I remember when I had just planted two little pear trees and I had nothing else. Boy how that has changed. I must warn you that you have entered into an adictive hobby. As far as Desert Delight goes I must say Im not familiar with it but I know one thing,I have never had a bad tree ripened nectarine so you can rest assured that it will be good! Be sure and let us know how your trees do this season if you can.

Scaper

Here in zone 11 (I lied before), in So. Cal, we aren;t supposed to have too many chill hours. It was perty durned cold last month - from the looks of the heating bill.

Anyway, 2 almonds - a 3-way Hall (I think) and a standard almond tree also are blooming profusely. I note my bees have swarmed and now it is raining for 2 days, so not sure what effect that will be on pollenating.

Anna apple just finished dropping leaves - so will probably pick it's own time to re-emerge. A Dorsett is blooming quite well, despite it's small growth yet. 3 other apples - ein sheimer, another Anna and a Gala - just planted last month - all starting to bloom.

A Royal Blenheim apricot planted 2 years ago, is loaded with blossoms. No sign of life from Bartlett pear and 2 peach - (Bonanaza and Florida Prince).

The plums - Satsuma and Santa Rosa - no sign yet. Same with Persimmon. A macadamia tree now producing nuts from earlier bloom about 2 months ago.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

When I lived in San Diego Ein Sheimer apple was my favorite and best producer. It is an excellent apple sauce apple, excellent flavor even from small green apples. It got confused and started blooming in winter a couple of times and actually had fruit. Winter Banana was my second favorite. Living on a canyon, I liked particularly growing citrus since possums and raccoons wouldn't bother them because of the acidic peels. I wish I could grow those now.:-(

And while I get enough chill for all those stone fruits, I have had plum and peach trees get diseased and die in 2-3 years, and most of my cherry trees have bacterial canker and haven't borne fruit for years. My current direction is to plant mulberries, paw paws, and persimmons.:-P

I am having similar results here in northern Orange County, CA. My Goldkist apricot is blooming, but my Moorpark isn't and probably won't because we didn't get enough chilling hours. My arctic Star Nectarine has been blooming for about two weeks already, but my Goldmine isn't. My three Asian pears haven't bloomed yet, nor my Fuyu Persimmon. It was so warm this winter that all my Jalapeno pepper plants survived outside and are even putting out flowers.

I live in Mesa, AZ. We have had a warm winter. Both Jalapeño plants and a tomato plant survived the winter and are starting to put out flowers. (I wish the stores local or online had tomato and pepper plants I could buy and plant right now.)

So far the Florida Prince Peach tree has budded and put on some leaves and a few of the fig trees. Nothing else though; not even the Santa Rosa Plum or Arctic Snow Nectarine are showing any signs of coming out of dormancy yet. I have a Golden Dorsett Apple tree that never even dropped its leaves.

I'm in Monrovia, CA looking for good low chill fruit trees. I planted an Anna Apple but no flowers yet. I have a pear that's been giving me a few fruits but branches are not strong enough yet to support the ripe fruit so they break before it's ready. I recently planted a dwarf D'Anjou pear and also a "Nectar Babe" genetic dwarf nectarine, which already has small fruit on it.

I'd like to find a good low-chill cherry tree to try out on my area, and may try some that people are recommending in this forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

Interesting thread. Living in a 'no chill' area, I am on the lookout for plants that can work. Many people have success with some peaches here, only one person I know has an apple. We NEVER hit 45F at all. Winters might drop to 60F. On average 68F.

On the apricots, the clear winnter is Gold Kist, followed by Katy. Blennheim is stiring a bit, Moorpark and the rest are dead dormant
================================
Apricot needs more then 470 hours of chill. My Blennheim and Moorpark received 700 hours of chill weather and did great.

I live in Hawaii at 1200' elevation, the temperature only gets down into the 50s during the winter. We have a small fruit farm (macadamia nuts, avocados) and I'm embarking on trials of other fruits to see what will do well here (my sweetheart LOVES fruits). I will appreciate varietal suggestions from any Zone 11 folks who have certain, practical growing experience with low chill fruits likely to do well here on the Big Island, Kona area.

kaleopono here is a site or two for you to check out.

http://www.hawaiifruit.net

Also take a look at the 18 video's from Hawaii fruit growers.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HawaiiFruit

Here is accurate Phoenix winter chill data to post on your web site from meteorological data 2006-2010

Arizona Winter Chill Hours

Greenway Station, Phoenix Arizona, Greenway Rd. & 23rd Ave.
Elevation 401 meters (1316 ft)
Latitude = 33� 37' 17" N Longitude = 112� 06' 30" W
Chill Hours = hours >=32F and 2010 = 332 Hours
2009 = 479 Hours
2008 = 459 Hours
2007 = 568 Hours
2006 = 526 Hours
Phoenix Average = 473
Low of 332 (2010)
High of 568 (2007)

Using average year of 2009
Agulia Arizona 2009 = 1109 Hours
Prescott Arizona 2009 = 1686 Hours