Winter Injury to Flower Buds on Peach
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Winter injury to flower buds occurs when temperatures drop below the critical survival temperature of dormant flower buds. The critical temperature for flower buds continues to change throughout the winter as trees begin to break dormancy or reach their chilling hour requirement. Trees that did not have a crop the previous season have hardier flower buds the following season. Some peach varieties recommended for more southern regions have low chilling requirements and break dormancy earlier in the season. Thus, southern cultivars are not recommended for Kentucky since they may bloom too early.
Winter injured flower bud (right) and healthy bud (left).
(Photo: John Strang, University of Kentucky)
Management:
- Plant cultivars that require higher chilling unit accumulations and cultivars that are known to be very winter hardy.
- Avoid excessive nitrogen applications, particularly late in the season.
- In situations where flower bud kill is excessive, prune trees lightly or later in the spring when surviving flower buds can be seen and left to produce fruit.
