Chilling update early March

As scheduled, the blackberry model ended on 28 February. Most stations had lower chilling units than last year. In some cases there was a great difference in the amount of chilling units between the two years and in other instances (400+ units), the difference was not as large (100+).

In the mountains, Mills River and Hendersonville, NC, there was actually more chilling units this year. These are high elevation sites, so there is not much of a concern with low chilling most years.

Here are some season totals of chilling units across the state for this season and the previous season:

LOCATION in NC                                                                                              

                                                                               2011-12    2010-11

Horticultural Crops Research Station, Castle Hayne      453           759

Lake Wheeler Research Station, Raleigh                      854           993

Sandhills Research Station, Jackson Springs                 459           939

Piedmont Research Station, Salisbury                          859          1043 

Lincolnton airport, Lincolnton                                     692          1126 

Hort. Crops Res. Station, Mills River                          1047         1010 

Bearwallow Mountain, Hendersonville                        1108           839 

http://nc-climate.ncsu.edu/cronos/blackberry

Some keen observers may note that the blueberry chilling unit accumulation for Castle Hayne is different. The blueberry model calculated 882 units at the same location. There are some distinct differences in the models, i.e. start date, assignment of units based on temperatures. (see http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/cronos/blueberry/chill_model)