Fruit
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Impacts from the spring frosts are continuing to show up in peach crops across the Southeast. This story from Specialty Crop Industry discusses the variety of sizes in early peaches in Alabama as likely caused by the frost damaging flowers in the early-blooming varieties. Less impact is showing up in the later-blooming varieties so far,…
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According to Clint Thompson in Specialty Crop Industry, recent cool and windy weather has slowed the development of young watermelon plants and caused some damage from sandblasting and plants twisted by the winds from recent storms. The farmers are looking forward to the nice warm and dry weather we are expecting in the next week…
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Blueberry farmers in Georgia have been hit by the third big frost in the last six years. The frost of March 13 destroyed many blueberries around the state due to temperatures that were too cold for too long for frost protection to work. The Southeast Farm Press noted some farmers thought the loss was 75…
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With the swings in temperature we have seen this past winter, fruit farmers have experienced a lot of ups and downs in thinking about their crop this year too. A cold November was followed by a very warm December, leading to fewer than average chill hours. Then January and February were cooler again, allowing chill…
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I am pleased to announce that there is a new tool for fruit growers worried about the occurrence of anthracnose on their berries. It was previously available to folks in Florida but has recently been expanded to southern Georgia as well. You can find it at AgroClimate – Blueberry Advisory System. This allows you to…
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The latest freeze on March 13 caused a lot of problems for fruit and vegetable growers in Georgia, as I described a couple of days ago. This story from Southeast Farm Press describes similar conditions in South Carolina. Of course, farmers are still assessing the damage, which varied quite a bit across the state. You…
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This week farmers and extension agents were hard at work across Georgia and other Southeastern states assessing the damage from the frost on Sunday, March 13. Here is a brief summary of the comments I have received from my colleagues and friends on what they have seen. Keep in mind that some frost damage, particularly…