The Huebner Berry Patch Update
February 3, 2022
As I write this update its sleeting and 27 degrees. Winter has finally arrived. During November and December we were worried about the lack of chill hours. That situation has improved in the last few weeks. From November 5th (1st freeze) to January 31st we have recorded 629 chill hours. A chill hour is one hour of 45 degrees or less. Leon county is in a 750 to 800 hour zone.
Our blackberries need 400 to 500 chill hours. Our peaches and plums need 600 to 800 chill hours depending on variety. Chill hours will be recorded until February 28.
The proper number of chill hours are needed for fruit trees and berries to leaf, bloom and set fruit normally. Too few hours can result in poor leaf set, very few blooms or blooms that will not set fruit…..resulting in little or no fruit crop.
It looks like we should get enough chill hours this year…. unless the rest of February turns very warm.
The removal of last year's fruiting vines and training of new primo canes was completed in October. However, the training of new canes is ongoing. In the last couple of weeks Carole and I have been busy pruning our peach and plum trees. It takes 30 min to an hour to prune a tree. We started early this year. Dormant oil will be applied in next couple weeks to the peaches and plums.
It has been a dry winter this year. As a result, we have been irrigating berries and peaches. Water is needed now for leaf and flower bud development and winter survival.
Trapping gophers in the orchard will be a big job for Carole in next few weeks. She is very good at it. Controlling leaf cutting ants started back in early January……making some progress in that project.
As you can see there is a lot of work to do on a commercial fruit farm even during the "off season". We are already getting excited about the upcoming fruit year…. but have a lot of work to do.
I will email another update in March. Feel free to call or email us with questions about our farm or your own fruit trees. The farm numbers are 903-344-1132 and 979-255-3181. Also visit our web site at huebnerberrypatch.com
Please stay safe and warm.
Thank you
Steve and Carole