With about 750-800 chill hours what would be the best, easiest and sweetest apricot to grow here?
First off, 9b is much less chill hours than the range you quoted, or it should be. I am in zone 9b in south Louisiana. I don’t bet on more than 300-400 knowing I will sometimes be on the short end of that.
Having said that, I am growing Katy apricot. and Cot-n-Candy aprium.
I got my first two small, delicious Katy apricots late April this year.
My Cot-n-Candy should set fruit for the first time next year.
Hopefully someone else will chime in.
The spring, summer, and fall of hardiness zone 9b varies a lot nationwide. If you haven’t already, I recommend checking with the Sacramento chapter of CRFG.
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The poster has no location visible, that’s why I stated mine and the hours we get here… Or the average guess from the many maps that can be found for my area.
Good ideal thanks!
@Shibumi thank you too Phil I checked the local ag calculator and so far we have 419 hours and about 78 more days of winter to go so I presume we will have more than normal. If I’m reading it right. I’m by the Fair Oaks weather station.
https://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/chill-calculator
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Very nice!
My state doesn’t even have a horticulturalist position for fruit trees. Except for a small citrus commercial crop, there isn’t one for fruit here…certainly no stone fruit… So I’m flying blind.
I do my own calcs from my weather station which I need to update the totals for. I just do the simple 32-45 range. Any system that gives negative chill accumulation above 60 would leave me with a negative total every winter.
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Search this forum for “Stan’s Harvest Diary”. Stan lives in Tracy, he is unfortunately no longer active on the forum, but he has an extensive selection of cots and he has written his reviews of them in his diary for a few seasons.
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Yes I really appreciate UC Davis for that and much more. Almost like cheating. I’m actually only about 45 minutes away from there. Here’s a cool 5 year graft of my chill hours.
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Ahmed thank you excellent information. I have seen his website before but didn’t realize he had so many cultivars. I didn’t even know there was that many! Apricot Heaven Orchard - List of varieties
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9b in California is a completely different creature than 9b on the east coast. I’m in 9b and I can easily get over a thousand hours in a good year and average around 800. 9b just over the hill in the Central Valley can be as little as 600.
In terms of apricots, I still haven’t found one better than a good Blenheim (which I think has been mixed up with Royal in the trade).
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Hey, nearly my mom’s neighbor! She’s in Lincoln.
I too would love to learn of what apricots would work for me up at our place in Del Norte County, zone 8b-9a. Probably over 1600 chill hours there, but I can get a late freeze in May sometimes.
What works for you could probably work at our other home down by Santa Rosa as well.
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I’m off Sunrise over the river. Lincoln is a sweet town she’s in a great place there.
I think Santa Rosa is a more mild summers and winters there than here lot of great fruit grown over the valley there. Lots of vino orchards.
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Here in Napa, 9b, the most successful apricot I’ve grown was a Harcot. It grew very vigorously to a manageable 12’ or so and fruited great. But it was attacked by sapsuckers and died back to the rootstock. I had planted it on family property and didn’t manage it at all. Now I’ve got several varieties that are just beginning to fruit but not heavily so far. I’ve been told that Chinese/Mormon, though not the most spectacular, is probably the most reliable bearer in the area. Followed by Tomcot.
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