I’ve got 5 apple trees(2 golden Dorsett, 1 gala, 1 Big River and 1 Joys), as well as 3 pear trees, leconte, kieffer and pineapple growing at my home in NE Florida. They’re all healthy (knock wood) and they’re all appropriate varieties for warmer climates. We’ve had a warm winter thus far, only a couple of days where it went below 45 and most still have a good bit of their leaves on. I realize winter has not officially started yet and that we’ll probably get some colder weather down the road, but I’m curious how the warmer weather will impact their ability to produce fruit in the spring. Any thoughts?
Time will tell. It’s an adventure. If the cold hitting my corner of the States filters your way, you’ll have plenty of chill hours by February.
not sure where you are on the map, but we’re not expecting anything below 55 in the next 10 days.
I am at the opposite corner - eastern Washington state. You really doubt enough hours below 46F to miss needed chill hours for your trees before spring? Several of your cultivars require only 500 hours between 32 and 45F. My area is extreme the other way, about 2000 chill hours!
Right that’s why I picked these particular trees they’re supposed to do well in low chill. As far as getting enough hours, that’s hard to say. It generally gets colder in January and for a stretch in February so it’s possible. My trees are pretty small, so I’m not expecting much out of them at this point.
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If you’re in Jacksonville you’ll certainly see a few freezes before it’s all said and done. But in regard to chill hours, who really knows. But lack of chill hours will certainly reduce fruit production.
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Ignore the chilling hours and plant whatever high chill apples you want. Ability to withstand the heat and humidity is more important than the supposed chill hour rating (which is wrong).
We grow a boatload of high-chill apples in the zero-chill climate of equatorial East Africa. Can’t vouch for the rest of your fruit, but your apples will be fine. You need Anna or Shell of Alabama as a pollinator for the Dorset Golden to fatten them up properly.
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Those gentlemen look quite pleased with themselves. They’ve got a nice flat of apples to enjoy.
Or should I say an entire boxload!
thanks @applenut that’s what I needed to hear…I remember reading one of your threads about apple growing in Africa…very impressive…you’re 100% right about the heat and humidity, then there is the torrential rains we get in the summer. that’s why I’m hoping to get the new trees well established before spring time rolls around…
I’ve had terrible luck with Anna’s down here, of the 4 I planted none of them made it…Hopefully the Big River and Joy will act as pollinators for the Dorset…will have to wait and see.
With plenty more where that came from; 600 trees in their orchard, and most of them loaded. It will cause quite a stir in the market. Note the matooke (plantain) banana plantation in the background.
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that’s what they call market disruption…certainly has the potential to turn the apple growing world on its ear…you’ve clearly dispelled a lot of myths…
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…and why I’ve tried cvs that might fail in the high and dry of eastern WA. Never would have had the pleasure of trying Bardsey otherwise. Who’da thought?
Take heart Jeremymillrood!
Well, I’m bound and determined to make a go at growing them here in Florida…at least to the point where my wife asks me to stop putting trees in…thankfully I haven’t quite gotten to that point yet.
Anna and Golden Dorsett are prolific bearers in low chill areas. We’ve had less than 100 chill hours in each of the past 3 years where I am. My Anna is always loaded and my friend’s Dorsett is always loaded.
thanks @brownmola that’s good to know…I see you’re in SoCal…We have quite a bit more humidity here in Florida, so I’m not sure how that plays into the equation. I’m sure we’ll get more than 100 hours before the end of winter. Either way, based on @applenut experience, it doesn’t sound like that will be the limiting factor…I think my trees need another year or two before they start putting out any decent yields…
Has anyone here from colder zones tried growing Dorsett Golden? Recommended for warmer and coastal areas, it seemed to grow fine at the experimental orchard in Geneva, NY. I like Kevin’s comments on the Kuffle Creek webpage:
“If you’re going to plant just one summer-ripening apple, make it this maniac, as it will grow anywhere and produces the year after planting.”
If it can be grown anywhere and it is an excellent apple, why isn’t it grown in the north?
Maybe because it only requires 100 chill hours. I am in socal and this year it bloomed in early February for a short period. In colder regions, it may flower early, and then get kill from later freeze or frost.
Chill hour needs and hardiness are not equivalent. I remember reading about - apricots? - in Siberia. Some had been shown to have low chill hour needs, yet handled the extreme cold of Siberia. If memory serves, the writer noted winter comes & stays until spring there. None of the vacillating deep frosts and toasty warm days so common in much of our continent.
Dorsett Golden? Give it a try. Report to the world!
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Doing more research. The National Fruit Collection in the UK lists the Dorsett Golden as having a fairly ordinary flowering time and a picking date in mid-October. The origin story of coming from the Bahamas is the same, but the fruit pictured looks quite different, much more red, then what I’ve seen elsewhere.
It is another of those “Old Geezer’s Apples” — ones that fruit as early as the second year. That makes it even more tempting?