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Morning All,
As the chill season ends in all crops other than pistachio’s, buds are beginning to move quickly and weather on the 3/8 was perfect for bud movement. However, what we are seeing in the forecast for the next 14 days is for quite variable temperatures with low maximum daytime temperatures (less than 13C temperature variance) which would indicate flowering being somewhat dragged out.
If we compare 2024 and 2025up to the 1/8/15
You can see all sites other than Swan Hill have had an overall lower chill season than 2024. With flowering most likely over the next 7-10 days in several crops the forecast rain in the next 14 days is very minor on the 4,6,19 with less than 2mm forecast across all regions.
To say that this has been an unusual season in terms of chill accumulation and plant phenology would be an understatement:
- Frangipani: did not lose leaves and has started early budding
- Guavas: did not defoliate over winter and have started shooting 3 weeks earlier than previous seasons
- Pomegranates: early pink bud though these are low chill by nature
Prolonged droughts like we are currently in tend to result in earlier bud burst than under normal conditions so managing soil rootzone wetting patterns will be critical in ensuring flowers are not drying out while not having soils excessively wet during this time.
Regards,
Shane Phillips | Head Chemist - Research & Development
E: shane.phillips@biocentral-labs.com
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