BLOOM TIME IN LOW-CHILL PEACHES

Average bloom dates for low-chill peaches of various chilling groups a t Gainesville, Fla., depends on the amount of chilling and heat units received. Full bloom dates for the 4 standard cultivars 'Okinawa', 'Su nred', 'Early Amber', and 'Sunlite', (representing 150, 250, 350 and 4 50 chill units, respectively) averaged about 10 days apart over the 35 years. The order of bloom from low to high chilling groups has no rev ersals in the last 35 years indicating the order of bloom is dependent upon chilling requirement. However, the dates of full bloom and the d ays separating full bloom of the standard genotype for each chill unit group vary each year.