The flowering of the fruit trees has ended and although it looks like the plantations have successfully weathered the severe spring cold, there are still a few weeks left of the frost-dangerous period, he said. József Taskó, county president of the National Chamber of Agriculture. The current cool weather may still affect the fruit sizes at the time of harvest.
Early flowering
The flowering that has now ended can be considered extremely early: nature is about three weeks ahead of last year. The mild winter weather experienced in recent months has so far not caused any direct problems or damage, the consequence of the mild winter was mostly manifested in the early start of vegetation. The forecasts do not indicate a significant cooling, the expert pointed out. Early vegetation and flowering mostly increased the risk of frost damage, since open flowers and small fruits are the most sensitive to cooling. Thus, the earlier flowering begins, the more time the fruits spend in the risky period. We date the frost-dangerous period from the beginning of March to the middle of May. There have been two frost waves in Hungary so far, one between March 19-21 and the other on March 25-26, which caused damage, he explained our portal Ferenc Abátithe Hungarian Vegetable and Fruit Interprofessional Organization and Product Council (FruitVeB) president of the Agricultural Sector.
Varies by area
According to the president of FruitVeB, it can currently be seen that significant frost damage occurred only in apricots and peaches, but they were also mostly local, very scattered from region to region. At the national level, even in apricots and peaches, it is not yet possible to talk about drastic frost damage. It seems that the other fruit species have survived the frosts well so far, but we praise the day with a receipt, because there are still 2-3 weeks of the frost-dangerous period – added Ferenc Apáti. The cooling that arrived a few days ago brought precipitation in a very welcome way, which was already missing because the last two months were dry, the top 20 centimeters of the soil dried out quite strongly. Ferenc Abáti said that they are confident that night frosts will not be an accompanying phenomenon of the current cooling. What can be seen is that this cool weather – 13-15 degrees Celsius during the day and 3-5 degrees Celsius at night – will stay with us for at least 7-10 days, so until the end of April. During flowering, in the last few weeks, the weather was generally favorable, with warm, sunny and windless weather, which favored the movement of bees and other pollinating insects, so pollination and fertility were probably good, added the president of FruitVeB.
You even have to thin it out
The expert said that fruit set is decided 4-6 weeks after flowering, but apricots and peaches are already beyond that. Where there was no serious frost damage, the peaches are apparently well attached, and in many places they even need to be thinned out. Regarding the other fruit species, Ferenc Apáti stated that they are still in the period when the cool, overcast and low-light weather is not good for fruit set: so this current weather can increase somewhat – but not drastically – 4-6 weeks after flowering the amount of natural clearing fall that occurs. What this cool weather can also have an impact on is the fruit sizes at harvest: the intense cell division phase takes place in the 4-6 weeks after flowering, which significantly determines the subsequent fruit sizes. In such a case, warm, sunny weather would be favorable, this coolness may affect smaller fruit sizes later, but its effect is currently absolutely unforeseeable, but overall it will not cause a disaster either. When asked how the players in the sector see their situation now, the president of FruitVeB said that for the time being, it seems that the sector survived the spring frost damage quite well, even though some areas or businesses unfortunately still have significant damage. However, Ferenc Abáti reminded us that the harvest is still far away, and anything can happen until then, be it drought or ice damage. Therefore, the expert stated that we are not in a bad situation for now, we may have a balanced, normal fruit crop, but we should return to the crop forecast in mid-May, after the frost-dangerous period has passed.
