Warm weather brings blooms to peach trees in Chilton County
The burst of warm weather has caused peach trees to bloom in Chilton County, but growers will remain on guard for March’s unpredictable temperatures.
The county, halfway between Montgomery and Birmingham in Central Alabama, is known for being the peach capital of the state.
Growers say that the warmer weather is great — if it sticks around. But in Alabama, they never know if a cold snap is just ahead. Freezing temperatures at the wrong time can severely damage or even destroy the peaches before they have time to fully develop.
That’s why they have wind machines and coal on standby, just in case.
“As long as you’ve got blooms on the trees, it’s good, it’s an insulator,” Colby Jones, the manager at Durbin Farms, told Action 8 News. “That’s what’s helping protect the bud on the inside, but once those blooms start to fall off and the peach gets to a later stage, that’s when they become a little bit of a point where they have damage done to them.”
Jones says what growers need most are consistent temperatures over the next several weeks.
Last year, a late cold snap caused the loss of 90% of the state’s peach crop, according to the Chilton Co. Research and Extension Center.
