Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/529491
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER JULY 2015 13 into the possibility of inadequate chill hours for proper bloom. Left on their own, Florida peaches naturally fit into a mar- keting window of mid-April to the end of May, but Shinn said most growers would like to be 30 days ahead of that. Olmstead said the marketing window of opportunity starts to open in March, when imports from Chile begin to taper off. "Florida peach growers are able to take advantage of a unique marketing window that allows for an increased grower price," she wrote in a paper. "From late March to May, peach fruit imports are decreasing. While growers in other southeastern states report receiving $0.80 per pound, farm gate prices for Florida growers range from $1.25 to $2 per pound as they are able to produce the first domestic fruit of the calendar year." When the Florida growers first started growing peaches, they aimed at putting peaches in an early marketing window in a few cities along the East Coast. Last year, however, Florida peaches were mar- keted in an estimated 37 to 40 states. There is evidence that younger peo- ple particularly like the firm—some say crunchy—peaches with the non-melting flesh. Chill hours Most of Florida's chill hours are accu- mulated in December and January. Shinn has been working with Dormex (hydrogen cyanamide), a chemical that is widely used around the world in subtropical areas where chill hours are marginal. It induces more uniform earlier leaf production (a key to production of large fruit) and flow- ering, reducing the number of chill hours the tree requires for these processes to take place. In the central Florida area, the number of chill hours that can be accu- mulated is about 200, Olmstead said, and thanks to the University of Florida peach breeding program, there are a few varieties that need only 100 to 150 chill hours. Trees that get inadequate chilling have a prolonged bloom and uneven leaf emergence and fruit ripening. "We get 100 chill hours from Ft. Myers north," Olmstead said. "We could grow peaches in Miami, but we would have consistency issues." Varieties Florida peaches are not like Georgia or South Carolina peaches. "They have different genetics," Olmstead said. They are sweet and juicy, but firm. For many years, peaches with non-melting flesh were used for canning. "Non-melting flesh peaches didn't taste as good and the texture was somewhat rubbery," she said. "They were not very sweet, but in canning the added sugar syrup compensated for that." The Florida breeders were able to use the non-melting gene, which makes a peach that can be tree-ripened but stay firm enough to ship well, and combine it with the honey gene for sweetness and other genes for good flavor. The Florida peaches are also very red. Shinn said that can make it difficult to harvest. In most peaches, ripeness can be deter- mined by a shift in background color from green to yellow, but there is very little—sometimes no—background color on these peaches. "We have multiple harvests big time," Shinn said. If fruit become too mature, shelf life suffers. But if picked less than fully ripe, flavor suffers. "We pick multi- ple times, every three to six days, picking fruit by size and maturity." Growers have mostly settled on four varieties, UFSun, UFGem, Tropic Beauty, and—the latest Florida release—UFBest. Peaches are like citrus in that they like the well-drained sandy soils of cen- tral Florida and don't like waterlogged conditions. In some areas, growers are using raised beds because hurricanes and heavy rainfall from thunderstorms can create temporary flooding. Growers are using irrigation as well to supplement rainfall. Infrastructure Shinn says it's taken a lot of work to put together an infrastructure to support the needs of Florida peach growers. A cooperative, Dundee Citrus Growers Association (Dundee CGA), that packs fresh oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines has added a peach packing line and now packs for 26 peach growers, including Shinn. Pruning is a constant battle in Florida, where growth over the long season can allow trees to get too tall. "We like to hold trees to seven or eight feet, and we don't want to use ladders," Shinn said. That means using hedgers to top the trees and pruning in both June and December. Research From the start, Florida growers depended heavily on university research leadership, for two big reasons—varieties and rootstocks. When Olmstead came to Florida to head the extension effort, it strengthened the grower support dimen- sion. (Olmstead, in fact, is the extension leader for the national RosBREED fruit breeding project.) Recently, Olmstead has been trying to get a Florida Peach Growers Association up and running. And, working with nurseryman Phil Rucks, growers are being asked to con- sider establishing a statewide marketing order that would raise money to fund marketing and research. Florida has a unique nematode species that attacks peaches, so the only root- stock that's available for growers to use is Flordaguard. "All stone fruit grown in Florida are grafted to rootstock because of the presence of the peach root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne floridensis)," Olmstead wrote in a paper. "Flordaguard is a nematode-resistant rootstock that is currently recommended for both com- mercial and dooryard production." That rootstock was released by the University of Florida in 1991. • "Working with a new crop is a challenge. I had to learn some new tricks. —James Shinn ® Aztec Fuji (DT-2 cv) Red Rubens U.S.P.P. # 14177 F A C E S O F T H E F U T U R E Number 1 Red Fuji planted today. Its red blush is the color standard for all Red Fuji selections, even in areas where color is difficult to obtain. 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