ABSTRACT
Peach Orchards flower buds are susceptible to low temperature injury during the winter months in the higher latitude peach growing districts of North America. Most commercial peach or nectarine growers in the northern districts compete on the market with fruit grown in warmer areas where winter injury to flower buds is not a problem, Unless the northern grower has a large advantage in delivering more mature fruit, it is usually necessary to grow the same cultivars originated and grown in the warmer areas. Perhaps the most interesting problem in midwinter cold protection for deciduous fruit trees is the rapid fluctuation in their critical temperatures in response to ambient temperature. Flower buds are damaged more severely following mild temperatures than following prolonged cold weather. There are differences in the hardiness of cultivars that appear during winters which are neither cold enough to kill all the buds nor mild enough to cause no damage.
