"It is normal for us to have temperatures drop to minus one or so earlier in the season, but it's very unusual to have so many days of lower temperatures this time of year. Growers can prevent losses using different methodologies up to minus 1, but it gets tricky once the temperatures go to minus 2,3 or even lower." shared Mihaylov.
The company is busy protecting its crop with all methods available on their 35 hectares of growing area, including candles, machines and straw, which has greatly reduced the damage.
"So far, the freezing temperatures have caused damage to the early varieties, but I believe that the later varieties should still be okay. The trees have made it through the pollination period and the good news is that the cherries which do survive should be a larger caliber and better quality once the harvest season begins." said Mihaylov.
The cherry harvest in Bulgaria is expected to begin around the 20th of May for the early varieties and continue through to the end of June, early July, for the regular harvest. Mihaylov said that they will be at full capacity for their harvest in June.
"Luckily, after looking at the weather reports, it seems that the worst is behind us and temperatures are not expected to drop as much as they have in the last few days. I just hope that we don't get any rain once we start to harvest at the end of May."
For more information:
Plamen Mihaylov
Cherry Dreams Ltd
Tel: +359 2 987 55 33
Fax: +359 2 987 64 46
Email: office@cherrydreams.bg