According to Jaysankar Subramanian, professor of tree fruit breeding and biotechnology at University of Guelph’s Vineland Research and Innovation Centre campus, the unseasonably mild weather in December should not affect Niagara’s peaches and other tender fruit crops if there is a return to winterlike conditions in the coming weeks.
However, if temperatures increase to 10 C or more for a day or so in the coming weeks, the trees will interpret it as an early spring and start to bud. If that’s followed by a deep freeze, that would be devastating to the crops.
Subramanian said a return to cold temperatures is needed to freeze the ground, which will allow the tender fruit trees to sit dormant until the spring. The long range forecast has temperatures hovering between 4 C and –5 C and Subramanian said that’s not a concern right now.
Source: niagarathisweek.com