Farmers in the Western Cape regard a possibility of frost damage accompanying the snow and icy rain of the past weekend (with more rain expected this coming weekend). The cold was such that even in the Northern Cape, cold winds damaged table grape vineyards.
In the early plum orchards of the Boland, fruit is already being thinned out.
Pear orchards are in full flower while only the earliest apple cultivars like Panorama Golden, Mahana and some Kanji orchards flowering.
In Ceres, which has had 1,300mm of rain this season already, icy rain left its mark in some orchards. Pears and cherries just past full bloom might have sustained some damage, but it’s difficult to tell so soon after.
Some peach and pear orchards have been standing in water, with no chance to dry out in between the rain over the past month.
“The Boland mountains are white with snow. It’s not constantly raining and when the sun comes out, the bees work. We were worried about the effect of the snow and icy rain on the blossoms but at this stage the flowers seem to have come out of it mostly unscathed,” says Charl Stander, technical advisor on stonefruit at Freshness First.
Boland stonefruit orchards in bloom (photos supplied by Charl Stander)
Too early to gauge eventual crop
“In the plum orchards we’ve had probably the best flowering season we could dream of having. Cool temperatures from April and May already allowed the trees to start accumulating cold units early. The result is that they have needed less warm units to come out of rest and the flowering pattern has been fantastic. Cultivars are flowering close to each other which reduces the flowering period.”
A pomefruit advisor in Ceres agrees that the flowering they’ve seen, has been wonderfully even this year, with trees spontaneously coming out of rest.
Charl points out that flowering is not an indication of the fruit set and over the coming two to three weeks they will have a much clearer indication of what the coming crop might look like.
Possible benefits to sizing
Early peach and nectarine orchards could do with a bit more warmth at this stage, he remarks. Insect pressure has been very low in the cold conditions, but it inhibits bee activity and pollination (although not in peach and nectarine orchards which are self-pollinating).
“The cold air is not great for pollination. We’ve had two or three days where bees had good activity but in general it’s cold and wet, which isn’t first prize,” remarks a pomefruit advisor in Ceres.
Charl continues: “The weather has been unpredictable, and there have been winds, so we’re hesitant to offer an opinion about the eventual crop at this stage. It feels like it could be a normal crop, but perhaps because the trees are flowering earlier, it could benefit fruit sizing and that’s actually what we’re after.”
Klein-Karoo on the road to recovery
Charl has just visited the Klein-Karoo where the recent drought had led to orchards abandoned or removed.
“The Klein-Karoo also had enough rain and the dams are full. The side-effects of the drought, like the build-up of salts in the soil, have by now been sorted out. Stonefruit farmers are on the road to recovery and by next year one could start seeing re-establishment of stonefruit orchards.”
Some say it actually feels like a winter as they knew it years ago – but Boland fruit farmers will be happy for some warmth over the coming weeks.
For more information:
Charl Stander
Freshness First
Tel: +27 21 876 3140
Email: [email protected]
https://www.freshnessfirst.co.za/