Some varieties of apples could be in short supply this autumn due to recent cold weather in southern Ontario, California.
Many orchards were hit hard on April 30, when the mercury dipped well below the freezing point. At the time, early blossoming apple varieties, like Empire, Ginger Gold and McIntosh, were in full bloom.
Local apple grower Gary Ireland said the temperature at his orchard on Hillcrest Road was -5°C at 6am on the last day of April. Blossoms subjected to these conditions are unlikely to produce fruit. If the cold merely injures the blossom, chances are good the resulting fruit will be small, rusty and deformed. Ireland said: “I am looking at 50 to 75 per cent damage.”
Ken Porteous of Simcoe, Ontario has also noted damage in his apple orchards. Porteous is waiting to see how his trees react, given that the damage was “rather indiscriminate”. Frost damage in apple orchards takes time to assess because, like hail, its impact on a given area is uneven. Frost will destroy blossoms on low-hanging branches, but leave blossoms on top of a tree unharmed. Also, trees on a hill in an orchard often escape frost damage, while blossoms on trees in low-lying areas are destroyed.
Apple farmers expected a reduction in fruit volume because of thinning techniques, so minor frost damage is not much of an issue. The problem, Ireland said, is that the benefits of thinning are lost if a farmer waits to see which apples are damaged and which made it through unharmed.
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