Crozet peach orchard keeping an eye on temperatures

CROZET, Va. (WVIR) - Growers at Chiles Peach Orchard are seeing peak bloom, but the weather is creating a bit of anxiety for Production Manager Henry Chiles.

“Cold weather makes us very nervous. We have some preventative measures that we can take to try to reduce our risk of frost or freeze injury on the plants. However, sometimes Mother Nature is what it is,” he said.

Central Virginia had a record warm winter, and temperatures swung from low teens to the 70′s within days.

“The most risky part of growing season for the fruit is when it’s an open flower. That’s when it’s the most vulnerable to cold weather,” Chiles said.

That time is now.

“If the temps get into the teens, we have a risk to fruit crops including peaches,” Chiles said.

“The overall pattern going into April should be warmer than average. That does not mean we will not have a couple of cold overnights, but I think the risk for teens and low 20′s have passed,” NBC29 Meteorologist Josh Fitzpatrick said. “Typically in Crozet, in central Virginia, Albemarle County, we have a frost threat throughout at least the middle part of April.”

In the next few week, these flowers at the orchard will turn to fruit.

“With tree fruit like apples and peaches, you only get one chance per year, and having these flowers they take a whole year for the tree to produce,” Chiles said. “If they get frosted and killed - and one cold night, you know - it’s going to be another year we have a chance at fruit again.”

Chiles says they have enough right now for a full crop.

“We’re really excited about this year’s crop, because last year we had a pretty significant frost injury,” he said. “We will very soon know what our crop looks like and how much fruit there is.”

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