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Previous studies have shown a negative correlation between chilling accumulation (CA) and heat requirements (HRs) in peaches (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch), consistent with findings in other plants in spring events. However, there is a lack of comparative research on the CA–HR relationship in peach varieties with different chilling requirements (CRs), and the specific impact of CA on HR reduction remains poorly described. To address this, we investigated the effects of CA on the days and HR for flowering in 54 peach varieties of differing CRs. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the effects of CA on the phenology of floral organ development in a selected peach variety. Our results indicate that, in general, peaches exhibit a reduced HR and accelerated flowering as the CA increases, but that the strength and trend of the CA–HR relationship is influenced by the CR and the variety. Low-CR varieties showed less sensitivity to CA increments, requiring higher relative increases in CA to significantly lower the HR, whereas high-CR varieties appeared to be more sensitive, with even modest changes leading to substantial reductions in HR. However, variations from this generality exist, even within varieties displaying the same rCA (the ratio of CA to CR). Additionally, we provide a summary of the relationship between the rCA and drHR in peaches of differing CRs, and identify several varieties exhibiting a strong response in the CA–HR relationship. This study also highlights the impact of CA on flower bud development, revealing slower progression under lower CA levels and accelerated growth with an increased CA. In particular, we identified the critical period of the enlargement and initiation of green scales as indicative of successful pollen grain formation. Finally, we present a schematic of the CA–HR relationship for flowering in peaches.

Phenological shifts in peaches have been observed over the last few years due to the fluctuation of the seasonal climate conditions experienced during dormancy, affecting orchard management practices and influencing production and harvest dates. This study aimed to model the vegetative and floral budbreak of selected peach cultivars. Three peach cultivars, including “Rubyprince”, “Harvester”, and “Red Globe”, were considered in this study based on the representation of the early, early-mid, and mid-seasons. The prediction of the budbreak in peaches was assessed using different models that integrate the combination of chill and heat requirements. Models used include the Weinberger model, the modified Weinberger model, Utah, the dynamic model, and the growing degree model. The accumulation of chill varies according to the season evaluated. A model that considers both chill and heat accumulation is presented for each cultivar. Budbreak as an indicator of dormancy completion was established for each cultivar. The outcome of this study is to determine the amount of chilling accumulation and thermal time required to mark the beginning of the budbreak in selected cultivars with a model that predicts the duration of the dormancy. These results are valuable information that can be used for crop management practices and support the mitigation of cold damage during this critical period of crop development.

Bud break timing in peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] is determined by the sequential fulfillment of a chilling requirement (CR) and a heat requirement (HR) for development. Genotypic variation in CR has been well characterized in peach. Adapting peaches to low chilling environment through reduced CR can make them susceptible to crop destroying spring frosts, if bloom occurs too early. Potential variation in HR between accessions has received less attention due to the methodological difficulty in assessing HR independently of CR. HR could vary in the magnitude of growing degree hours (GDHs) and/or the base temperature at which GDH accumulation begins. Characterizing HR traits in peach accessions could allow improved bloom time modeling and selection of phenotypes with improved spring frost avoidance through delayed bloom. We estimated GDH and apparent base temperature for floral bud break by observing time to floral bud break at several constant forcing temperatures. We evaluated 54 peach accessions (representing a range of CR) in which chilling had been saturated after >1,700 h at 3°C. Accessions differed widely in both the GDH requirement (2,015 to 11,191°C⋅h) and apparent base temperature (−1.85 to 8.69°C) for GDH accumulation. GDH and apparent base temperature were negatively correlated. A simulation exercise was performed to assess relative importance of varying base temperature vs. GDH for delaying bloom at different chilling accumulations at three locations in the southeastern United States using 30 years of historical weather data. The aim of this study was to determine whether there may be unrecognized diversity in peach germplasm for two HR traits (base temperature and thermal time) to enable breeding efforts to delay floral bud break and reduce the frost exposure risk of developing flowers and fruits. Our results suggest that selecting cultivars for increased GDH would be a safer, more reliable strategy for delaying bloom than increasing base temperature for GDH accumulation.

Temperate deciduous fruit trees survive winter temperatures by entering a dormant phase in their aerial meristematic organs. Release from bud dormancy occurs after chill requirements (CR) have been satisfied, whereas bud burst/flowering follows heat requirement (HR) fulfillment. The physiological basis behind these metrics remains elusive. In this study, we are presenting the first multidisciplinary dormancy progression analysis in northern Patagonia, linking (1) forcing/field phenology, (2) bud anatomical development, and (3) soluble sugar (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) dynamics in Juglans regia L. CR and HR were determined for ‘Chandler’ and ‘Franquette,’ two walnut cultivars with markedly different CR, in artificial chill/forced heat trials (three seasons) and in-field chill/forced heat tests (five seasons) using excised twigs either with or without apical buds (non-decapitated and decapitated). The soluble sugar dynamics of ‘Chandler’ (high-performance liquid chromatography) and the anatomical changes of the buds (light microscopy) of the two cultivars were analyzed during endo-ecodormancy progression in one and two seasons, respectively. The CR defined by artificial chill tests proved to be an overestimation compared to the field determinations. Moreover, HR was the main driver in the phenology dynamics, as expected for a high-chill region. ‘Chandler’ showed an average of 10.3 field chill portions (CP) and 2,163 Growing Degree Hours (GDH°C) less than ‘Franquette’ for dormancy release and bud burst, respectively. These results were consistent with the transition of the shoot apex from the vegetative to the reproductive phase and the soluble sugar profile. The decrease in sucrose between 15 and 30 days after CR fulfillment could be a reliable biological marker for endodormancy release in walnut, while the increase in fructose and glucose is likely an osmolyte and cellulosic carbon source in pre-sprouting. In addition, we discuss the effect of paradormancy thanks to our apical bud experiment (with or without). Our results improve the current understanding of endo-ecodormancy progression in walnut and provide insightful results for walnut production (i.e., cultivation practices such as pruning) as well as for further application in dormancy modeling, to infer the ideotypes that should be bred for future climate conditions.

The present study aims to generalize cultivar-specific tree phenology responses to winter and spring temperatures and assess the effectiveness of the Tabuenca test and various chill and heat accumulation models in predicting bloom dates for a wide range of climatic conditions and years. To this end, we estimated the dates of rest completion and blooming and correlated them with observed bloom dates for 14 peach and nectarine cultivars that were evaluated in 11 locations across Europe (Greece, France, Italy, Romania and Spain), within the EUFRIN cultivar testing trial network. Chill accumulation varied considerably among the studied sites, ranging from 45 Chill Portions (CP) in Murcia-Torre Pacheco (Spain) to 97–98 CP in Cuneo (Italy) and Bucharest (Romania). Rest completion occurred latest or was not achieved at all for some cultivars in the southern sites in Murcia. Dormancy release happened earliest in Bucharest and Cuneo, sites where heat accumulation had a strong influence on the regulation of bloom time. Blooming occurred earliest in the moderately cold regions of Lleida (Spain) and Bellegarde (France), and 7–11 days later in the warmer locations of Rome (Italy) and Naoussa (Greece), suggesting that bloom timing is strongly influenced by delayed rest completion in these locations. The Dynamic Model resulted in both more homogeneous chill accumulation across years and better predictions of bloom dates, compared with the Utah, Positive Utah and Chilling Hours models. Prediction of bloom dates was less successful for low-chill cultivars than for medium- and high-chill cultivars. Further climatic and experimental data are needed to make estimates of the climatic needs of peach cultivars more robust and to generate reliable advice for enhancing the resilience of peach production under varying and changing climatic conditions.

Heat requirements in greenhouses are calculated considering greenhouse type, the climate of the region and temperatures desirable for plant growth. Calculations made according to daily average temperature values lead to misleading results during periods when temperatures are high and under conditions when greenhouse temperature is kept low. For this reason, determining heat requirements according to hourly values provides more accurate results. Calculations of heat requirements in greenhouses are based on the difference between the desired temperature in the greenhouse and the outside temperature. However, in unheated greenhouses and those that are not ventilated until a specific temperature, actual temperature values are higher than outside temperatures. For this reason, heat requirement calculations should be made according to hourly climate values taking into account actual temperature in the greenhouse and temperature rise resulting from greenhouse specifications. This study aims to compare the amounts of fuel consumed under real conditions with fuel consumption calculated with conventional methods using inside and outside temperature difference and considering the above mentioned inconveniences. Daily fuel consumption calculated theoretically differs from actual consumption values. However, in comparisons based on fuel amounts consumed on an annual basis, best results were obtained when temperature rise in the greenhouse was taken into consideration. In the event that temperature rise is taken into consideration, a 3% difference is observed between calculated fuel consumption and actual fuel consumption.

Introduction:Dormancy is one of the most important stages in the life cycle of temperate plants and plants are required to exit from it with supply of chill unit. Flowering is defined with chilling and heat requirement. Owing to low chilling requirement, blooming happens too early and cold temperatures produce an important loss of yield by frost. In temperate fruits, awareness of the need buds to avoid winter frost is one of the main objectives in breeding programs. Studies concerning chilling and heat requirements are thus of special interest in these species, being very important for the choice of parents in breeding programs to create superior varieties of winter and spring frost (late flowering and resistant cold) provide. Utah is one of the most important model was introduced in 1974 by Richardson and colleagues. Effective temperature on cold storage in Utah model is 1/9-5/2. This is 6/1-9/12 in North Carolina and 8/1-9/13 in low chilling. Temperatures above 16 have negative effect on accumulation in Utah model. Later models were developed according to the Utah model that the Low chilling requirement (18) and the North Carolina (31) models are among them. Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is belonging to warm temperate regions and due to the lack of compatibility and apricot spring frost in Khorasan Razavi province, the identification of varieties and genotypes with high compatibility and high thermal and cooling requirements to reduce the risk of early frost and increase production efficiency, seems important. The purpose of this study was to determine the need for chilling and heat requirement in apricot cultivars. Material and methods: In this research, chilling and heating requirements of four local cultivars of apricot were evaluated under field and laboratory conditions. This experiment was conducted at agricultural research station Golmakan. A factorial (two-factor) experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with tree replications. First factor was various apricot cultivars (Noori- Dirras, Mashhad- Dirras, Shams Mashhad and Mashhad-44) and the second factor was chilling hours in five levels (0,100,300,500,700). About 45 branches of deciduous trees of each variety were collected when the temperature was below 7 °C. Finally, samples were taken in the greenhouse with an average temperature of 23° C and 16 hours of light and flowering percentage was recorded. For determination of chilling requirement in Utah, low chilling requirement and the North Carolina was performed in CU and Heat based on the degree of development hours (GDH) was calculated. GDHs average hours of temperatures between 5-5 / 4 ° C) and for any amount of time, sleep disruption and blossoming flowers will be calculated by 50% (5). Data analysis was done by JMP 8 and Excel softwares. Results: There were significant differences (1%) between chilling hours, cultivars and their interactions on flowering percent. .Under laboratory condition, cultivars began flowering after 100 hours in 4°C.The results showed that there was a significant difference between 500 and 700 hours of chilling requirement. Most of the flowering was related to 700 hours and the lowest one was in control. There was a low difference in the chilling requirement. Heating requirement was 3300 growth degree hours (GDH) for Noori- Dirras and Shams Mashhad to 3379 GDH for Dirras- Mashhad and Mashhad-44 cultivars. Although little differences exist in flowering onset of cultivars, the differentiation of flowering period among cultivars was around one week. Various cultivars revealed little differences in flowering onset in locations they meet their chilling requirement. The chill units estimated by Utah model was 1588. Chill units in Low chilling model and North Carolina model was 1291 and 1331, respectively while in chill hours was about 1100. The heat units in Noori- Dirras, Shams Mashhad was about 3,300 and it were calculated 3379 for Dirras Mashhad and Mashhad-44, . The various models of chilling in the field conditions were calculated according to the Utah model. Chilling requirement by the North Carolina and Low chilling requirement models were calculated, respectively, 1331 and 1291 chill unit while in the chill hours, 1,100 hours were calculated for varieties. There was negative relationship between chill and heat requirement in flowering date.