Relationship between temperature and flowering in almond: effect of location

Abstract

A model for the prediction of flowering date in almond requires estimates of the chilling and heat sum requirements. We estimated hourly temperatures from daily minimum and maximum temperatures. A continuous function relating hourly temperature to rate of chilling was used to calculate daily chill unit accumulations. Heat sums were measured as growing-degree-hours: the linear accumulation of hourly temperatures above a threshold temperature. Our model was tested with estimates derived from data obtained at 1 French and 2 Australian locations. The results indicate that estimates derived from data at a single location can be successfully used for other locations with different climates. The accuracy of flowering date prediction generally improves as the number of locations and years of data on which it is based increase. The predictions for the cultivars Mission and Nonpareil were within 5 days of the observed dates in 73 and 88% respectively of the locations-years examined. We concluded that the chilling requirement in almond is (mean � s.e.) 284 � 33 chill units and 3 groups of cultivars can be identified with respect to heat sum requirement in the ranges 5300-6300; 6800-7700 and 8200-8900 degree hours above 4.5�C.