Chill Hours App Helps Fruit Growers Assess Conditions

Feb 15, 2017

By Mr. Robert Nathan Gregory

Mississippi fruit growers need look no further than their smartphones or laptops when searching for a second opinion on chill hour accumulation.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service has launched Chill Hours, an app that helps growers assess growing conditions that affect plant physiology and prepare for the upcoming growing season.

Extension fruit crops specialist Eric Stafne and software architect Kelli Alexander developed the app to calculate the approximate number of chill hours. Many fruit plants require chilling to break dormancy and fruit normally in the spring. Growers enter their location by zip code or by clicking on a point on a state map and then enter desired start and end dates.

App users can also access a precalculated chill hours calculator by tapping on a flag on one of 15 locations across the state.

A chill hour is each hour the plant is exposed to temperatures below 45 degrees.

Some fruit plants, such as apples and cherries, require a lot of chill hours, while others, such as blueberries, grapes and peaches, need few or none. The app provides calculations of two different models. One is the common model typically used for blueberries, and the other is a more conservative model. Both can be used for any fruit crop.

Source: msstate.edu

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Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. We also have a part-time employee, Brock. My dad started the farm in 1980. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

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