What an unusual spring it’s been. We started out extremely early, then it was cool for a month or so with hardly any Growing Degree Day accumulation, then warm again (see Figure 1). Just when apple crops started to get in the window for chemical thinning (around 12 mm), it became cool again. The good news is that we are not as early as we were previously and the risk of frost has almost passed. Although we’ve had a lot of rain, with associated disease control issues, from a fruit growth perspective we’re looking pretty good. A few areas in the state experienced a light frost (28F) a few nights ago, but I have not heard any reports of damage.
Figure 1