Mild winter may reap less fruit ....

Hannah Stephenson finds hardy fruits need time to chill out in the winter to encourage growth of flowers.

THIS year’s mild winter may lead to reduced fruit crops this autumn with a subsequent rise in prices, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.

Most hardy fruit plants need a period of chilling during winter to encourage flowering. Without this cold effect, evidence shows that crops yields, including blackcurrants, cherries and some apple types which have a high chilling requirement, may be reduced.

The other potential problem is that if there is not a prolonged cold period plants will start growing earlier than normal and may flower early too, putting them at a greater risk of damage if there is frost in April and early May.

Early flowering could mean less fruit being set as there may be fewer pollinating insects around.

The current cold spell may help but society horticulturists suggest that a colder and longer spell of weeks is needed to ensure that growth and flowering development is held back.

“We have already seen buds on the trees beginning to swell,” says Jim Arbury, society fruit and trials specialist.

There’s only a limited amount gardeners can do to reduce the damage. Arbury advises: “If gardeners have only one or two fruit bushes that have started filling their buds, these can be covered with some horticultural fleece or an old curtain if it looks like there is going to be frost overnight.”

However, what you may lose in apples, you may gain in figs, says Guy Barter, society chief horticultural adviser. “Figs don’t need cold over winter to flower. The fig flowers inside the fruit and a milder winter like this is perfect for them, leading to earlier crops and bigger harvests.”

Greenhouse fruits such as nectarines and peaches should flower earlier, although they will still be in their dormant state until March, when flowers begin to form.

Barter advises: “Amateur growers can buy late-flowering cultivars, including ‘Court Pendu Plat’, an ancient French dessert variety which flowers at the beginning of May, or the cooking varieties ‘Crawley Beauty’, the latest flowering apple, or ‘Edward VII’.