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New Jersey peach growers optimistic after strong dormant season
After an excellent winter and early spring with mild/ cold temperatures and abundant rainfall and snow, New Jersey peach growers anticipate an excellent crop of peach flowers, with full bloom in early April.
This bloom date would be historically earlier than normal, according to Jerry Frecon, professor Emeritus at Rutgers Jersey in Southern New Jersey. “With the unusual winters and overall climate change we’ve had in New Jersey, ‘normal’ means full bloom from April 15 to 20. This can be problematic as statistically we are further removed from the possibility of frost and low temperature injury to the developing peach flowers the later bloom occurs,” says Frecon, now a consultant for the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council (NJPPC).