Abstract
It is usually thought that adequate winter chill is required for the full flowering of many temperate woody species. This paper investigates the sensitivity of blackcurrant bud burst and flowering to natural weather fluctuations in a temperate maritime climate, and compares a range of chill models that have been proposed for assessing the accumulation of winter chill. Bud break for four contrasting cultivars are compared in an exceptionally cold and in a mild winter in Eastern Scotland. The results confirm the importance of chilling at temperatures lower than 0°C and demonstrate that no single chilling function applies equally to all blackcurrant cultivars. There is a pressing need for further model development to take into account the relationship between chilling temperatures and warming temperatures occurring both during and after the chill accumulation period.
Highlights
It has been widely reported that adequate winter chilling is required for release from dormancy, regular bud break and flowering of many temperate woody species to occur in the subsequent year
Blackcurrant has been grown commercially in the UK for over 100 years (Brennan, 2008), and the juice processing industry has expanded during the latter part of the 20th century, including in northern areas, due in part to the introduction of new frost-tolerant cultivars (Brennan, 1991)
Increasing concern about the damaging effects of reduced winter chilling in blackcurrant has led to an increased focus by breeders on the production of new cultivars with more resilience to changing climatic conditions
Summary
It has been widely reported that adequate winter chilling is required for release from dormancy, regular bud break and flowering of many temperate woody species to occur in the subsequent year. This chilling requirement is a protective measure to prevent woody species from growing in adverse winter conditions, and affects the geographical distribution of woody species (Sherman and Beckman, 2003). Increasing concern about the damaging effects of reduced winter chilling in blackcurrant has led to an increased focus by breeders on the production of new cultivars with more resilience to changing climatic conditions
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