LOW CHILL FRUIT TREES
SAN JOSE AVERAGES 600 TO 800 HOURS OF LOW CHILL EACH YEAR. CHILL IS THE AMOUNT OF HOURS THE TEMPERATURE IS BELOW 45 DEGREES. THESE ARE SOME OF THE FRUIT TREES WE OFFER THAT WILL FRUIT GREAT IN THIS AREA.
Anna Apple
Remarkable fruit for mild winter climates in Southern California and will produce heavy crops of sweet, crisp, flavorful apples even in low desert. Good fresh or for cooking. Stay good for 2 months in the refrigerator. Requires a minimal 200 chill hours, and is self-fruitful.
Blenheim
Blenheim is a flavorful freestone apricot with a sweet, aromatic taste; which blooms early in the year and has a late June harvest in Central California. Requires 400 hours or less of chill time and is self-fruitful. Blenheim is the long time #1 apricot in California.
Snow Queen White Nectarine
Snow Queen is a taste test winner with a sweet flavor, and juicy flesh. Harvest in late June in Central CA, 2-3 weeks ahead of Babcock peach. Has a low chilling requirement of 250-300 hours. This tree is self-fruitful and freestone.
Spice Zee NectaPlum® Interspecific Nectarine
The first NectaPlum® from Zaiger Genetics: a white-fleshed, nectarine-peach-plum hybrid. Skin is dark maroon at fruit set, and turns pale pink when ripe. Fully ripe fruit is unparalleled in flavor, and both nectarine and plum traits are easily detectable. Tree is quite ornamental. Tremendous purplish-pink blooms in the spring, followed by a flourish of red leaves which mature into lush green in late summer. Self-fruitful, and very productive, and only 200-300 hours of chill time required.
Babcock White Peach
Babcock is a long-time favorite white-fleshed, freestone peach, which is sweet, juicy, and aromatic. Babcock also has a low acid content, and continually scores high in taste tests. It is widely adapted for numerous climates by having a low chill requirement, yet not early blooming. Requires 250-300 chill hours and is self-fruitful.
20th Century Asian Pear
Juicy, sweet, mild flavored fruit is crisp like an apple. Early to mid-August harvest time in Central CA. Keeps well. The 20 th Century is an easy to grow Asian pear that yields a heavy crop on a small tree. Requires 300-400 chill hours, and can be self-fruitful or pollinated by Shinseiki, Bartlett, or other pears.
Sweet Treat Pluerry™ Interspecific Plum
Sweet Treat is the first of its kind, the Pluerry. This taste-test favorite is a complex interspecific hybrid, predominantly of plum and cherry, combining the sweetness of a cherry with that summer fresh plum zing. Much larger than a cherry, this precocious and prolific variety will hang on the tree for over a month, and the colorful fruit make Sweet Treat a true ornamental. Estimated chilling requirement of 450 hours, and requires a pollinator; Burgundy plum recommended.
Burgundy Plum
Maroon colored skin and semi-freestone flesh. Has a sweet taste with little or no tartness and a very pleasing, mild flavor that always scores high on taste tests. This plum will be a very productive tree with narrow, upright habit that requires 300 chill hours, and is self-fruitful.
OTHER FRUIT TREES THAT DO GREAT IN LOW CHILL AREAS ARE FIGS, PLUOTS AND POMEGRANATES. THEY ALL REQUIRE AROUND 300 TO 400 HOURS
