Tom's Picks
14 Low-Chill Winners for southern California
recommended by Tom Spellman
Reliable, proven selections for the Southwestern fruit gardener
Tom’s picks were selected for their ability to produce quality fruit in southern California’s costal and inland valleys, as well as in Arizona and California lower deserts were winter time chill hours are less than 500 per year. Consideration was also given to varieties that will successively ripen throughout the summer. A planting of the following selections would be expected to produce flavorful, quality stone and pome fruits from mid-May through October.
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Apple
Dorsett Golden
A fond selection from the Bahamas, Dorsett is thought to be the lowest-chill apple selection in production to date, needing less than 100 chill hours for successful production. This bright-yellow-blushed reddish-pink fruit has a white flesh with firm texture and excellent quality. It’s most popular as a fresh fruit but also works well for cooking, canning and freezing. Dorsett can be stored for three months after harvest. It’s self-fruitful and also works well as a pollinator for other early season apples, like Anna. Dorsett harvests from June through July in the southwest and often produces a second, smaller crop in late summer.
Apple
Fuji
Imported from Japan in the 1960’s Fuji is a cross between Ralls Janet and Delicious. Once thought to require high chill, Fuji has proven itself as a reliable producer throughout the low-chill southwest. We now rate it at less than 500 chill hours and for all practical purposes it should be considered in the 200 to 400 hour range. Fuji’s exterior color is a lackluster yellowish green with a blush of orange. Its interior color is a creamy orange yellow with a wonderful crispy, crunchy sweet flavor so don’t let its dull exterior fool you. Fuji has fast become one of the most popular apples varieties in the world. Fuji is self-fruitful and is also a recommended pollinator for other mid season apple varieties. Its ripening in the southwest is from late August through October. Fuji is also an excellent keeper and can maintain good quality for more than six months.
Apple
Pink Lady – aka “Cripps Pink”
A cross between Golden Delicious and Lady Williams from Western Australia. With a chilling requirement similar to Fuji at 200 to 400 hours, Pink Lady has proven itself throughout the southwest from the cool costal zones to the hottest deserts. Its exterior color is a striking bright reddish-pink over green with a fine-grained white flesh that's clean, crisp, flavorful and resists browning. Pink Lady is self-fruitful and harvests from early September through the fall season, often holding on the tree until winter. Its also a good keeper, storing for six months or more.
Aprium™
Flavor Delight
An Aprium is a Plum-Apricot hybrid that favors the characteristic of its Apricot parent. Flavor Delight was developed by Zaiger Genetics of Modesto, CA. It has a low chilling requirement of less than 300 hours. Both the tree character and fruit resemble apricot with a distinctive flavor and texture all its own, with high taste test scores – one of the most flavorful early season fruits. It ripens in the southwest from mid-May through June and is self-fruitful but produces better with cross pollination of another apricot. With very little alternate bearing, it produces reliably in most years.
Nectarine
Arctic Star
Another important Zaiger introduction, Arctic Star has a low chilling requirement of less than 300 hours. It has an exceptionally dark red exterior color and a snow white interior flesh. Arctic Star is the earliest to ripen of the new, low acid, super sweet, white nectarines. Its harvest season is June in the southwest. It’s self-fruitful and rates high in our early summer taste tests. A tree ripened Arctic Star is quite possibly one of the best things to ever harvest in early summer.
Nectarine
Double Delight™
Another Zaiger introduction, Double Delight™ has a chilling requirement of less than 400 hours. Originally thought to be higher chill, it has proven itself to be a heavy producer in southern California and is consistently one of the best flavored yellow flesh nectarines in our taste tests. It has an unusually rich flavor and aromatic fragrance. What really sets this variety off is its eye appeal in the spring. It puts out a beautiful display of showy double pink flowers. Double Delight™ is self-fruitful and freestone and ripens through July.
Peach
August Pride
A Zaiger introduction, which requires less than 300 chill hours. August Pride is a large size, all-purpose yellow freestone peach. Good for fresh fruit, preserving, baking and dehydrating. Sweet, aromatic and rich flavor, it is considered one of the best. It ripens late July through August in the southwest. For three months of yellow freestone peaches consider planting May Pride, Eva’s Pride, Mid Pride and August Pride together in one hole.
Peach
Donut (Stark Saturn)
Also called “Saucer” or “Peento”, this unique flat shaped peach with a sunken center is all the rage. Thought by many to be of recent origin, this variety has actually been in cultivation for more than 400 years. Donut has a low chilling requirement of less than 300 hours and seems to produce just as well under high chill conditions as it does in low chill. Its white fleshed, freestone fruit has a sweet, mild flavor with a hint of almond. It’s self-fruitful and ripens from late June through July in the southwest. Also look for Peach Sweet Bagel a yellow fleshed peento-style peach, which ripens through August.
Peach
Eva’s Pride
This delicious, fine flavored large peach, has a very low chilling requirement of 100 to 200 hours. The yellow fleshed freestone fruit has a unique red mottle to its interior. Eva’s Pride is self-fruitful and a heavy producer with a harvest season beginning in late May and extending through late June in the southwest. Fresh tree ripened Eva's Pride has a unique zing to its flavor that also holds true when dehydrated. Also great for preserves and pies. This is one of those (if I was only going to plant one peach) varieties. Oh yes, it’s a Zaiger!
Peach
Red Barron
This fruiting and flowering peach displays a beautiful double red flower color. An old time favorite in Arizona, California and Texas Red Barron would be a spectacular ornamental even if it didn’t produce fruit. (Fortunately for all us fruit eaters, it does!) Red Barron is low chill rated at 200 to 300 hours and produces a large, juicy, richly flavored yellow freestone fruit. Harvest season is mid July to early August and it’s self-fruitful. Plant it together with Saturn peach for a beautiful showing of double red and pink flowers and fruit for six weeks.
Pluot™
Flavor Grenade
Pluots are plum-apricot hybrids, favoring the plum parentage. Flavor Grenade is a recent introduction from Zaiger. Originally thought to be high chill, Flavor Grenade could possibly be one of the most widely adaptable Pluots to date, showing precocity and productiveness from the low chill southwest to severe winter areas, such as northern Idaho and Montana. Flavor Grenades chill requirement is not known for sure but is probably in the 200 to 300 hour range. This elongated green fruit, bears a red blush. Crisp texture and explosive flavor. It’s a high scoring taste test winner. Best when pollinated with Burgundy plum or another Japanese plum or Pluot. Ripens mid August and holds on the tree until October.
Pluot™
Flavor King
Another highly adaptable Pluot variety with a chill requirement of 400 hours or less. Flavor King has a reddish purple skin and crimson flesh with unique sweet and spicy flavor and a sensational bouquet. Pollination can be with Burgundy plum or another Japanese plum or Pluot. It ripens August to September. Plant Flavor King with Flavor Grenade, Beauty Plum and Burgundy Plum for good cross pollination and fruit from June to October.
Plum
Beauty
Sweet and flavorful, with an early season. Beauty is a Japanese plum that has been a southwestern favorite for years. Its low chill requirement of 200 to 250 hours makes it more adaptable than Santa Rosa and more productive in cool climates. Beauty’s Santa Rosa style fruit is red over yellow with an amber flesh that is streaked in red. Harvest is early June to mid July and it’s self-fruitful.
Plum
Burgundy
This Japanese-type plum is rated at 150 to 300 chill hours. Burgundy’s maroon colored skin and deep red wine colored flesh have always been rated high for visual appeal and its sweet mild flavor has it scoring high in our taste tests on a regular basis. Burgundy has no tartness and is self-fruitful. It’s also considered to be one of the best cross pollinators for other Japanese plums and Pluots. Burgundy’s season is from mid July and often extends through September. It’s a proven producer throughout the southwest and if I was only planting one plum, it would by Burgundy.
A chill hour is considered to be those hours in late fall or early winter below 45°.
We like to consider low chill in southern California as five hundred hours or less.
Chill hours are definitely more important in the late fall and early winter when trees are going into dormancy. Early winter Chill Hours are more important than mid-to-late winter, when the trees are beginning to push and break dormancy.
In southern California and the lower deserts of Arizona, our winters can be short, often times lasting less than two months. So it's very important that we choose varieties that are "low chill".
