Node type development of four low-chill peach cultivars at three locations in Florida

The effect of climate was observed on the relative frequency of vegetative and floral buds in four low-chill peach cultivars ('Flordaprince', 'Flordaglo', 'UFGold', and 'TropicBeauty'). The trees were planted in north-central, central, and southwest Florida. The percentage of blind nodes, mixed nodes (nodes with vegetative and floral buds), and nodes with only vegetative buds were determined from three representative shoots per tree at each location. In general, higher percentages of blind nodes were observed in central and southwest Florida and higher percentages of mixed nodes were observed in north-central Florida. 'TropicBeauty' tended to have a greater percentage of blind nodes than the other cultivars. Higher temperatures during bud formation most likely contributed to the increased amounts of blind nodes observed in the central and southwest locations and to the reduced amounts of mixed nodes. However, stresses imposed by bacterial spot and hurricanes may have contributed to the higher incidence of blind nodes in 2005. Our results indicate that certain genotypes have a predisposition for the formation of blind nodes. Advanced selections having low chilling requirements and potentially being adapted to a wide diversity of tropical or subtropical climates need to be tested in multiple locations to evaluate blind node formation.