By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
April 21, 2007

The annual bloom in the Hood River Valley has arrived a little earlier than usual and cooler.

Growers won’t know for sure how well things went with pollination until the pear drop happens in June. Pine Grove orchardist Chuck Thomsen said that is when they will know how much fruit has set.

“The lower valley has been kind of cool and you’re always worried about whether it’s warm enough for the bees (to pollinate),” Thomsen said.

Diamond Fruit field man Bruce Kiyokawa said the lower valley, from Odell to the Columbia River, has finished up its bloom and the upper valley has just begun to bloom out.

“The weather has been less than ideal but more than adequate,” he said.

Kiyokawa said compared to last year, the bloom arrived eight to 10 days earlier for the lower valley. He said pears appeared to have come through frost damage quite well.

The Oregon Crop Weather Report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported temperatures at a low of 27 degrees for Parkdale and a high of 70. Clear skies and cold temperatures required frost protection on several nights.

The report states that at week’s end crop development in the lower Hood River Valley was as follows:

* d’Anjou pear at full bloom

* Red Delicious apple at first bloom to full bloom

* Bing cherry at first bloom to full bloom