Winter temp and dormancy

namnhi

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I have read that dormancy is triggered by day light and temperature but haven't figure out how the up and down temperature on a weekly basis impact it. Lately in the past month we have had temperature ranging from mid 80s to around freezing happen weekly. In the next two days we will have freezing weather for the low and high in the 50s...following by lows of 60 and high of 80s for about 5 days. First I kind of hate it as I was thinking that will cause early buds break. Lately I kind of ok with it as I have tropical and sub-tropical that needs dormancy. The cold from a couple days keeps the dormancy at bay while my tropical love the hot days. Here are my questions.
Does anybody have any idea how that impact trees? Is it good or bad for them? I have a feeling they will doing just fine.
 

ysrgrathe

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All of this is species dependant. Some plants use day length only, some temperature, some both etc. Most commonly woody plants require minimum chilling hours (generally hundreds of hours below ~40 degrees) before warmer temps will cause them to break dormancy. The chilling needs of fruit crops are widely studied and documented. I think we generally have to infer or guess the values for non-bearing species.
 
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