Apple trees need a period of chill accumulation for breaking the dormancy of buds. In this study, the chilling units were quantified by different calculation methods for the region of Vacaria, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in order to compare them to the needs of ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ apple trees. Chill units were calculated for the period of 2000 to 2009, by the following methods: Weighted Chill Hours, Utah, North Carolina, Modified Utah, and Modified North Carolina. In the studied region, the number of chill units presents high variability among years, regardless of the methods of calculation. Even in years with high availability of chilling hours, the number of chilling units needed for bud break in ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ apple trees is not achieved naturally. May, June, and July is the main trimester for accumulating chill units, in the dormancy period of apple buds.
Malus domestica ; estimation models for chilling; chill units; dormancy
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