Kentville Research and Development Centre
2025-26 Bud Hardiness Report No. 2 - Nova Scotia
Attached, from Jeff Franklin and Dr. Harrison Wright, is Nova Scotia bud hardiness report #2 for the 2025-26 year. The Nova Scotia wine grape bud hardiness survey generates occasional reports of the low temperature exotherm (LTE) values over the dormant period (roughly from late October to late April).
Note from the research team: All varieties in the survey have shown a significant increase in their bud hardiness values since the last survey in early November. L’Acadie has shown the greatest change in hardiness and its LTE50 value is currently positioned between Chardonnay and Marquette, which is typical for this variety. Overall, the hardiness values for all varieties in the survey are close to the values seen in previous years for early January. So far this month the mean temperature has been -3.41 °C, which is close to the 10 and 25-year averages. The current long-term forecast predicts a continuation of cycling temperatures for the rest of January, which has been the dominant weather feature since the beginning of December. Current bud hardiness levels and near-term temperature forecasts offer a wide margin of safety between hardiness levels and observed temperatures.