Kentville Research and Development Centre
2025-26 Bud Hardiness Report No. 4 - Nova Scotia
Attached, from Jeff Franklin and Dr. Harrison Wright, is Nova Scotia bud hardiness report #4 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: In this round of the survey, we find that most of the varieties are staying close to their deep winter minimum LTE50 values. The exception to this is New York Muscat, which has deacclimated slightly (1.3 °C). The reason for this is not clear as we would expect all varieties to stay at their deep winter values for another week or so given the February temperatures that we have experienced. So far in February, the mean daily temperature has been -4.3 °C, which is equal to the 25-year average. The forecast for the next 14 days calls for another week of below average temperatures followed by a period of above average temperatures. At this time, the Environment and Climate Change Canada 30-day forecast suggests that the southern half of Nova Scotia will experience above average temperatures for the month of March. Although it is too early to make solid predictions, it appears that spring may not be too far away.