So I guess I have a good problem...
The peach tree we planted last year has had a pretty productive spring of fertilization and fruit production - we have upwards of 100 small peaches on it. It's pretty obvious that the tree won't be able to support all of those peaches if they were to grow to full size, so I'm wondering about thinning it out.
I've read about "June drop" on various sites and some of the posts on HG, but I'd like to ask the brain trust about your thoughts on manually thinning out these young fruit on a young tree.
The tree is about 10' tall by 6' wide, and most of the branches (some just the width of a pencil) host fruits approaching the diameter of a quarter. Is there any good formula for thinning these out, or is it just a "feel" thing? Does the "June drop" go a long way to alleviating concerns about branches potentially breaking off due to the weight of the fruit, or is this something that will require quite a bit of intervention? Is there time that is too late to thin, especially on a tree of this size/age?
This is both my wife's and my first time with a fruit tree, so any and all feedback is welcome!
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you'll almost definitely need to thin them more than will happen with the june drop..and it should probably done right around the same time (or just after).
the earlier you do it, the larger the ones you leave are likely to be...but the only time it's really too late to thin is when the branches have already broken.
the earlier you do it, the larger the ones you leave are likely to be...but the only time it's really too late to thin is when the branches have already broken.