TheWilldog
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Are these Peach trees sustainable?

Hello, I've got a pair of FloridaKing peach trees that have issues. Both trees are about three years old.

Tree #1 had an animal crawl up it last year and broke off one primary branches. Now all the tree's growth is on the right side. It's not leaning yet, but I fear what it's going to do in another 3-5 years.

Image

Tree #2 has a crooked trunk as well. It's primary branches are intact, but I'm not sure what it's going to look like a few years.

Image

Side note, I haven't gotten a darn peach off these trees yet. Last year all the green peaches got worms and fell off. This year a late freeze killed all the tiny peach buds. I was at the home improvement store today and saw some young peach trees with nice straight trunks for less than $20. I'm seriously considering chopping these down and starting over. Is that a reasonable decision?

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ElizabethB
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Big question - are these varieties suitable for your region? Fruit trees are VERY region specific. If in doubt contact your extension office or your land grant university for variety recommendations. Yeah, yeah - I know not all extension offices are responsive. Just try. The broken leader may be a problem. In the deep soouth it is almost impossible to grow peaches without insecticides. So I do not attempt them. There are regions in Louisiana known for their wonderful southern peaches. I mean drip down your chin delicious. Check the varieties for suitability.

Good luck

JONA878
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A good tall 8ft stake on the first tree wold bring it up and into line and would be a nice tree.
The second tree....if it was mine....I would remove that lower branch completely and make the other into a centre leader.
I think the lower branch is always going to be a nuisance and is taking power off the leader.

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applestar
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In the 2nd picture, are you talking about cutting off the thicker, taller,curved one on the left JONA? The thinner one on the right does look like it would be more receptive to straightening out to me.

The OP didn't mention the actual height of these trees, but isn't it about time they were pruned for open center/vase shape?

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ReptileAddiction
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No it is to late to do winter pruning. That should be down while they are dormant or have small leaves. Feel free to do size control but wait till they are dormant to do structural pruning. Though this contradicts what I just said, I would do structural pruning. Though not for an open vase. I would take quite a bit of the top off of tree number 1. Then slowly try to straighten it out. Your second tree actually looks fine to me. The crooked trunk is just because it wasn't straight when it was planted. It is actually better that you do not have central leaders anymore because then you would not be able to prune to an open vase style. The first thing I did when I brought my new peach home was whack my 7 foot tree back to waist high. I highly recommend it.

I can answer that yes these trees would be fine in a FL climate. I know that I am a Californian but this variety was developed in FL to do well in all parts of FL. Hence the name.

If you want to you could dig them up but I would definitely not dig up the second one. I might consider the first one though it is fixable. It actually is not normal to get fruit the first year nor the second year. I recommend taking any fruit off the first year so that it develops a nice branch structure. Hopefully next year though! I would also like to point out that you will lose 2 years if you dig them up. Hope this helps.

JONA878
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applestar wrote:In the 2nd picture, are you talking about cutting off the thicker, taller,curved one on the left JONA? The thinner one on the right does look like it would be more receptive to straightening out to me.

The OP didn't mention the actual height of these trees, but isn't it about time they were pruned for open center/vase shape?

Hi Star...no I did mean the right one to come off. Then the other branch...leader...could be halved to make side branching and a bowl shape if he wants.
As you say...they have been left plenty long enough to make a bowl shape without a lot of wood removel.

TheWilldog
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Hey all, thanks for the responses. BTW - both trees are between 10' and 11' tall at their highest point.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about pruning or shaping trees. I haven't cut them at all since planting them (except for cutting the broken limb off of tree #1) and I'm not familiar with bowl shaping or open-vase shaping. I'll have to look that up.

I didn't know I could straighten the trees out with a stake. I may try that with tree #1. For tree #2, I can cut the lower limb off of the right side, but that will leave a fairly large S curve in the trunk. I don't think that can be fixed, although I suppose the growth on the left hand side is pretty straight right now.

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ReptileAddiction
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Pruning to an open vase style is pretty much what it sounds like. You cut away the branches that grow in toward the center so it opens it up, lets airflow in, and lets sunlight in.

For the second tree I do not think I would cut off the lower limb. I would just cut them both back so that it produces more side growth.

TheWilldog
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Update - one year later. Both trees have grown quite a bit and I have peach buds everywhere. I think cold weather is done so now I just need to worry about bugs and animals. However, I didn't do any serious pruning over the winter so this is what they look like now:

Image

As you can see, the branch on the right of tree #2 has really gone nuts. I'm actually a little worried about how many peach buds are on the tree - it seems like there's way too many for it to support:

Image

Should I be plucking some of these off to keep the limbs from breaking, or will nature do that itself?

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applestar
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It's because the branch is near horizontal -- this stimulates flower buds and fruiting.

They should be thinned so they won't be touching each other for airflow to prevent fungal disease and eliminate hiding places for pests. You could also put up crutches like support for the branches. Let's see what JONA says about possibly cutting the branch back a bit.

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rainbowgardener
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And the thinning helps the tree to produce better next year. We just had someone write in about their peach tree only producing well every other year. JONA's response (JONA is our resident orchard expert! :) ) response was that has to do with over cropping. When the tree stresses itself with over-cropping one year, then it tends to bear very little the following year. Thinning the first year's crop helps maintain more consistent production.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 20&t=57116

JONA878
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The problem is that one branch Willdog.
It will need a bit of tidying up once the crop is off.
As Star says..it may need some form of support if it looks in danger of snapping and removing any fruit to keep them as singles will help with the weight and the fruit size at harvest.
Once the crop is off get the pruners out and cut it back to a more uniform shape with the rest of the tree.
Peaches readily crop on one year wood so providing you keep plenty of growth going through the year you will be able to get a good return fruit bud for next year.

I must say that if it was my tree I would be very tempted after harvest to remove that branch completely.
It's very low down on the tree and the tree would be much better balanced after it had been removed.
That's just a cosmetic view though!!

NesOne
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I too would probably cut out that lower branch altogether. Also, in case you wondering on how much to thin, based on the picture I would only leave the 3 larger ones on that branch.

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ElizabethB
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Willdog - the University of Florida is your land grant university. The link has contact information.

https://www.fred.ifas.ufl.edu/agmarketing/contact.php

There are new varieties of peaches that do not need a lot of chill hours and can be grown in parts of Florida. Because of the humidity and the insects you will not be successful unless you spray the trees several times when they are in flower. You also need to thin the fruit.

Check this link and query home orchard for pruning methods. Sorry I do not have the direct link to that publication.

https://www.lsuagcenter.com

My mother has peach trees. She sprays weekly while they are in flower and thins the fruit. I help her with pruning. Her peaches are AMAZING!

Good luck

BTW - DO NOT buy fruit trees from the big box stores. They are notorious for carrying varieties that are not region specific.

NatureHillsNursery
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I sympathize with your problems. I’ve had several trees over the years that required repair after weather or animal damage. I would suggest (as others have), that you create a new leader. Just trim the problem branches and stake the one you decide to use for the leader. It may take some time, but it should straighten out and conform to the position to put it in. As to the problem with the fruit-laden, lower branch, I would suggest thinning out the fruit, propping it up, and then removing it after harvest. As to spraying—dormant spray (applied before significant bud swell), is really important if you want to have a great peach crop.



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