tinadew
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:09 pm

Nectarine Tree dying??

Newbie here with a few questions about our fruit trees.

I live in Kansas. We have a plum tree, nectarine tree and 2 cherry trees. The trees are all about 15 years old so they are well established. We moved into the house the end of summer 2012 so all the fruit was gone by then.

In 2013 we got nothing from the cherry trees but the plum and nectarines produced a lot except most of it never ripened very well or went to the squirrels and insects.

Last summer I sprayed the foliage with fruit tree friendly insecticide early in the spring. We got a ton of fruit from all 4 trees, beautifully ripe and delicious.

This year I did not spray the trees, but I did prune the nectarine tree a little early in the spring before any blooms. We still got a decent amount of cherries. The plums are doing ok but I'm worried about the nectarine tree and one of the cherry trees.

We got a LOT of rain this year, late in the season in June. I mean a ton of rain! I believe it was over 10 inches in about 3 weeks. Both the trees sit near the top of our yard which has a hill running down to the sidewalk so there is good drainage. They both have red lava rock around the trunk and I've never seen water pooled or setting around the trees. The last week or so it has been extremely HOT! Over 100 degrees with the heat index for several days in a row.

A few weeks ago one of the cherry trees began losing all of it's leaves. (it's a small tree, maybe only 6 or 7 feet tall). It is now completely bare. I'm pretty sure it is a lost cause.The nectarine tree is now losing it's leaves. There are some smaller branches that the leaves have completely browned and shriveled. And many of the leaves have turned yellow and are falling to the ground. The fruit did not get very big and is now all shriveled as well. We haven't picked any nectarines because they were all still so small and not ripe.

My question is do you think the tree is dying? The plum tree sits about 8 feet away from the nectarine tree so they literally have the exact same drainage and sun and the plum is doing fine. Could it be too much water and then heat?

Should I just wait it out and see if it blooms next spring or is there a way to know before then or any steps to save it in the meantime?

Thanks!

CharlieBear
Green Thumb
Posts: 588
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:19 pm
Location: Pacific NW

It may have rained early on, but in that kind of heat each of those trees need a minimum of 5 gallons (that is for dwarfs) every week especially during fruiting to ripening stages. In the case of the nectarine, the rain early on could have caused curly leaf and apparently you dogged that. We have been really hot and I had to water twice a week during the really hot period to get the nectarines and peaches to grow correctly. I would start by saying it is safer to prune fruit trees (but harder) between July 15 and Aug 15 as the wounds heal best then. I know it is harder to do with the leaves and the though of maybe losing some fruit. Also how heavily is that tree set, you might need to get out and thin it. In some parts of the country peaches and nectarines set way to heavy this year and they don't shed fruit as easily as the apple tree and need help for the fruit to get to any size and to keep branches from snapping. The leaves falling prematurely indicate lack of water. Those smaller branches that have completely browned and shriveled need to come off now and be destroyed. Pick up all leaves and get rid of them. Plums are more heat resistant and literally have deeper root system. In many places a standard or semi-dwarf plum can go the whole summer without any additional watering. I have one such tree and I never water it. The smaller trees absolutely. Is that nectarine tree open bowl pruned? They really need good airflow. You may need to thin the branches out some. Take out all crossing or rubbing branches (one or the other) for a starter. The cherry was probably stress in the heat as well and it's chances are not good. Another problem is that even dwarfs really need to be at least 10 ft apart for free standing trees, so the plum could be taking water from the nectarine as well. This year be sure to remove all of the leaves as they fall and destroy them, do not compost them! Keep them watered correctly in the mean time taking rainfall into consideration of course. Prune now for airflow, taking out crossing or rubbing branches, water shoots etc up to 25% but no more in any given year. When the leaves are off, dormant spray all of the trees this year and every year from now on. Truthfully, if you run out of spray skip the plum rather than any of the others. Anything in the peach family unless it does what those small branches are doing, it is always somewhat of a what and see next year. If the tree is too stressed it may skip bearing much if anything next year to recoop and the frost could get the blossoms. Next year what you are looking for is good leafing and branch growth. If you get both the tree will probably recover. This is the best I can do without seeing the trees and how they were pruned etc.



Return to “All Other Fruit”