Need some help

shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
So last year i planted a peach tree. I had tons of peaches this year but they barely grew and have now stalled out. I have a few.dozen worthless peaches on the tree. So what can I do to remedy this issue next year?
 

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shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
I have a lot of new growth as the main tree died somewhat last year after planting
 

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Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Can't say for sure in your situation, but often when the "main shoot" of newly planted fruit trees die, and new growth pops up from the remains at the ground, what you have is a crappy peach tree. Good fruit trees slips are often grafted onto hardy root stock. The "hardy root stock" is often inferior peach producers. When the grafted slip dies, the root stock sends up it's own shoots.
 

shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
Can't say for sure in your situation, but often when the "main shoot" of newly planted fruit trees die, and new growth pops up from the remains at the ground, what you have is a crappy peach tree. Good fruit trees slips are often grafted onto hardy root stock. The "hardy root stock" is often inferior peach producers. When the grafted slip dies, the root stock sends up it's own shoots.

So what you're saying is with the main tree dead I just need to dig it up and start over? This is a shot of the left over main tree.
 

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timber

Twelve Pointer
thinning out some of the smaller ones to let remaing ones grow works but might be late for that
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
Probably good advise on both counts. The fruit you showed certainly needed thinning and what you have now will be a bush and not a tree. Start over.
 

Mike Noles aka conman

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Trim everything back to nothing but your most straight, biggest diameter shoot. I've had the same thing happen with 2 different trees and I have fruit on both this year.
 

hunter

Eight Pointer
Contributor
At the very least, prune back all the shoots coming from low down on the trunk. Those are most likely be coming from below the graft. You might want to leave a couple of the higher up branches to see what happens. If you prune back while the tree is growing consider using something like a tree wound sealer to protect it (for example: see this link). I would probably let the tree grow as is this year to increase the root system and then prune back this winter.

Best solution to insure you get the peaches you want would be to start over as others have suggested. Best way to hedge your bets either way is to plant a new peach tree elsewhere in the yard while you tinker with the current one! Good luck whichever route you take!
 

Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
When I said "inferior peach" it doesn't necessarily mean they won't be good to eat. They just might be small or something. I'd still give it a chance and do like the others said. Trim back to the strongest shoots and see what happens in the next few years.
 

shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
So you guys were pretty dead on. The shoots never developed any bigger than the previous pictures but the taller leftover main tree produced a couple (4-5) peaches that are approaching maturity. Next year I'll trim the shoots and hopefully have some peaches.
 

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41magnum

Twelve Pointer
what did you fertilize it with and when and how have you pruned it?

Whose/what books do you own for this info?
 

shaggy

Old Mossy Horns
Did some shoot trimming today....man if only I had gotten 10% of these to maturity!!!
 

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LIZZRD

Eight Pointer
I would give it another year, I can only add ,
root growth will be a big advantage for next year., maybe some sun protection this summer ?
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
If you look at production peach trees you'll see that they are severely pruned and often have no leader above 6 feet off the ground. They are resilient but very susceptible to disease and will need to be sprayed for fungus and bugs at least 4 times per year to keep them healthy. That's the cost of peach trees.
I use mine now as a flowering tree, not expecting to get a single fruit. Most years I'm not disappointed.
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I had the same problem with mine. I read that pulling 50% of the blooms before they turn into fruit will help. You will end up with a manageable amount of fruit. The squirrels also managed to take every single piece of fruit off the tree before it matured.
 
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