Apple and Peach Troubles

15 years ago

Back in 2009 I inherited a bit of land from a gardener friend of mine. She was putting in some fruit trees and had just put in a Firecracker crabapple when she passed. A Golden Delicious and Red Delicious followed it the following spring necessitating the relocation of the crabapple. Since I've taken it over I've noticed a few problems and I'm wondering if anyone has any hints as my knowledge of horticulture is more theoretical then practical.

I'm primarily worried about the crabapple. It hasn't branched out and only slightly leafs out whereas the golden and red have grown like weeds. It sent out three new leaders the first year. Of which 2-3 died shortly after meagerly leafing out and were pruned off. I can't remember if the current leader was from that growth or grew this year. This year the leader grew and leafed a bit(how much I'm uncertain but next to nothing compared to the red and gold), further down it put out a 2-3" twig lateral which put out a leaf or two. It also put out six or so suckers which I of course clipped. Is there anything I can do to make this tree more vigorous? Is it a dud and should be replaced? If it can be nursed back to health will it pollinate and produce well with the golden and red?

Picture of tree. Approximate height 4-5 feet.

#####O##############

#####O##############

######O#############

######O###O#######O##O#########

#######O##O#########

########O#O#########

#########OO#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

#######O##O#########

########OOO#########

#######O##O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

##########O#########

########OOO########

I'm also a bit worried about the Golden Delicious. Unlike the Red it held on to its leaves until a major blizzard in December and still retains a few of them. This leads me to worry that it didn't winterize properly and will be killed or severely injured by the cold of Wisconsin. Is this likely and what can I do to help them prepare for our winters better?

Finally we have a pair of Stark's genetic dwarf peaches that grew well have put out long purple limbs that don't seem to have the compressed internodes of the green main trunk. Are these water spouts? Should I prune them off or treat them as a normal part of the tree?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

olpea
15 years ago
Orioes,

Peaches don't have the same fruiting habit as apples. Peaches fruit (and only fruit) on one year old wood.

Ideal fruiting wood for peaches are one year old shoots that are 12-24" in length somewhat horizontal in orientation (say 30 degrees off horizontal). Color of the shoots makes no difference, some varieties throw more purple shoots.

You can look to see if there are fruiting buds on the shoots (invariably there will be some). Generally, there are 2 to 3 buds in each group (3 is more common). Almost always, at least one of these buds is a fruiting bud. It is slightly larger than the vegetative buds, and the fruiting bud has a more rounded top vs. the vegetative bud which is more pointy. In locations where there is just one bud in the group, it's generally a vegetative bud.

In short, treat the long purple shoots as part of the tree, but you'll still need to prune the tree some to keep it open.
alan haigh
15 years ago
All my new peach wood is vertical everywhere and I simply choose the shoots that have nice flower buds on their full length which are generally the moderately vigorous ones. On years with very cold weather the biggest flower buds can be killed, however, which is another good reason to wait until bloom to do your pruning or at least to finish it. Flower buds on less vigorous wood are more cold hardy.
Related Professionals
Crestview Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Oxford Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Rochester Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Canton Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Madison Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Durango Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Everett Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Spartanburg Landscape Contractors · Kalispell Landscape Contractors · Edmonton Landscape Contractors · Mount Vernon Home Additions · Manhattan Home Additions · Shreveport Home Additions · Portsmouth Home Additions · Ottawa Home Additions
olpea
15 years ago
Hman,

Indeed, vertical wood can be fruitful. I wasn't describing all fruiting wood in my post above, rather as a said, describing ideal fruiting wood.

For my trees, wood that is vertical is almost always overly vigorous and gets pruned. Shoots like these have a water spout like quality. They produce fewer flower buds and smaller fruit at harvest. Additionally, I've found vertical shoots on scaffolds generally won't pull over from the weight of the fruit, and so keep growing toward the moon. I have very vigorous trees (probably more vigorous than most folks) which perhaps contributes to the vegetative character of these shoots.

I do get a large amount of non-vertical shoots at various angles from which I try to select as fruiting wood.