Can too many peaches be a bad thing?
My husband really loves harvesting peaches. Photo taken June 2, 2017
Limbs loaded with immature fruit. Photo taken May 2, 2018.
Overabundance of fruit. Good or Bad?
Stressed is a term they have used to describe what could happen if there are too many fruit. They, being the people I have accepted as the ones to trust. The ones that have so far basically been very helpful in getting me through the steps of planting and caring for my fruit trees. Their names don't matter, but it appears they were right. My two peach trees are currently going through their fourth growing season and one of them isn't all there.
About 15% of limbs still have not broken dormancy. Photo taken on May 2, 2018. (This is what the limbs usually looks like in mid February)
About 15% of limbs still have not broken dormancy. Photo taken on May 2, 2018.
About 15% of limbs still have not broken dormancy. Photo taken on May 2, 2018.
The peach tree that had the largest and most numerous fruit last year is now showing signs of stalled or slowed growth. Both trees first showed swollen buds in mid Feb and to this day, this one has about 15% of it's limbs that have not matured past that point (shown in pictures above). There were fewer flowers this year on both and this tree is now quite misshapen.
Misshapen peach tree. Uneven growth. Photo taken May 2, 2018.
Lessons learned
Last year required a few sturdy supports just to keep the branches from snapping off. You can see how loaded the peach tress were last year in the photos below. I knew there were way too many fruit, but I could not get myself to thin them out. All of the "fruit tree" people I trusted had explained and usually demonstrated when and how to do it. But my brain would not allow my hand to do so. I picked a few off, but now understand just how important it is to substantially thin the fruit. So far this season, I have thinned and filled eight large coffee cans full of them. As seen in the photo, we had a lot of peaches from two small three year old trees last year. I hope it didn't do too much, if any, damage that could stunt or slow growth. At this point, all I know is I had a heck of a lot of peaches last year and now I have a warped tree with a few limbs that seem to not be getting the signal to wake up. The peaches on both look healthy and leaves show no signs of stress.
Peach trees loaded with way too many fruits. I did not thin the fruits in 2017. What a mistake!
Last year required a few sturdy supports just to keep the branches from snapping off. The fruit load was so heavy, it altered the shape of the tree permanently.
I could not get myself to thin fruit last year.
Harvested hundreds of small peaches from two three-year old peach trees in 2017.
Thinning is as important as pruning
I now understand fruit thinning is as important as pruning for the overall health of the fruit tree. It is our responsibility as fruit growers to thin fruit! An unthinned fruit tree may seem abundant & fruitful, but it is so stressful on the tree as I have observed in my own mini orchard. So far this season, I have removed approximately 50% of young peaches. Not sure if that's enough, but I continue to observe and learn from the trees. Don't make the mistake I made. Thin your fruits. It's your responsibility!
I have thinned and filled eight large coffee cans full of immature peaches so far this year.
It is our responsibility as fruit growers to thin fruit. It's for the overall health of the tree.
Have you experienced the same thing with an over abundant fruit tree? I would love to hear your experience and story.
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Too many peaches wouldn't be a problem for us. Our Hogs would love them!
Lucky you!
That is actually good to know. I don't have fruit trees yet but a mulberry came with the place. It seems to do well every other year.
I found you because @ginnyannette featured you in her Pay It Forward post.
Thank you for letting me know! I don't quite know how to set up notifications yet on Steemit, so it seems I keep missing posts with me tagged in it. Thanks for stopping by!
My grandfather's peach tree looked like a Frankenstein monster with 2x4's all over propping the limps up when the fruit came. We would have to thin it each season or risk the branches snapping all off. I'd love to have that many peaches though...for canning.
I would have been okay with hundreds of smaller fruit, but now I understand why people always tell me to thin fruit. The health of the tree is more important in the long run to have consistent great harvest . I guess fruit trees really need humans to care for them to produce amazing fruit. It's a special relationship.
I will probably be facing this with my fruit trees this year--a good read. I do think it will be painful to thin them, after waiting so patiently for fruit :)
I understand the pain! When you are looking at all your baby fruit this year dreaming of their potentials, just remember this post. You want your fruit tree to produce fruit for you for years to come, so the health of the fruit tree is the most important thing. This is the lesson my trees taught me the last two growing seasons.
We moved here in 2014. There were 5 apple trees, 2 wild plums, one peach and two pears. The peach was killed by a storm. We did not even start pruning till last year. The pears are too large. Not sure how we're going to work on those. Three apples are farther away growing wild. Never pruned. One of them in 2016 was so full of apples it didn't produce more than a handful last year. It's in heavy bloom right now though. I'll try removing fruit. Our compost will like it.
Good grief those peaches look amazing. How do you keep them healthy without bugs and disease? We have a cedar apple rust problem here. ) :
I read from an apple orchard book that wild apple trees tend to produce lots of apples one year and then almost nothing the next year because the heavy fruit set for one year is so stressful for the tree that it will not be able to produce many blossoms the next year. I have never been lucky enough to observe a wild apple tree, but from what you said, it must be true. According to the apple orchard book, if you remove good amount of blossoms every year, you shall have apples consistently year after year.
I also have read not to put fruit you thinned in compost so you don't spread diseases in case you have one. I am not sure if this is still true, but I never put fruit I thinned in the compost just in case. I might be overly cautious though.
I think I got lucky last year to have such healthy peaches from my two three-year old trees. I had a few peaches with brown rot but it did not spread. I am hoping they don't show up again this year. Fingers crossed.
I am sorry to hear you have a cedar apple rust problem. I have heard cedar trees and apple trees don't mix, but I have not had personal experience with it.
I don't think these trees are technically wild, but they do not appear to have ever been pruned which seems to be why they're not growing with branches crisscrossed or sticking straight up. Supposedly once a tree is pruned, it needs pruning forever. It is growing wild even though it appears to have been planted intentionally.
Maybe I should try knocking flowers off. Those would be easier than little fruit. I saw a bunch of itty bitty Robin's who'd just learned to fly go flower to flower eating the center flower bud just as the color was starting to break. I was worried they were going to eat all the buds lol. They went flower to flower. Literally every flower.
I has absolutely no idea what cedar apple rust was until it formed huge goey orange gel like stiff oozing from these brown ball things hanging from the cedar branches. Apparently we have an especially bad problem with it. The apples were not affected last year, but it spreads in a 3 year cycle. Whoever lived here before us must not have known, either, because they specifically planted trees that seem counter intuitive. Like maples under power lines and black locust beside the driveway and front porch.
wow! an incredible number of peaches :) haven't had any trees fruit yet on our land, but i'll try to learn from your lesson :)!
Trust me on this one. The baby peaches were so seductive on the trees, I could not get myself to thin them. We all wait for years to see our fruit trees produce fruit, so it's really painful to have to pick at least 50% of the fruit off. Just have to keep remind ourselves it is for the health of our fruit trees.
Great article. Yep... stuffed up my pear tree. I was like you... couldn't bear It!!! This year I will thin them.
Thank you! I think our fruit trees will tell us everything they need as long as we are listening and watching. It was so painful to thin all the fruit, but I know it's absolutely necessary.
No pain, no gain!! As someone said once....
I'm the same with any pruning!!! Husband is like .. it'll grow back better!!! And I'm like.. but... but.....
Love that pic of.. husband???.... grinning madly with the peaches!!!
So true!
My husband is the perfect model for me in the garden. I asked him to look like he was happy harvesting peaches and that's what he did, lol. Such a good sport. I rewarded him with yummy organic peaches!
That does sound like a euphemism, except you are actually harvesting peaches he he. He did a very good job! Such joy in that whole post ...
oh my! That's a lot of peaches! The recent dip in temps killed our peach budding so I'm not sure we're getting any this year. Bummer.
I don't have an over abundant fruit tree yet. And when we do, I'll def keep in mind to thin them.
We have deer problem so we're working on fencing off our garden first.
Found you from @grow-pro's resteem and I'm glad I did!
Strawberries are fruiting real well though! We're excited.
Glad you found me from @grow-pro's resteem! He has been very kind and helpful to share his knowledge with me. I started following you. Would love to see your garden progress. We also had a late frost that killed a good amount of the plum blossoms this year. It's just mother nature letting us know we are not in charge of anything.
We also have a major deer problem. I see them on my camera every night. The fruit trees we planted outside of the fence have not done very well because deer kept munching on them. We expanded the garden fence this year, so hopefully my fruit trees can grow properly now without deer constantly eating them up. Glad your strawberries are doing really well. Birds always steal mine.
He has been very helpful indeed! We're behind the garden progress as we're battling some predator problems (bobcat, racoon, foxes). We have woods as backyard so we need to get some kind of fencing.
Yes, deers are out and about here too. Already got tick problems again. Cool! So you have game cameras? We need them to keep track of the bigger predators.
I'll keep on the lookout for your posts too. Hope we all have abundant gardens this year!
@ginnyannette nominated in the Pay It Forward contest is what brought me to your post
That's great! I truly appreciate the kinds words from @ginnyannette in her Pay It Forward post. I am following you now, so I can continue to see the updates on your homestead.
lol I have one in the camera now as soon as I get a moment i'll do the post
After canning more than enough small yellow plums from our tree, my Mom was wondering what to do with the rest. So she decided she hadn't visited some of her neighbours for awhile, and she put the remaining 7 grocery bags of plums into the car and drove up and down the line visiting and dropping them off. With one bag left, she decided my childhood girlfriend could use it, and that is why, for several years, she was known as "the plum lady."
Love this story! Brought a smile to my face. I also gave away lots of peaches to friends and neighbors last year. Gardeners always share our bountiful harvest. I bet your mom's neighbors LOVE her!
I asked if she was getting even for the pumpkin! A neighbour called and asked if she wanted to split a large pumpkin. They backed the pickup truck up to the door... LOL