Anyone grownig peaches?

R

richard-in-cincy

Well-known member
My Elberta peach tree is hanging limbs on the ground (proping them up now) weighted with fuzzy green ping-pong sized peaches. There must be over a thousand peaches on the tree. I take care of it, have it pruned into the classic 4 limb vase shape, but every year: No Peaches.

They all fall off or disappear before 1 ever ripens. I loathe spraying chemicals, but last year I started the fruit spray, thinking that was my problem. I sprayed early and often, yet still, one by one all of the peaches disappeared.

Do squirrels eat green peaches? They're aren't lying on the ground.

Any ideas of how I can turn this bumper crop (no frost since the end of March) into actual peaches that I'm eating?

There is nothing finer in life that eating a real non-hybid tree riped peach that oozes sweet peachy juices all over one as one eats it.

 
Some reasons for the fall can be gusty winds, insufficient irrigation & bug

infestations. .

Another major explanation for peaches falling off the tree early is related to pruning. According to the growers at Appleby Farms, only one-year-old branches bear fruit, and peach trees need to be regularly pruned. Older branches produce unhealthy fruit or no fruit at all. Pruning removes dead branches and opens the canopy to insure adequate light distribution to all the limbs. Young, fruit-bearing branches that are not provided with enough light often produce fruit that drops before maturity. Pruning also, according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension, balances the crop load and reduces the need for hand thinning later in the season.

Also, think you need to seriously thin them if tree is heavily loaded:

Peach trees must be thinned in years when they bear a heavy crop to avoid limb breakage and to attain good fruit size and quality. Hand-thin peaches in mid to late June to an average spacing of one peach to every 6 to 8 inches of fruiting wood.

 
Yes, squirrels eat green peaches.... I haven't brought one to full ripeness in 3 years smileys/frown.gif

 
Thank you so much

Melissa, that is great info. I have been pruning the tree, but maybe not nearly enough. My neighbor screams everytime I start cutting into it because it's near the property line and she likes the pink flowers. I shook it vigorously and knocked off maybe a third of them today.

Now, I need to detour the squirrels from getting the rest. I'm already doing battle with the rabbits. I'm currently using a solution of onion, mint, jalapeno, and vinegar with a little dab of oil for adherence that I am spraying everything with.

 
mint? really?! I would think they would like that (at least I would. Does it work for squirrels?

 
I'm sure it's a plot they're hatching...

The rabbit population has exploded in my neighborhood. When I go outside it's like hitting the runway in Lubbock, Texas and watching the jackrabbits fly in 25 directions. I also read they don't like catnip, and since it also attracts a certain, er, "other" rabbit repellent, I'm now in search of some.

 
Tomato eating dogs...

are they health nuts? LOL. My boys love their fruits and veggies, but so far they've left my tomatoes alone. But then, they only get access to my Fortress Vegetable Garden under controlled supervision. Lots of nice green tomatoes look to be on time for the annual southern Ohio long-awaited 4th of July first ripe tomato of the season.

 
My best friend grew up in Masillon, Ohio and we used to have arguments over whether

Ohio or East Texas tomatoes were better. She used to bring some back to me when she visited her mother. I think my old dog I had to have put to sleep in November was actually my tomato-eating, pot-digging culprit. I just haven't tried again this Spring. If this week is any indication I might be glad I didn't plant this year. We are already hitting 100+ degree days-very early. Lord, I hope the whole summer isn't this hot. Sometimes it lasts until November.

 
I can vouch for that heat you are having---yowzer it was hot! and those nasty wasps. yuk. but I

had a marvelous time with my friends and the wedding. good tex/mex too. and this fun fried chicken place that serves family style, bisuits and sorghum too.

 
Great idea. The main problem with the squirrels is them digging in the pots. One year I put

out a whole picnic-table full of started seedlings in dixie cups to let the start to harden off. Looked out and there is a squirrel picking up the cups and pulling the seedlings out of them! (??)

 
OK, so I nabbed the littel @#$@#$ red-pawed picking green peaches

while sitting in my tree this morning just as nicely as can be.

Any ideas for squirrel repellents in trees? They can jump in the tree from neighboring trees, so shields are not a solution.

 
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