Peaches and Nectarines and Pears...Oh My!

Soooo......3 falls back I bought 2 peach trees from WM. The following spring and summer, one tree made fruit....they were pears. So last fall I bought 4 peach trees and yes they are really peach trees this time. I also got a nectarine.

One pear is making fruit, the same one that did it the first year, 1 peach has fruit and so does the nectarine.

My question for today is:

Are any of these types of fruit trees either male or female or self-pollinating? Or should they all be making fruit?

Molly

Peaches and nectarines should be self-pollinating. Most pears are supposed to need a pollinizer, but I have found that some will fruit even without one.

Thank you L. There are 2 pear trees out there and the fruit is still on the one.

Of course they all need to get a bit older before they are all producing. I still have time to learn how to can.

Molly

Pears are slow to mature and produce. Peaches and nectarines, otoh, will set too much fruit when too young to support it. Their wood is not as resiliant as pears and will more readily break under the weight of the very large fruits that some varieties now produce.

If your young nectarine is setting a lot of fruit and it doesn't drop on its own by the time it's as large as a pingpong ball, thin it out.

Molly,
Fruit trees and shrubs need a certain amount of chill hours between 32º - 45ºF to break dormancy properly. If those requirements are not met, not only will you not get fruit, but the whole tree suffers, may fall prey to diseases and insects and die. When you purchased your peaches and pear trees, did you take their chill hour requirement into consideration? My local Cooperative Extension Service agent told me to err on the safe side and to get fruit tree varieties whose chill hour requirement are about 100 hours less than what we normally get. Since the chill hour number you get from your Co-op agent is an average, you have a better chance of getting fruit every year if you stick to varieties that require less than your average number of chill hours.

LTilton, I was told the same thing a couple years ago, about thinning them out. Difficult as I may find that to do, I plan on watching and thinning. Last year the pears all fell off eventually as the tree was to young to hold them.

This is my first year for the peaches and nectarines. I will watch and do the same.

Betty, the feed and seed that sold me the peaches and nectarines told me they were Florida hybrids. I would expect, based on that info, they may not require a lot of cold. BUT, in December alone, out here at my place, we look at probably 90 hours of temps between 22 and 40. I am on the very very cold side of zone 8b.

Gainesville is about 20 miles from me and their winter temps are about 10 degrees warmer than mine, at night. So much difference that persimmons, which are very common in this area, freeze to death.

Thank yall for your help.

Molly

If all else fails, ruby slippers prevails...