whats wrong with my peach tree

this is a new peach tree ,was set out a few months ago, had 4 peaches on it they fell of ,now all the leaves is turning yellow, how much water do they need,?

It looks stressed to me. It wouldn't hurt to deep water it and see what happens since the fruit fell off (normally you would keep it just lightly moist from the time it sets fruit, overwatering can cause the fruit to split). Set out a hose with a sprinkler and turn the water on until the sprinkler forms a wet circle 4 feet around the tree and let it run for 1/2 hour to 2 hours (depending on your soil type. You want the water to soak in slowly and not run off). During the growing season I water my stonefruit trees weekly so the soil doesn't get completely dry between waterings. I have heavy soil (lots of clay) though, so it holds moisture until the next watering.....yours is probably different so adjust accordingly.

K

(Edited...stonefruit usually get a good set of fruit their 3rd year when planted from bare root. I always take off the fruits for the first couple years (if it sets any) to let the tree grow and get strong before allowing it to create a crop).



This message was edited May 26, 2005 1:08 PM

thank you so much i will give that a try,my first year with fruit trees ,my apple is doing great,maybe thats what my plum tree needs to, my grape vines is putting on grapes

Isn't it fun? There's nothing like eating things you grow yourself!

K

Yellow leaves can be a sign of overwatering and underwatering as well as a few other issues. If you feel your tree has not been getting enough water, please do deep water it. If the leaves stop yellowing, then that would be the root of your problem.

If you have been watering it more than once a week, there is a possibility it stressed because it was newly transplanted and may have a fungal infection. Only you know how much you have been watering it in addition to how much Ma Nature watered it in your area. If you think that your tree received too much water, pursue a possible fungal infection. Many fungal infections can be nipped in the bud.

If you have been deep watering it once a week, and if you feel the tree has been getting at least 3 gallons of water, you really should be fine and need to look elsewhere for the root of the yellowing leaves. Another possibility that comes to mind that could be causing the yellowing of the leaves would be the peach tree borer (Synanthedon exitiosa) or the lesser peach tree borer (Synanthedon pictipes). Both are natives to North America and young peach trees are allegedly particularly susceptible. I have a very small orchard with about 25 fruiting trees and have not had to deal with borers myself... thank goodness. I am always on the lookout for them though as I have very young Peach trees here. I'd probably freak out if I saw evidence of a borer on my beloved Peach trees.

There are allegedly quite a few other peach tree pests out there that cause yellowing of leaves but none seem to be as problematic as the borers.

A good rule of thumb that was shared with me was that I was instructed to always dip my root ball in a mild solution of bleach before planting it, remove competition of grass and such around the base of the tree, and fertilize. I fertilize by pulverizing those commercially available fruit tree stakes and sprinkling a little around the bases of my trees however I am sure there are better products out there. Proper watering, as mentioned by Kachinagirl, was also discussed with me as was familiarizing myself with peach tree insect pests. I have always done these things and haven't lost a tree yet but that could be nothing more than beginners luck.

I have Reliance, Contender, and Condor Peach trees here. I did not choose them on my own. They were suggested to me along with three others as being the most likely to survive and thrive here in my Zone and then I did a little research on my own and narrowed it down to those three. Sometimes, just choosing the right peach makes all the difference and I wasn't qualified to do that on my own so I had to get help. I don't know which peach you have but you might want to save the tag in case your leaves don't stop yellowing. It can be a real big help to know sometimes.

Gosh, best wishes to you.

Kachinagirl, Thanks for mentioning this, "(Edited...stonefruit usually get a good set of fruit their 3rd year when planted from bare root. I always take off the fruits for the first couple years (if it sets any) to let the tree grow and get strong before allowing it to create a crop)". I have two newly added peach trees this year and that makes an incredible amount of sense as an incredible amount of energy must go into fruiting at a time when the tree should be establishing itself. Also too, I don't know if you are watching this thread but have you any suggestions for fertilizers for my peach trees? Actually, since you seem to know what you are doing, do you have any suggestions for me in addition to what the farmer told me to do?

Yup, I'm still here! My guess that it needed water was based on how the lawn looks around the base of the tree. If it were getting too much water the lawn would be green and thriving. Normally when borers cause yellowing leaves it isn't so equally dispersed throughout the tree. The borers here tent to "ring" a branch. If you look closely it looks like someone has stabbed the branch with a pencil repeatedly, making an equally spaced, linear ring of holes around the branch (they are VERY precise those little monsters!). Then that branch begins to wither and die. For fertilizer, I used a balanced fertilizer like 15-15-15 for the first couple of years. Now I use a "Fruit & Nut" tree fertilizer balanced specifically for trees that produce fruit. Just follow the bag instructions. Another thing that is important (taught to me by one of my orchardist clients) for peach trees (and apricots), you MUST thin the extra fruit off the tree early. Here in my climate I do it before Easter, you may want to ask orchardists in your area when to do it. Steady yourself....because it is HEARTBREAKING to remove 70 - 80% of the fruit from the branches but it must be done (or the branches will break and the fruit will be small and/or worthless). To thin properly, you start at the branch tip, removing all fruit from the tip to 6-8" down. Then you pick the best looking fruits as you go, keeping and spacing them 6-8" apart......... removing everything else. Equally important is that you "rotate" the fruit that you keep on the stem.....for instance.....if you keep a fruit on the top of the stem, the next fruit you keep will be on the side, then the bottom, then the other side, then the top again as you thin down the branch. Since tree sap runs in rings up a branch, this allows each developing fruit to have it's own supply without having to "share" with another developing fruit nearby. Does that make sense? It's much easier to show someone than to explain it. Hope that helps.....just passing on what my clients have taught me!

K

Equilibrium well i had been watering it once a week , but not deep watering and watering it with a small sprinkler and letting it run far 1 hour.then we started with a lot of rain so i quit but now since rain has stop im watering it again so i started deep watering like kachinagirl toled me to do.but still have lots of yello leaves.the peach tree name is (red haven) self pollinator are that what he told me. now what and how do i find out if its got that peach borer.
thanks far any help i can get,never grew no fruit of any kind

I have a couple of thoughts here. First of all I did a basic search to figure out where Homosassa FL was. Looks as if you are a zone 10? Does that sound right? The Red Haven Peach is only hardy Zones 5-8. There is a possibility that you sort of pushed the limits of that particular peach tree as the data I am reading suggests it will do best in Zones 6 and 7. Planting a tree that far out of its ideal range could be at the root.

The next thought that came to mind would be that the leaves that already turned yellow will not turn back to green. Those leaves will dry up and turn brown and fall off. If you weren't watering the tree enough and now you are then more leaves won't turn yellow But it takes a little bit longer than a few days to reverse the process.

Regarding borers, I was told to look for the presence of the adult clear wing moths. You can do an internet search with the latin names of the insects that I provided above to see what they look like. Just cut and paste the name into your browser and then click on images as opposed to web and that should bring up some pictures for you. Other than that, borers leave exit holes on trees. There will be other tell tale signs of borer activity such as wood particles around the base of the tree.

Don't feel bad about never having grown fruit before. I hadn't either until about 6 years ago and got slammed with black knot fungus the very next spring. Talk about indoctrination by fire. I know more about black knot fungus than I ever wanted to know.

K- thanks for the tip on Fruit & Nut Tree fertilizer. I'd prefer to use a better product than those fruit tree stakes from the local hardware store. I'm sure I can track it down somewhere locally. We do have a nice garden center not all that far from here.

You explained how to remove immature fruits perfectly! Now I will save this thread for me. It won't be heartbreaking for me to do this as we get some pretty high winds and I was always worried about the added weight on such underdeveloped branches of the saplings. I presume the same would be true of removing fruits on other stone fruits such as my new plum but not necessarily on cherries? It's the weight on the branches that always concerned me. Come to think of it, I added one new apple tree this year and I think I will remove its immature fruit too. That was really a great suggestion and it won't be all that hard for me to do as I really only have 4 new trees this year and one of them was a cherry.

Again, thanks a bunch.

Glad to know I have some useful info in this noggin!

K :~D

Say K, what other fruiting trees do you have? I've got 5 cherries, 4 plums, 1 prune/plum, 5 pears, 5 peaches, 5 apples, 3 standard apricots, and 2 Manchurian apricots. Oops, that's 30 and I said I only had 25. Close on the fruit tree count because those Manchurians are in a different area. I do have quite a few native fruiting trees such as persimmon, pawpaw, and such. The new apple I added this year was a Honeycrisp. I'm really excited about that new apple. And yes, you obviously have a considerable amount of useful info in that noggin of yours as the farmer down the road never mentioned that to me and I am pretty good about following through with good information. I'm actually surprised he never mentioned that to me when I was getting my fruit tree 101 starter course back in the late 90's. I wonder if he just doesn't have too big of an operation to provide that type of individualized care for his fruit trees where somebody like me who only has x number of trees can be afforded the luxury of extra TLC.

equilibrium hi, no they say im in zone 9,and they toled me it would grow here. that part of my yard i can never get it real green there is so much sand that grass don,t grow to well there ,just spots here and there. not but a little way down from peach tree i have a great apple tree growing ,it is so pretty and green. i put it out the same time i put out peach plum and 7 grape vines ,thoese are doing great,they have grapes hanging on them.
i am priting up everything you guys have said and i will follow it i will check far the borers tomorrow,the yello leaves are falling off

Eq........I dont have as many trees as you do! We live in town, in a cul-de-sac so we have an odd-shaped yard that leaves room for the trees. We have Cherry (1 tree, grafted with 3 cultivars for pollination); White Nectarine (I forget the cultivar); 'Fay Elberta' Peach; 'Blenheim' Apricot; 'Flavor Delight' Aprium (90% apricot x 10% Plum!); French Prune; then...Pineapple Guava (Feijoa); Orange 'Robertson'; Lemon 'Euraka'; Mandarin 'Owari Satusma'; and finally Grapes 'Red Flame' & 'Thompson Seedless'. That keeps me fruity all year! LOL

Starfly........with that sandy soil you will need to water a lot! Whenever you plant a new one dig a very big hole (48" x 48" big) and amend the hole with forest humus, leaf mold, and other organics. These will help provide nourishment for the tree as well as hold moisture around the roots.

K

Hi starfly, I don't know what to say but everything I can find on that tree indicates your zone is not appropriate. The people who say it is growing for them may have different soil conditions or a microcolmate on their property that is cooler or are growing it at a nursery they have farther north in Florida than where you are. Just because an apple tree is growing and doing fine by you doesn't mean this particular peach tree will. There are peach trees cultivated specifically for southern regions such as yours that will be far less susceptible to disease. If I had a dollar for every time I bought a plant that a person selling it had told me would grow where I live, I'd have enough money to toss out the windows of my car. I just went on line for you and did a quick search and found this-
http://tytyga.com/peaches/
Note that your Red Haven is listed in the category with my Reliance. I am zone 5 and your tree is more likely to survive where I am than where you are but that site listed peach trees that are "Deep South" and "Florida" cultivars so if you decide to go with another Peach tree, you might want to check out those that are better equipped to survive and thrive in your zone. Try not to feel too bad as often times trees planted out of their range can survive quite nicely if they make if through the first few years. My Carolina Silverbells as well as my Holly trees and a few others are doing quite fine and by all rights they really shouldn't be.

K- you got all the good stuff you lucky zone 8 person. I had quite a few cold hardy grapes and kiwis here and they were doing remarkably well until they met up with a lawn mower and a weed whacker. I was told they looked like weeds. Those plants had been there for a few years. Guess he missed those "weeds" the first few go arounds. I'm going to try those again as I was doing just fine with my Isaii until the mad whacker made a poor decision. Come to think of it, I haven't seen my Quince lately. I love my husband but sometimes....

Now about my fruit trees- what an exercise in futility sometimes. Last year I had to deal with Cedar Rust from all the rain. The years before that it was Bacterial Spot and Powdery Mildew. The black knot was enough to make me want to take a chainsaw to the trees to put me out of my misery. Just keeping up with these fruit trees is maddening. I am slowly but surely replacing fruit trees that were poorly chosen with cultivars that are hardy and resistant to common ickies and nasties in my area. By the time I got to selecting peaches, I had learned the hard way to get help making my selections or kiss the trees with the pretty tags that I was buying goodbye after planting them. By the way, I went out in my bathrobe with a flashlight last night after the kids were in bed to inspect my peaches for immature fruit after reading your post. I had meant to do that earlier but forgot. My neighbors must think I am losing it.

equilibrium thank you far all your information,im finding out some of these nursery really all they want to do is sell the plants. i am going to order me a couple from tyty
i will call them that way i will get the right one. and i will go by all your direction,then i will post a picture of my new one.the grownd here is so dry you can water far hours then go out and dig and its still nothing but sand guess i will just have to water more often as long as my pump don,t run out of water

Oh nooooo, go by Kachinagirl's recommendations as you've got sand there. I've got heavy clay here. What she said about super soaking made a lot of sense not to mention amending the area where you will be planting another peach. Don't give up on the one you have. No sense abandoning ship on it yet.

Say check the Garden WatchDog on that TyTy before you order. I've never ordered from them before. I literally went looking for more info on your Red Haven and that popped up in my search engine. It did look like a nice site though. And sadly, my experience with many nurseries and some landscapers would be consistent with your opinion. I've been duped so many times I've lost count. Don't get too disappointed though, there are many out there who don't subscribe to those practices.

Post your pictures when you get 'em! I'd love to see what you select.

ok, ill keep the one i got and keep trying to get it better, but will supersoke the
place where the tree is and i will fix up a place far new tree.thanks far all your help

Oh this is a good thread. Thanks for all the info Equil and Kachinagirl.

I was so happy with my nectarines that I added 2 dwarf peaches last spring and they bloomed this spring. Of course NOW the nectarines have something going on and they've been carefree before. I've noticed leafs will have an area that puckers out and is red.

I've never thinned out the fruit although I said I would but it's on top of the list this weekend, at least the nectarines. They set soooo much fruit.

Fruit 'tree' inventory, 2xpeach, 2xnectarine, 2xbing cherry, 2xpear, 5xapple. I've started removing the apples. Too much of a pain since I don't spray. I originally had 9 and took out 3 more this spring. 4 including an espaliered apple started from seed. I have a habit of sticking things in the mud during spring cleanup/pruning. For a couple of years I had been watching this young tree grow on the west side of the house and thought it was a gray dogwood seedling I had moved out of the nursery bed. Last year it had about 4 blooms. Hmm, Ok but it's not looking like a dw. One fruit developed and last fall I had a golden delicious apple. This spring it was covered in blooms. That would've been one of the spring pruned pieces I'll stick around the yard if they have buds on them because they'll still open and bloom. This one got happy.

Sounds as if you have a mini home orchard like me! Good for you.