Help! Broken Peach Tree!!

My tree, which is about 4 years old, is laden with fruit. Tonight, while mowing, I noticed that the main trunk is broken, full of fruit - I'm heartbroken, it's the first year it's produced...what should I do, and can I harvest the peaches, which are sightly smaller than tennis balls, beginning to pink...HELP!! Leslie

By main trunk is broken what exactally do you mean? Is it a split crotch or big branch broken off? Do you have a photo you can post?

Before I learned to radically thin my stone fruit I also broke branches from excess weight. Peach and nectarines seem particularly prone to break. Or if you allowed a crotch to form when the tree was young that is a particularly vulnerable place for splitting the trunk.

Depending on the particulars of the break you might have enough functioning cambrian layer left to keep the tree green and ripen your peaches. If that is the case you might be able to relieve some of the pressure on the broken/split area by using some gentle props/supports. Can't offer much else without seeing the exact nature of your problem.

Top third of trunk is broken, not at a crotch...the break is still attached, but the broken part is snapped so it is laying paraell to the rest of the trunk. It looks as if someone came along and snapped the top third of the tree :(

FranKay, sounds like you have a salvagable tree. Why don't you wait until the leaves decide to die (or not) before you do anything. You might get lucky and save your peaches if the broken part is still attached with enough cambrian layer.

I don't know how you have pruned or shaped your tree but if you are not up to speed in that regard I suggest you get a good book or go on line to investigate pruning alternatives for when you have to remove the broken part and salvage the rest. Again Good luck.

Your tree may have broken under the weight of the developing fruit. Young peaches often set more fruit than their wood can support.

You ought to thin the rest of the fruit now to be sure more branches aren't broken.

The future health of the tree is more important than a single harvest this year.

The tree is small; about 12' high and trunk is approx. 5" in diameter. I have not pruned it as yet because it's still pretty small and I never expected it to set so much fruit. This happened this evening, it was just about dark when I discovered the break, so I did not have enough light to photograph the tree. Is harvesting the fruit a possiblity? I'm planning on bracing the branches, as they have fruit as well and are clearly overburdened with the weight...so sorry about the dumb questions - but can peaches ripen if harvested a little early?? Thanks for all the good advice - guess I'll learn to prune this fall! Leslie

FranKay, Try eating one or two and see what you have. I like mine firm but tree ripe. If you have never pruned this tree you really need to bone up on the subject of pruning stone fruit trees. Get info. designed for the backyard orchard, not for commercial growers. You might look at the Dave Wilson nurseries web site. 12' high is way too big for a home orchard tree. If you want your peaches to be like the ones in the super markets then pick them early. If you want them to be like a peach should taste and feel then let them ripen on the tree.

My mother-in-laws tree broke from the weight of the tree. She had one come prune it for her, but she is 88. I don't know your age, but you can probably prune your own. Anyhow, hers just went right on bearing fruit. Yours probably will, too. I didn't understand. Is the branch completely severed or is it still attached? If it is not severed, prop it up. If the peaches have started to turn from green to pink and yellow, you can probably pick them and ripen them -- or leave them on the tree and ripen them. If not, pick them now, and put them in an airy place and see if you can ripen them. This need not kill the tree if you clean it up now. And in the future, if it sets too much fruit pull or knock off a whole lot of it. There is a book called The Fruit Expert, widely available which describes the process. Best of luck!