Peach 'Red Haven'

I like the tree itself. Unfortunately, over the five years before this year, taste has been hit and miss. Some were excellent but many we...Read Morere underwhelming, as in flavorless. This year, a very wet year early on, has produced more consistent flavor among the fruit, but it is very very tart. I just picked and tried to eat one that was soft enough that it should be sweet. It was extremely tart. Maybe they'll be good for canning. It's going to take a lot of sugar to overcome the tartness, though.

Beautiful color - they were full red even when still hard.

I wouldn't get another Redhaven. Looking for suggestions, or insight into growing them sweeter!

Mike

History of this tree: It was introduced in 1940 by Dr. Stanley Johnston of Michigan State University. It was favored for its early ripe...Read Morening characteristic. Named 'Redhaven' for its nice red color, and for the Michigan State University's (MSU) experiment station in South Haven where it was tested.

We got our standard 'Redhaven' tree from Stark's Bros. about 6+ years ago. The second year it was damaged by an ice storm, so we had to do some drastic pruning on it. It wasn't until last year that it finally produced lots of peaches due to setback from ice storm. I made certain to thin the fruit, doing it in about 3 stages. The only maintenance spray I gave it was dormant oil spray in late winter. The negative aspect to this tree is that it is susceptible to Brown Rot, which in our area is only intensified by heavy spring rains and high humidity. Additional factors for our area include that we live on a dirt/gravel road, so tree gets road dust during dry times, as well as being in an enclosed area where there is not good air flow (due to living on north east side of ridge, with wooded area to west.) I will try and improve this tree's output by thinning most of fruit early, instead of in several stages. Thinning before pit hardening is recommended by several horticultural leaflets to prevent Brown Rot. I took measures after Brown Rot was detected by spraying with an anti-fungal (Draconil) on and off throughout the rest of the growing season, but this did little to check or stop the spots from enlarging and ruining the fruit. Even the stems showed this fungus as blackish damaged areas.

I wanted this variety as I prefer the yellow-flesh peaches as they tend to be sweet/acid, versus the white-fleshed peaches which are mainly sweet and no acidity.

Our soil here tends to be on the alkaline/neutral side. I wished I had pruned this tree to the modified vase instead of vase as there are too many scaffolds at one main point making it weak at this junction. Live and learn.

Note: I have since purchased Captan 50W fungicide powder as it has been suggested the best antifungal against Brown Rot. I am using it according to directions: mixed with water, "apply in full pink, bloom, petal fall, shuck stages, and in cover and preharvest sprays."

Another suggestion from an Arkansas cooperative extension agent, pub. 762, "in order to produce adequate amounts of new fruiting wood, mature peach trees should have an annual terminal or twig growth of from 18 to 24 inches. If the growth is less than 18 inches, additional fertilizer is needed. If growth is more than 24 inches, reduce fertilizer." I have been giving my RedHaven too much fertilizer.

With the inherently weak nature of peach trees in general, I need to know the recomended method of pruning to insure strong laterals, 1) ...Read Morea terminal 2) a vase shape, ( three laterals), or 3) motified vase ( three laterals on a trunk).
And/or is the strength of the limbs the result of the micro-nuterents that are applied to the soil.

I love my 5 year old tree. It did however develop a fungal infection in the third year characterized by curled leaves, leaf dropand spot...Read Moreted fruit skins. It took me a two years of using the recommended sulfur and "Fruit Spray" with little results before I tried the natural remedy of spraying with a combination of food grade hydrogen peroxide and compost tea. The results are very miraculous so far. In the late winter, I plan to hook a hose up to my kitchen sink (because it will be brutally cold in February in Michigan), I will do one dose of Copper Bonide and another of the compost tea and H202 in early to mid March and see how it progresses. The fruit is still very excellent except for the spots which are fewer than last year.