9 months ago I planted 3 or 4 peach/nectarine seedlings started from pits. Not sure what variety they were but they initially seemed to be doing well.
Over the winter, on all except one of them, the leaves completely died off. I know this is normal, but I can’t tell if they’re going to sprout any new leaves. These are still small, maybe 3 feet high and the leader is very pliable, so it seems like it’s still alive…
I realize spring just starting, but how long before I should expect to see any new growth?
Sorry no pictures, but I’ll get some this weekend…
I grow quite a few peach seedlings every year for graft stock. They all loose their leaves like normal in the winter, then sprout new ones in the spring.
The only issue you may have is that they may not get enough chill. I notice you are in FL, which is chill challenged.
One other thing I might suggest. Make sure you start your peach seeds at a time of the normal growth cycle. That way they will be more in line with the seasons.
yes chill is definitely a challenge here. we do have varieties that grow well here, but I have no clue what these are…I’ll give them another couple of weeks to see what they do.
I didn’t pay attention to the growth cycle when I started them…they were all in small containers and then I transferred to the ground once they got big enough. That is good advice for future reference…
I can’t get over how much this tree has grown in just two months. It’s hard to see from the picture, that this is the same plant in that last pic. It has put on well more than a foot in that time frame.
Here’s a picture of one of my nectarine/peach trees that I started from seed. This is the one pictured in the pot above…put it in the ground a couple months back and it’s doing really well…
started getting worried that this tree was done for (if you could call it a tree). as of a week ago I still hadn’t seen any activity.
This weekend I noticed some new growth popping up…not much, but at least it’s a sign of life.
You can see the tree is still completely bare and temps here are already in the 80’s during the day.
Yup…that looks good. I’d cut away any dead or any growth that leaves a mile of bare wood. you might want to start shaping the tree with new shoots you have there…depending on what your goal is.
thanks @warmwxrules, I’ll check to see if there is any dead wood, but from the looks of things it’s all growing…so you’re suggesting not to leave a lot of room between the leaves??
Ultimately, I’d like to see it produce fruit, but that may not be possible with this tree. Obviously, it still has a ways to go before it gets to that point.
I was just thinking since you are basically starting from scratch, you could shape it to the form you would want it in…otherwise you might have yourself a pretty thick tree with a bunch of long shoots.
