Peach Variety Suggestions for Ohio- 5b

General Fruit Growing
#41

Coming a little late to this thread…[quote=“Olpea, post:27, topic:8912”]
One downside I’ve seen [to Carolina Gold] is that sometimes it’s not been the most productive peach. This is a variety that is best to thin late after the fruitlets have solidly set. It doesn’t take much thinning.
[/quote]

My CG sounds very different, its far too productive to the point that I think it is producing too many peaches for the tree size and the sugars are suffering. I’m not sure why we are having such different experiences. My CG tree came from Cummins.

Anyway this spring I plan on more thinning to see if I can get the sugars and size up a bit. Other than this aspect it has been an awesome peach, great creamy flavor and few disease issues.

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#42

Scott,

How is your Foster peach did last season. I potted mine last year and I just brought it indoor next to the orangered just now to get a head start.

Tony

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#43

Tony, my Foster is not in a good spot for sun, and it had bad borers (that I cured recently). That on top of a variety that is not very productive means I don’t get many. But the few I got last year were awesome! I will like to hear how it works out for you.

#44

Scott,

You are right about how good and sweet the Foster peach is. Last year, I got to enjoy 5 peaches and the coons stole the rest and that is why I decided to pot it. I am planning to keep it in the sunroom this year to protect it from the bugs and coons.

Tony

#45

I had to dig pretty deep to find the receipt, but mine also came from Cummins. It’s just one tree in my backyard, so perhaps it’s just in an unproductive spot for some reason, but it’s a big tree. It’s definitely been a light producer for me. In spite of that, its also been a bit small, but a nice tasting peach here.

I like it enough I ordered a couple more from Vaugh’s last fall. It’s not that I’ve fallen in love with it so much to put in a dozen trees, but like it enough to try a couple more. It is a beautiful peach with good flavor and sugar so far.

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#46

I’m in Ohio and just bought a Contender, but I have a suggestion. Find a local u-pick place and see what they are growing. Near Columbus, in Utica there is a u-pick orchard called Branstool Orchards. Here are the varieties they are growing with their ripening dates. I’ll have to talk with them in more detail about which ones are doing best.

Early July:
Desiree
Early Star

Mid July
Rising Star
Early Redhaven
Garnet Beauty

Late July
Red Haven
Blazingstar

Early August
Starfire
John Boy

Mid August
Allstar
Blushing Star (white)
Canadian Harmony
Contender
Coralstar

Late August
Gloria
Biscoe
Messina

September
Encore
Victoria

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#47

Great info. Thank you for sharing this info for us in the Ohio area.

#48

That’s a good suggestion. One caution I might add is that if it’s a heavily picked orchard, one may not get a fair evaluation of the various peaches. I’ve said this often, but I’ve found there is as much or more variation in good flavor within the peaches on a tree, vs between trees of different varieties.

The first or second pick of a given peach tree is generally light years better than the third pick. But even on the second pic, the quality can drop off quickly. If you are picking the first pick and picking peaches ready to be picked, the best ones are at the top.

If you see a tree at the orchard with lower or inside fruit, and you don’t know how many times the tree has been picked, there is a good chance those remaining peaches won’t be representative of the kind of fruit the tree is capable of producing. Also, it has had a period of a lot of rain the two weeks preceding the harvest of that variety, the peach flavor will be watered down, sometimes to the point of not tasting good at all.

If there weather has been fairly dry and hot for a couple weeks prior, you should be able to get a representative sample, if the tree hasn’t been picked over too much.

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#49

Anyone have any experience with “Frost?” Supposed to be very late blooming, no other info. One Green World is selling it.

#50

Interesting tips about fruit flavor. New here and hadn’t heard any of those. While I want to make sure i have a good peach variety, my main concern right now is to spread out my season with a good early, mid and late variety for Ohio. In fact I want this in nearly all my trees so I can pick throughout the season, which is why I posted that variety calendar for peaches. Just picked up a Pristine apple to move up my apple season to July.

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#51

@Marknado Where at in Ohio are you located?

#52

I thought that was your intention and all those are peaches that perform reasonably well here in NY Z 6. Desiree seems variable here and mysteriously doesn’t set many flowers at half the sites I manage, but it is a good early peach in my orchard. I haven’t tasted Early Star, but Olpea may have recommended its flavor. Harrow Diamond has good flavor and should also work there. I think Glenglo may be a better peach then those listed as Mid-July.

Adams County Nursery lists Starfire in Redhaven’s season with John Boy just a few days after- John Boy II might provide a better spread for you- Red Haven sometimes bears over as much as a 3 week period. Gloria is low acid and not to my liking. There’s also some good Flamin Fury varieties in that slot, like PF 27 and PF28 that should work. I grow Messina, which is a good peach but a little tender, flower-bud wise.

Encore is an old peach and very long-lived and productive, but unless you have dry weather from mid-Aug until harvest it isn’t great. I’m growing O’Henry in that slot (Victoria is later and is the latest yellow I grow- right into Oct some years). Olpea speaks highly of Autumn Star so I need to trial that one. I’ve been selling it from my nursery for a while but not to sites I’ve tasted the fruit.

#53

I’m in Columbus. Should be a 6a zone.

#54

Thanks for the suggestions, @alan. I only have enough room for 2-3 varieties of peach. I already have contender so now just looking for an early one. I’m interested in redhaven, and was looking into a really early one as well.

#55

I’m an hour east of you. Between Zanesville and Cambridge. Coralstar really works well for me.

#56

@BobC thanks, I’ll have to consider it. Might be a good later variety, although pretty close to my contender. At the moment looking for an early one. …

#57

I have a Frost Peach that I planted last season but it had not a single fruit, so I cannot comment on that. My tree is just about open its dozen or so bright pink blooms. They’re supposed to be hardy down to zone 5 and aphids don’t even go near the tree, (maybe because my plum tree was so tasty?). I’ll have more to say about Frost once/if I get some fruit this year.

I don’t know if a mid April bloom is a good time for Ohio or not, by the sounds of it a later variety might be better.

#58

Nothing wrong with Redhaven, but here Johnboy tends to be a bit sweeter and deeper orange (better, usually, than my Coralstar)- it is a few days later than Redhaven, but doesn’t overlap with Contender. However, the flower buds are supposed to be tender to late frost. Nothing wrong with Redhaven. You can always do some grafting later.

#59

I will be planting a Desiree tomorrow which is a really early peach… Hope late frost doesn’t make it a non producer… will find out in a couple of years. Also, planting Loring and Victoria Peaches… This way I hit early, middle and end of the year peaches… We shall see.

#60

Great list. I grafted many of those this year.

From what I grafted and thanks to Olpea for his help. These are in ripening order. I’m in zone 5b IL.

Surecrop
Risingstar
Clayton
Redhaven
Allstar
Glohaven
Contender
Scarletprince
Baby Crawford (not sure if he recommended it. I just wanted it).
Madison
PF25
Redskin
Encore

And his notes written for me. There are varieties listed below that I do not have scionwood for.

Considering you are farther north than I, my recommendations might be a bit different for your area, vs. what I might consider “must haves” for someone farther south.

If I lived in central IL, I’d probably plant peaches fairly hardy. The following peaches I consider hardy, produce the best in frosty springs, and taste good. From earliest to latest. Some of these are patented.

Earlystar- There are hardier early peaches (like Harrow Diamond) but I’ve found Earlystar somewhat hardy in my area and tastes considerably better than Harrow Diamond. Earlystar also performs fairly well in challenging spring weather

Surecrop- Good hardiness and excellent performance in poor spring weather.

Risingstar-Ripens a few days after Surecrop and tastes better. While Risingstar has performed well for me in frosty springs, it’s not performed as well as Surecrop after a cold winter.

Saturn-If you like white peaches, this is a sweet white donut I’ve found a hardy and regular producer

Clayton- I don’t have much experience with this peach, so any concrete recommendation would be pre-mature, but so far this one looks promising.

Redhaven- Hardy and reliable. This would qualify as a “must have” in my opinon.

Challenger-Not a lot of experience on this one either, but so far looks very good and it reported to be very hardy.

Allstar- Hardy here and very productive every year.

Glohaven- Ripens with Allstar, but not as hardy. Tastes better than Allstar.

Intrepid- I have very little experience with this one. I have about 5 trees of this one, but they are still young. I mention it because it may be a very hardy and productive selection. It was developed in the same breeding program as Challenger and Contender, and supposed to be as hardy. This may be a variety you would want to take a look at.

Contender-A must have for anyone in a colder environment.

Veteran-Ripens with Contender. Very winter hardy but not as big or red as Contender

Scarletprince-Not a lot of experience, but may be winter hardy and seems productive in frosty springs. High quality very tasty fruit.

Julyprince-A little more experience and ditto all the comments about Scarletprince.

Baby Crawford- Hardy and very productive here.

Madison-A lot like Veteran, but ripens a week later

PF25-Hardy and productive, larger than Madison.

Redskin-Lots of experience with this one. Hardy and very productive. Doesn’t color very well.

Encore-Hardy and fairly productive, but have had trouble getting this one to reach acceptable levels of sugar.

PF35-007-Hardy and very productive. Good flavor. A very quality late season peach.

These are all off-patent.

Dax

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