Looking for information on these peaches? I’m not familiar with them, but then again, I’m no peach expert. The gentleman caretaking our property up in West Virginia is wanting to grow some, so I’m looking for a source if there is one around…
He said they had come over originally with the Spanish in the 1500’s and made their way up through Mexico. not sure if that is true or not. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Do you mean Native American Blood peaches?
I got the one they call Indian Free, in Feb '15. I probably should have chopped it down low but I didn’t really understand how that worked then, and I’m not sure I could have done it anyway…noobie syndrome.
It’s pushing seven feet now and had I topped it it would probably look the same as it does now, except two feet shorter.
The history of these peaches in the US is muddy. Most people believe they were brought by Spaniards to Florida where they spread to the rest of the US. But there is also an argument to be made that Indians brought them from Asia - in etymology of several Indian languages peach is a very old word and apple is e.g. “large peach”, plum is “small peach”, etc. There are also several records from old explorers interviewing Indians saying they have been growing peaches since time immemorial. Maybe some day a peach DNA test will help out here. Along with the blood peaches there are also white ones. Indian Free is the most readily available peach that is likely an Indian peach descendant.
Jeremy- the way you said it I think you are saying you found a brick and mortar, walk-in nursery that has them. But I get nervous whenever I see someone talking about buying from an online nursery in Georgia, because there is one that is absolutely notorious for being an absolutely awful fruit tree source- poor service, poor quality trees, mislabeled trees, etc. Its called TY TY and if you’ve done any online fruit tree searches you’ve seen their very strange advertising and web site. In spite of their horrible reputation and history, they advertise so much that a lot of new people think they are a well established and therefore trustworthy company. THEY AREN’T!
Hopefully this isn’t an issue and that’s not who you had in mind as a nursery source, but I just want to make sure. Good luck with Indian Free.
nice looking tree @Seedy…I heard back from a nursery in Georgia, just a little bit north of Atlanta that carries them in all sizes…
@scottfsmith thanks for that information…it’s certainly a fruit that has some history to it.
@thecityman. Yes I did find a brick and mortar nursery… I’ve heard of TY TY and their sketchy reputation…the place I’m talking about is Willis Orchard in Carterville…This seems like more of a mom and pop type nursery.
I would try another nursery and wait until fall. Willis has a terrible rep as well.
I love the peach, but you have to like acid with your sugar to feel the same way.
appreciate the advice @alan. As it turns out I misunderstood my caretaker…he wants the actual peaches themselves, he intends to grow them from seed…
so, if anyone knows where I can get a half bushel or so shipped let me know.
Indian Free is not self-fruitful (which is relatively rare for peaches), so any tree grown from a seed will be a hybrid with unpredictable properties.
Indian Free is a late peach, they ripen in September - early October (depending on location).
I believe Indian Free and Indian Blood are different varieties. Blood is self fruitful. Bay Laurel has both but I have ordered from Willis and I have had good success with them. Willis has cleaned up in last 4-5 years.
Yes, here is my Indian Free in 2014
Here it is tonight. About 5 feet tall. It has about 40-50 peaches on it.
Yes and Indian Free is not. Blood comes true to seed too, Free does not! It can’t it’s not even self fruitful. So you want Indian Blood for sure! It is a cling peach, and has the hard rubber like texture of clings. I myself would not mind some seeds of it!
I believe some research indicates that the two of them have different genetic sources of the blood-fleshed trait.
Edit: I found what prompted the comment in the original post. It is Inheritance of the Blood-flesh Trait in Peaches. The last para. notes that Indian Cling develops red flesh later than other varieties with the trait and conjectures that there may be a different gene.
Okay…I’d better ask this question now even though it’s not really on topic: my Indian Free tree is shown above; it is pretty healthy, though it did get hit with P. Leaf Curl a bit. I want it to look similar to Drew51’s tree, that is, with branches starting much lower than it has now. Do I get that by chopping it off this Winter, like I could have done originally? It was planted in Feb '15 and it was a tall, branchless stick. Is it too late to go back to a 24-30" stick?
We have a new player, besides the Chinese red peaches Scott has, which are interesting too I bet!
This one
I wonder when this one ripens? I know a couple here have it. I would like to get Black Boy at some point.
I received some cuttings this year from Eric(amadioranch)and grafted them to a Bella Gold Peacotum and a Fantasia Nectarine.Maybe some will fruit in a year or two. Brady
Only if there is growth below where you want to cut it. You can kill a peach tree if you rely on older wood to send out new shoots.
If you have squirrels or raccoons in your area, you probably are better off with a long trunk anyway so you can either set up baffles or net more easily.
