The stall out is normal. If the tree is growing it’s not stunted and neither are the peaches. I won’t apply N this late either.
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Did you get to taste any of the seedling’s peaches this year? 
My Contender had a ripe peach today, first one ever, and it looked spotless. I gave it to my neighbor as he was leaving for a weeklong vacation. I also gave him a bag full of vegetables. It’s the least I can do as he’s letting my family stay with his family at the resort next weekend.
I took a picture of one that is still hard, I’ll let it ripen up on the tree. This tree only produced a few fruit this year. Hopefully next year I get a big crop. It is in full sun on a gentle slope near the road.
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Contender peaches have done very well for me. This year the peaches are very, very small. Normally the Contender peaches are very large and very juicy. I think the Contender peach has been a great choice for me here at my location.
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Thank you so much for asking me that! I literally was going to talk about it today. I have a total of 3 seedling peaches (well, maybe 2…I’ll explain) and all 3 have fruit for the first time and yes, I got to try one already just this weekend.
First, the reason I say I have 3 but maybe just 2 is that one of mine is sort of an unknown. It came about because I had a normal, grafted peach tree which the grafted part died but it came back from the rootstock. In other words, this is a full tree that is 100% rootsock. Problem is, I have no idea what rootstock it was. Before we start guessing based on common peach rootstocks, I should say that the tree was bought at a big box store that sources trees from lots of questionable places, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they just plant pits they get from a canery or peach processing facitlity and use them a rootstocks instead of acquiring well known and proven peach rootstalks. Either way, we may never know.
So, the rootstock tree is covered in peaches, but its now mid august and they all look like my others did back in May. They have nice shapes and solid green and rock hard and are a little SMALLER than a golf ball! So either these are going to end up just being tiny little peaches or they will be the latest oeaches in my orchard by more than a month! (even my Parade peaches are approaching ripe)
My second seedling is definitely a seedling, and I do know 1/2 of its lineage. It was a seedling tree I found growing one spring out of a pit under an Indian Free tree. So I know its 1/2 Indian Free but of course no clue which of my other 24 peach varieties pollinated it. What is neat about it is I would have known it was 1/2 Indian Free even I didn’t get it from under an Indian Free. Those who have grown them know they have a very distinctive look that is like no other (except Indian Cling) and this seedling looks just like an Indian Free/Cling so far. Now, they are sizing up now, but still are fairly small. I’d say 20% larger than a golf ball. Sadly, I lost my original Indian Free Tree so I can’t compare to see if these seedlings are roughly the same size at this point. SO the jury is still out on whether these will size up completely and make a good peach.
Finally, is the truest mystery of all- a seedling that I found growing in my mulch pile where I throw all my pits. So I have no clue what either parent was. I know that if the pit made it to this particular mulch pile it was one that I used the fruit from (its by my back door. My orchard culls go to a different pile closer to the orchard) so it came from a good peach.
Anyway, the tree is 3 or 4 years old and just fruited for first time and gave me 6 peaches total and 3 that made it to harvest. You’ve seen the photos. Now I’ m thrilled to tell you that the fruit was incredible!!! I’m awful at describing peach taste or texture, so I will just say that this peach got good and soft on the tree by the time I picked it (soft-not mushy) and was average size, and was as sweet as any peach I grew this year, Overall, its a great peach. That being said, I don’t think I can patent it and make millions of dollars (aside from legal reasons including that the parents are unknown and may well be patented) because as good as it is, I can’t honestly say it has anything that stands it our as extra special. Its average size, ripens late but in the same window as other late peaches, etc. So nothing SPECTACULAR, but by all means it is better than lots of named varieties I grow, so I am thrilled.
I’d always heard that the odds of getting a good seedling peach were far far better than getting a good seedling apple. So maybe this isn’t the miracle I thought it was. But knowing that 2 of my trees got together and produced a peach that anyone would be happy with is pretty exciting stuff. Obviously it will be fun to watch in the future to see if it has any other characterists that might make it special (cold hardiness, drought resistance, etc). Meanwhile, just having a tree on its own roots is pretty cool in the fruit would.
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This one is close. I’m letting it ripen inside to make sure I get at least one before any critters do. I think it looks pretty good. I gave it just the one triazicide/immumox spray after petal fall. Maybe it’s just beginners luck and the diseases will show up another year.
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My first year of having peaches, no spray of any kind. Perfect peaches in New England!!
My luck ran out pretty fast. Bugs showed up the 2nd year of fruiting. Brown rot, the 3 rd year. They have been my uninvited guests (enemies) since then.
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It was better than any peach I’ve had from a farm stand. They grow all the good varieties that Adams sells, and probably pick them too green to be this good. It was very sweet and peachy with just enough acid to make it exciting.
I don’t know if it made the difference but I was watering the tree every day when made my rounds with the garden hose until I cut off the water on August 1st.
Hopefully the quality is close to this when the tree is bearing heavy.
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Awesome to hear!
All my peach flower buds got knocked out this year from our -15/-20 degree days last January… That is, except for Contender.
Not only were it’s flowers the only ones to survive compared to other cold hardy varieties such as Elberta and Reliance, but it’s only now starting to push flower buds and leaves. This is about 3 weeks later than all other peaches I have.
If you are looking for cold hardy and extremely late blooming (at least in my location) peach, I highly recommend this variety. It’s got some quality flaws when compared to other peaches, but there’s a lot to be said for having ANY tree ripened peach on bad weather years and Contender allows that for me.
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I am in the Fingerlakes region of NY. Zone 5. Which of the following are most likely to survive spring freezes: Redhaven, Contender, Intrepid, Veteran, PF-24C?
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I’m 5b Nebraska, and redhaven and reliance have both been very reliable for me, failing only one crop in the past 5 or 6 years (due to an extraordinary winter single night low somewhere in the -20-something’s)
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I grow all of those except PF-24C in Ohio. I’ve got at least a handful of Veteran peaches every year for the past 9 years, usually much more. Contender and Redhaven have been very good also but have each missed a few years. Contender probably tastes the best out of those. Also consider Madison, it is almost as reliable as Veteran. For some reason, I have no idea why, my Intrepid has never produced any peaches until this year and I got 2. It is on an unknown dwarf rootstock as opposed to my other peaches which are standard, maybe that has something to do with it.
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I had PF 24C for about 10 years. It is above average for cold tolerant but spring freeze is another story.
It depends on how low is the freezing temp and for how long.
My tree, in general, was productive and They peaches were good size with good quality.
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I am in Chicagoland, Red heaven, Reliance, are reliable producer. Few years ago, I
had a peach called Challenger. I got a scion from a member here. Challenger proofs a reliable producer too
How are the Carolina Gold & Challenger for cold hardiness, productivity, & taste?
I’m on the line of zone 5A/5B
I used to have a grafted branch of Challenger and it is bud hardy. I am in Chicago, Illinois. That Challenger set fruits whereas many others didn’t
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True, depends on the cold temps and how long and low it gets. Plus the spring freeze is always lurking to get those peach blossoms. It is a hot or miss with peaches in my location. I knew that when I planted them. When I get peaches they taste amazing. If I do not I always hope for " next year".
The Contenders will produce when my other variety will not. Contender peach is a good choice for me. They always taste good and not mealy.
I put in a Contender peach last year. It wanted to produce fruit this year but I picked the fruit off to encourage growth. We had several late frosts, but the Contender pulled through.
Unfortunately, it’s on citation rootstock, which I’m finding out is a weak grower. I only had about a foot of growth at most this year and the tree has a long ways to go to size up, so I may not let it fruit next year either.
I noticed that about my peach trees as well, the slow growth the first couple of years…then boom the shot up and the trunk got really thick. I did not get any fruit off of mine until about 4 years maybe 5 years. Don’t give up hope it would be worth it.
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