In my small ghetto orchard I have one peach tree that’s supposed to be a Redskin and the blooms always look odd and it has never set fruit. It’s been in the ground for five years and no other trees have this issue. It’s always been very vigorous and I haven’t fertilized it in the last 3 years . Anyone seen anything like this?
Its a bit hard to tell because the bottom picture is out of focus. In theory it could be a seedling making male flowers only. Look to see if there is a single stigma in the middle which is different than all the other things (they are stamen, the male part). Or it could be a seedling that is sterile for some other reason. Look for a graft union, if you can’t find one it might be a failed graft which is a seedling.
Hey Scott it is grafted and the graft is still obvious. I just went out and grabbed a bloom and it is a complete flower with male and female parts. Are there any kinds of deficiencies that would cause this?
Is there any place that you know of still selling scion wood, I would like to graft over it and see if the blooms look the same on a different variety. Sorry for the dumb questions I’m still fairly new to this and try to research all of my questions before I ask but this one stumps me.
I’ve seen ugly blooms after winter damage. Prior to that I always thought of bud damage as binary. They didn’t set fruit either.
I would try hand pollinating some to see if it is just an issue with attracting pollinators. If fruit doesn’t set then you know the reproductive parts are dysfunctional as well.
It’s funny you mention the hand pollination because I have tried that but still no luck. Very active bees all over the trees and still nothing. Maybe it’s just some weird sport and I got lucky enough to get it.
Explorer, I had some early peach blossoms on Charlotte that frosted just before they opened. They looked like that. But it’s hard to imagine that yours would frost like that for several years in a row, and others did not. I hand pollinated the deformed ones on my tree, they also did not take. Interesting problem, I wish I had something more useful to say.
No late frosts here so I have no idea. Maybe by threatening to graft over it I will scare it into production.
Borer,
I don’t think that’s a Redskin peach. I’ve grown Redskin for years and my Redskin matches all the descriptions (i.e. ripens appox. +28, fruit is as described, etc.). Your peach shows what looks to me like a fairly non-showy bloom. Redskin is a full showy bloom.
Almost all peaches are self fruitful, so it’s unlikely that’s the problem.
I’m at a loss why it blooms but doesn’t set fruit. I have had some trees which bloom some and don’t want to set fruit. Some peach varieties are weird that way. About the time I give up on them they finally set fruit and start producing regularly. I’d continue to give this tree a chance.
Here is a pic I took a couple hours ago of one of my Redskin trees.
It’s not a very close pic. I may try to go out and get a close pic yet tonight, so it will show the flowers better.
Well I plan to graft over it but I may leave one branch just to see what it does. It’s blooms definitely looks different than yours. I guess it will just remain a mystery which is fine because I wanted to practice grafting anyways.
Here is a close up pic of Redskin I took about 20 min ago.
As an encouragement, here is a pic of Flat Wonderful. I’ve had this tree for quite a few years and it has always produced a light bloom with a corresponding light crop. (Last year it didn’t produce anything because of the cold winter.) This year so far, much different.
Wow that thing is covered. Let’s hope my tree snaps out of it and does something. If not oh well I have plenty of orchards near by.
I really think your tree will snap out of it. Most peach trees start producing fairly quickly, but I’ve had a John Boy and an Ernies Choice here at the house that have had six full growing seasons (this will be their seventh year) and they’ve barely produced a handful of fruits. They were planted in bad spots. However this year, they are as covered up in flowers like the pic of Flat Wonderful.
I know it’s not the variety because I have some of the same trees at the farm in their fourth year, and they too are covered in flowers. I can’t explain it other than some spots in my yard aren’t as good as others. Not all the trees in my yard are in raised plantings, but all the peach trees at the farm are. It makes a big difference in my poorly drained soil.
P.S. I decided to make my avatar the Redskin flower I posted. I figure it’s as good an avatar as any.
It’s a perfect pic for this group of people. I still wonder why the petals are so short on the blooms and why they are so pale. Oh well there are other trees to fret over.