Hi All,
Squirrels took most of my redhaven peaches in container tree last year. I started to experiment miniature peach / nectarine in containers this year on my small deck.
The varieties I got this year:
- Sensation miniature peach (starkbro) (unknown rootstock)
- Necta Zee (davewilson) (lovell)
- Necta Babe + Pix Zee peach (multi-bud) (dave wilson) (lovell)
Question:
- Do they have more problem comparing to standard varieties? more disease?
- They seems very dense, any special pruning advises?
- In your opinion, should I over-winter in unheated garage? (zone 7b, SE NY)
- What do you think about Honey babe peach, Arctic babe nectarine?
Please share your experience and any comments are welcome.
Thank you
1 Like
Search the forum for a thread where Bear_with_Me and I have a discussion about the dwarf Eldorado peach.
Matt,
Thank you for the great thread.
I did not think my area has the early heat Eldorado likes. I will update the thread with the experiment.
I don’t think that will be a problem. It’s hot as hell here in July— even in NY.
They are intriguing, and certainly beautiful when in full bloom, but the genetic dwarves are too compact for my needs. I took a long look at Eldorado (for its early ripening and cool name) but there are other peaches with more vigor that will ripen that early (Rich May; Springcrest) and other peaches not that far behind (Gold Dust and Harrow Diamond).
I prefer a 10-foot tall tree with more air circulation and more branch space for growing larger (peach-size) peaches.
I have a Baby Crawford on Citation. After three years in the ground, that tree is still way too small (no higher than four feet tall, and of spindly growth). I look at all of the extra space above it and think “What a waste!”
I worry our Eastern humidity would harbor pests and diseases on these cramped trees.
BearWithMe has foind them useful for wheeling under the porch in pots so his PacNorthwest rainstorms don’t make peach-leaf-curl a foregone conclusion.
Someone in my neighborhood has a genetic dwarf peach in their front yard. It is pretty, and they say the peaches are delicious, so what do I know?
4 Likes
I have tried quite a few of the dwarf/patio peaches and nectarines including El dorado. While they are beautiful trees, the fruit quality on all that I tried were quite bland, even after 5 years in the ground. They have been replaced with standard size trees now. There were two exceptions, Necta zee nectarine and nectar babe nectarines. Both are very good, Necta zee being best. I still have Necta zee and enjoy them every year, a very good nectarine. El dorado never ripened evenly, even after I bought a second tree thinking it was mislabeled after reading all the good things in the description. The others were better than El dorado, nice sized, but still bland. It may be El dorado works in other climates, just not the sunny California Central Valley.
5 Likes
Hi Fruitgrower,
Thank you for sharing your experience. I have never grown nectarines before. Did you do special pruning for these fairly dense tree? Or spray for fungal disease? I am in east coast not as dry as central California.
1 Like
They’re really nice. I planted a genetically dwarf Southern Rose Peach in container and it looks really nice with fruits. So easy to take care of and the flavor is good. Am getting the latest one featured by DWN for 2019, the Arctic Babe White Dwarf Nectarine.
1 Like
Hi Alex, I did not do any special pruning to the dwarf trees because they grow so little every year. I did prune out some crowded branches every year. The trees are beautiful and I had an entire block of them and the spring blossoms are very nice. Thinning is a chore, you think it’s bad with standard trees, These things pump out more fruit than anything I’ve ever grown. Even after proper thinning, they are still just ok. I am spoiled growing 20 to 30 brix fruits on my standard trees, but these fruits were around 16 brix and pretty bland here. As noted, the Necta zee and Necta babe were very good, and I believe the new Arctic babe will be very good as well. I have not tried all the dwarf peaches so there may be a couple of good ones I did not try. But the majority are very nice looking but bland flavors. It may be that they do better elsewhere, but hard to believe they are not good here. If you get a nectarine you will probably have to spay spinossid on the blossoms at petal fall or right before. This will get you perfect nectarines, weather dwarf or standard that I recommend. Remember to spray in late evening to avoid any bees. Good luck!! I always spray copper and horticulture oil three times a season for all stonefruit, thanksgiving, Christmas, and right as the buds stat to swell. Hope this helps, and hoping you have a very fruitful summer!
1 Like
This is a serious issue, I would not recommend them for the east. The trees are just a total mass of leaves - the genetic dwarf aspect puts the buds much closer together so you get a 20’ tree worth of leaves on a 4’ tree. For diseases thats a nightmare. My first peaches were these dwarves, they were the older varieties (Garden Gold?) and were bland, but the newer ones sound better.
2 Likes
Here’s my genetic dwarf Rose Peach. I have it for three years. I don’t really prune it and t hasn’t grown much but Always bears this much fruits.
6 Likes
