Hello, I am new to growing fruit trees. I planted two peach saplings, a redskin and a redhaven, back in late February. I surrounded them with mulch, which I put over plastic, and used t-posts to support them as it is extremely windy where I live. I also used ferti-lome root stimulator and fruit tree fertilizer at the time of planting. Soon after planting, the area received an unusually high amount of rain, to the point that the saplings were standing in water for over a week. The redhaven tree started to bud, but all of the buds died within a week. The redskin tree has not done anything. Is that normal for first year trees or is something wrong? Is there anything i could do to save my trees or do I just need to start over?
Most likely dead after being submerged for a week. When you plant the soil is loose allowing more water than would normally seep in. For that week you most likely had bowls of water drowning your roots. Start at the top and do the scratch test all the way down until you find green. Then cut everything that was not green out. If you do not find green go ahead and replace the tree.
If you wind up having to replace your trees, I would suggest planting the replacement trees in mounds to aid in preventing waterlogged roots in the future.
Where are you on zone 7b?
Your location will determine how much pest and disease oressure you will get. Growing peach trees is not easy. They need care including spraying. If you are willing to put in the work and spray, that will be a good start.
I give you this unsolicited advice because I have 3 girlfriends, 2 of 3 really love peaches. All three gave up after 4-5 years after realizing how much work they needed to put in to fight off diseases and pests and protect their peaches in our area.
I agree with mamuang. They are a real workout to get fruit out of. I actually replaced some of the overgrown ones I have with easier fruits. Still have tons of stone fruits, but will not be getting any more for sure.
If your peach trees were in standing water for over a week you have them planted in area that is too wet. I am not sure how deep your standing water was but your two options is to relocate the peach trees or plant them in raised containers if the standing water was not too deep. I plant my peach trees in containers that are 4 ft x 4 ft, 12 inches high.