Mine greatly outgrows all the other peaches I’ve grown so far. Is Red Haven peach one of the most vigorous growing peaches?
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Maybe the right way to ask this is in the sence of perfect growing conditions. Because growing conditions are critical to such a evaluation.
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Not for me. Mine finally croaked after 3 years of struggling.
My big-D from Paul Friday’s collection has been a beast for me.
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So I planted a tiny one from Star Bros fall 2024 and it got a tiny tiny peach on it this year that my mom wouldn’t let me pluck. It it’s growing pretty well regardless.
The craziest growing thing out of all the trees I planted fall 2024 is the shiro plum.
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4th leaf red haven. Last year, cicadas robbed us.
Third leaf relience, there’s around 50 peaches hiding in the new growth. It had a lot more but they dropped in June. I think due to excess moisture (rain) shortly after our 2nd 2025 flood event.
Both bareroots from Stark. Personally, I think relience is way more vigorous, at least here it is…
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My Redhaven peach has been a very good peach for me here. It is as vigorous as my Contender peach has been. Unfortunately it is a hit or miss with producing peaches each year. That is not different than any other of my peach trees producing fruit. If one produces fruit the rest of my peaches produce , if one doesn’t produce fruit none of the rest produce fruit. Just were I am at the weather is always iffy in the spring for frosts and or freezes.
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At NW NC, the June Gold is the most vigorous and most predictable. Earliest blooming peach, best frost resistance, fast grower. The ones I have are/were on Halford rootstock.
I would also rate the Contender as a better peach than a Redhaven due to size and flavor. It is also very vigorous.
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Me too, more or less. It is all or none.
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Yep, looks like we are about in the same zone and same issues with the the peaches. So we can commiserate together about peaches…or lack thereof.
As a past commercial grower, Redhaven wasn’t noteworthy having any extra vigor compared to other varieties with same rootsocks. Which in my case was Lovell rootstocks planted into fumigated soil with drip irrigation.
Considering orchard management, Norman, Contender and Belle of Georgia all required more summer pruning to keep alleys open for the sprayer. All three would put on substantial growth even with a full crop load. Norman was a pain as it needed more summer pruning to keep it open enough to develop a deep red color than any other variety I grew over the years. It ripened a week later than Redhaven so I had that row as the next variety so very obvious where the variety changed as you rode past the orchard as far as tree size went.
Generally speaking a Redhaven tree will be a smaller growing tree compared to many commerical varieties if I had to give an opinion. Although vigor and tree size are not locked together. Especially as some varieties are more spreading naturally. Sunhigh and its children will be more spreading than a Redhaven.
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