It was 42" long and 5/8" caliper at the largest spot, just above the graft. I’d ordered it from Burnt Ridge, and for the price I can’t complain about the size. Without looking back I want to say it was about $18 and a bit under that for shipping.
But it was seven days in transit, and the roots were bone dry. There was some slightly damp newspaper at the bottom of the plastic bag, but the roots weren’t in it. I think they could do better on that part.
I did a thumb scratch near the top and got green, and I think I spotted the tiniest of green dots on a bud. But I don’t know if that tells me a whole lot if the roots are toast by now.
I have it in a bucket of water trying to re-hydrate the roots and will put it in the ground after a couple more hours.
I did drop Burnt Ridge an email just to let them know that it may or may not take off. I hope that since it has zero leaf out that the lack of moistuer on the roots isn’t as big a deal as it could be.
I kinda think so too Murky. I Thought I better send 'em an email right away just in case, but I’m cautiously optimistic.
I had to pull it some as it had a decent bend in it that didn’t seem to be corrected by adjusting the angle. It sure looks good in the ground all mulched and staked…
Like the other thread on zone pushing, I may be doing a little of that here. Most places show this as a Zone 5 peach, but a few (Including Burnt Ridge) show it as a 6. Sounds too interesting not to try though.
I’ve had an Indian Free for going on 3 seasons. First season i cut the thing knee high to build structure. Second season we had the polar vortex and temps well below our normal. This year the thing is loaded with flower buds. I don’t think you’ll have to worry one bit. Each and every year is a gamble anyways with fruit trees. Even in the “correct” environments nothing is guaranteed. If i went off of what others told me i would have planted 2 apple trees because "apples are the only fruit tree you can grow in Iowa, everything else will die here because of the cold. "
That’s good to know Sean. I see Dave Wilson indicates it blooms late, to very late and that is what I’m looking for. I have Reliance, Contender, and PF-24c coming in yet this Spring. That ought to round out my efforts at cold hardy peaches. I’d put in Redhaven & Madison on Olpea’s recommendation and am very glad I did! I also have an Intrepid but it’s too young to do anything yet. (As an aside, the PF24c is coming from Grandpa’s Orchard and interestingly, they show my zip as a zone 4… while every place else has us at 5)
Indian Free is awesome. My tree has canker though, still it should live maybe 3 more years, and I’ll get another. Mine is loaded with fruit buds too. It does though ripen very late and here it probably isn’t as sweet as it could be. Last year mine was ripe on October 10th. About the end of our season here.
Fruit from last year. They had a brix of 15 to 17. Again though it’s cold here by October. I loved them and will always grow them.
Me and you ate on the same path. Mine is loaded also. Deliberately left more fruiting wood on this one then the others. Can you describe the taste? I heard it doesn’t taste like a traditional peach.
No, it is not like regular peaches. it has some tartness, you have to let it become ripe. Once ripe it tastes like cranberry and peach, with enough sugar to keep it tame. It’s not overly tart, although the tartness is there. I doubt Fruitnut would like it. But it may vary by location. For example my Arctic Glo tasted very sweet to me. If I didn’t tell you it was high acid, you wouldn’t know. it. Whereas Fruitnut pulled his glo as it was too tart. I liked Glo better than Free, It’s still excellent and I plan to grow a number of the seeds out of Free (crossed with glo).
Indian free would make a killer jam too, it’s the best peach i ever ate. They tend to be small though. I don’t care. I want an old fashioned yellow peach and nectarine and I’m all set.Redhaven would be good for me, not sure what nectarine though?
Hey Drew, is Indian Free a drier peach? Most pictures I see make it looks less juicy than the yellow summer peaches. I know its supposed to have wonderful flavor though.
I’ve have a smoothie maker and fruits that are very juicy seem to enhance the smoothies.
Thanks that’s good to hear. Maybe it’s my eyes playing tricks on me with the lighter colored flesh. Heck, maybe it’s the odd color of the peaches that make them look unripe and it’s fooling me.
Correct, why i think a jam would be awesome. Although I grow a lot of berries so probably will not ever make jam out of them. I’m not even supposed to eat jam. Getting old is so much fun NOT!
Arctic Glo is even more juicer, it squirts if you bite into it.
When I was waiting for the first time I had high expectations of the peach. Most times these expectations are not met, in this case it was better than I thought. So enjoy!! A great choice.
Well I guess it does have brown rot problems, i spray, it worked well, no brown rot. It’s not overly humid here, it can be at times but the summer here is just about as perfect as can be. The fruit produced here is excellent. It’s bone dry in mid July to mid August. best window for fruit around here. Arctic Glo ripened August 8th. Perfect!
I wanted to get a brown rot spray in, but the blooms are opening, so I’m going to wait. I did get two copper sprays in. Everything is compressed because of the warm late winter than cold start to spring. Lucky to have fruit! Every tree is about to bloom now all at once. Plums, peaches, pluots, cherries, Nadia etc.
Aside from Arctic Glo, I will be trialing a few other nects purported to do well in the north: Mericrest (yellow) and John Rivers (white). I might also try Snowbrite and Snowqueen (both white) if I can get up the gumption.
You should soak bare root tree roots in a bucket before planting. I am hoping to graft one of my peach trees over to indian free. I tried once already with no take so hopefully this year it will work better. One of my Elberta peach trees died above ground. I thought it was totally dead. I cut the trunk at the base and a month later it suckered up. It had canker too. Congrats on your new tree.
