I look forward to hearing from you, @Olpea, @IL847, @TurkeyCreekTrees and others that have peach trees that went through temp below -8 F recently.
I think we did not go that low (yet). What surprised me from Bill Shane’s presentation was that mature peach trees sustain more winter damage than younger trees. I thought the opposite would be true.
That surprised me too.
I read up some more on endo- and eco-dormancy this weekend. There are many factors involved, as you know. You probably know all of this as well! I am still trying to learn.
Had this cold snap occurred earlier in the winter before most of the chill hours had been met, and the peaches were fully in endo-dormancy, then the may have stood a better chance of coming through with some viable fruit buds. Mark described that all better than I can. I can’t find the source now because I didn’t bookmark it, but somewhere I read a university citing peach buds in full dormancy can withstand -15 degrees if the other factors for resiliency are also met.
This is an excerpt from Virginia Tech:
…the consensus seems to be that peach flower buds start to be damaged at -10F and complete crop failure and/or tree loss occurs at -20F.
https://blogs.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit-horticulture/2014/01/06/fruit-bud-damage-from-cold-temperatures/
I have read several places here that people track chill hours for their locations. I haven’t been doing that. Do you all do that and if so, what site(s) do you like best?
I will let you know if we see anything abnormal. Did a walk through today since it was pretty nice out 60 degrees. I scratch tested some things, didnt see any off color and didnt see anything else visually that made me concerned.
It is flower buds that suffer easier than the trees themselves. I remember the two years that flower buds were killed. Leaf buds were fine!!
I think this year temperature went down to -17F is typical Chicago winter so I don’t expect my peach trees have unusual winter damage. Some branches die after the winter. I found they were not directly related to the winter low temperature rather a result of already existing disease issues. Winter temperature is just "the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. "
Annie,
Do you ever get peach fruit after a -17F winter?
To me this seems so wrong I would question his overall instruction. How to explain that very low number? Only trees in senescence or planted in difficult situations are pruned so lightly in my experience or you’d completely lose control of the tree.
Usually the number given by gurus is 30% but I often remove half of the wood from vigorous young trees that haven’t been summer pruned. In home orchard conditions tree growth varies a great deal from site to site and pruning has to be adapted to a given site and season. If the crop is frozen out, watch-out- vegetative growth of a healthy young tree will go through the roof.
My strong emphasis is out of concern for novices here who might allow their lower wood to die from inadequate wood removal. Before you know it your crop could be above 10’ up. The bearing wood needs to be well lit with sunlight.
Here the rec is 40%- but it’s for Texas conditions Pruning Peach Trees
Here’s a nice article about summer pruning. Correct summer pruning techniques for peach trees stressed - Fruit Growers News
What my searching has shown me is that few experts seem inclined to give a specific percentage of how much wood to remove.
I don’t think that it is wise to set a % of wood that needs to be pruned out of peach trees…but 15% does seem low. I usually prune about 25% from mine if I had to assign a number. Some are less…some are more (20% -30%?). It really does depend on numerous factors and every tree or orchard will be different. I would expect much more pruning in a warm climate on an annual basis.
I really tend to go for a wide scaffold spread which has taken a lot of effort and time. Not sure it is the smartest thing to do with the possibility of short lived trees in my climate. It has paid off with good fruit crops though so I guess I did something right.
Alan,
Good reading from your links. A comment from Bill Shane’s presentation; I liked the description of “thinking ahead” to next years fruiting wood. For example if you have say 10 fruiting branches where 5 should be, cut 5 to 3-4 inches so they can grow next years fruiting wood. Then the following year cut the spent wood back.
I have been guilty of letting some water sprouts crowd the center before getting around to removing them. I do have some growth lower in the center but I would like more. Can I bend over a few of those water shoots down low to rebuild fruiting wood down low? I would try this when they are 10-12 inches tall while they are still easy to shape.
In the past 10 years, twice I had no fruits. One occasion was couple of years ago when we had below -30F. That year my Reliance lost a scaffold and suffered severe branches damage. Another occasion, the temperature was some where below - 25F, ( don’t remember exactly which year but it was the second coldest winter in10 years). Temperatures anywhere between -20 ~-10 range is normal in Chicago winter. I expect have peaches this year if we don’t have late spring frost
Peach trees in a commercial system are removed once they are “mature” - commercial production requires young trees that reliably push out lots of fresh wood throughout.
Some of the peaches I manage are over 40 years old, some are done at 20, but as long as enough fresh wood is being pushed by the tree to create a decent crop I try to coax another season out of older trees. Sometimes most of the growth is concentrated in just a few excessively vigorous annual shoots that I bend using tape or string to bring them to a more horizontal position. At the very least they will produce peaches that season, but if you keep them a bit above horizontal they may become a longer lived useful branch.
Old fashioned varieties like Elberta, Redhaven, Madison, Rariton Rose and Belle of Georgia seem more inclined than most modern ones to keep pushing fresh new shoots from old wood. However, I’m inclined to pick higher quality over longevity. Not that Redhaven and Madison aren’t really good peaches- site and season matter as much as variety here in the northeast.
@alan, On trees in the 10-20 or so age range, if/when they quit producing new fruiting wood, do you remove the whole tree and replant? Or do you find the tree is still healthy enough so that can top work it and start over with a new variety & get another 10-20 years out of it?
I am really surprised to read you manage 40 yr old trees! That is encouraging.
I’d say 15 to 20 year old trees are often best replaced. Once they’ve lost adequate vigor to generate much new wood they probably aren’t going to do any better with grafts of another variety, although I’ve never tried it. I have found that a more vigorous variety grafted onto an older apple tree with excessive spur growth and little vegetative vigor can help bring it back to productive life. Once peaches runt out they are pretty hopeless no matter the age, IME.
My tree, through mismanagement (by me), started declining at 8 years old. After a lot of work to try to resuscitate it, it did not recover much. Honestly, if I was a bit more sentimental, I could let it live for 4-5 more years.
I am not sentimental with peaches. My two years old new peach tree has already produced.
Thanks Alan, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I had read somewhere (maybe an Ext pub) that we can expect about 10 years of production out of peach trees here in KS, but I could be remembering that wrong. I figured if that were the case then I would need to start growing their replacements when my “mature” trees are about 6-7 years old.
@mamuang - that would be a hard call when your tree starts to decline. I would probably try nurse it along for a few years… but like you say, a new tree 2 yr old already producing… that’s probably the most efficient way to go.
What is required for commercial production is not necessarily what is for home. Weak trees can sometimes produce the sweetest peaches. An adequate crop is in the eyes of the beholder- some people don’t need bushels of ripe peaches all at once and have plenty of extra room.
Yes, peaches are the true weeds of fruit trees- except that they don’t thrive almost anywhere. They are pretty picky about soil conditions and can be poor competitors with nearby, established trees compared to any other species I grow. They also require relatively good drainage. When they are happy they grow like crazy.
I have about 40 Contender & Reliance peach trees that are going into their 10th growing season here in Maine. They are still very productive but when one starts going into decline…I remove it after the season is finished and plant a new one in the spring. I now have a very good assortment of different aged trees (2-10 years) which is a good thing in a peach orchard.
I am curious- how difficult is it to remove a mature peach tree? Do you plant in the same hole or mound?
You have to ask my husband and his friend 
. From the look of it, it was not that difficult. Roots spread out more than going down. They were able to dig up most roots.
I plant a new tree within the drip line of the old one as the soil is already loose and easy to dig. My yard grows the best rocks so if I don’t have to dig more rocks, I am happy.