Hi all,
I have a question about my new peach tree. I planted it several months ago, at the end of winter in Northern California, and because it was a bare root tree, literally bare roots, it started out as a stick in the ground. I planted them in the native soil, which runs on the heavy side in that area. I mulched around it with compost that was 15% chicken manure, 15% mushroom compost and other organic matter, nice stuff, everything else is thriving. I mulched over the compost with tree bark. I have been watering it every 2-3 days. We have a Mediterranean climate here, so it stops raining somewhere in May and heats up soon afterwards. But I first had a nectarine tree that got red spots on the leaves and then the leaves turned yellow and the tree died about 4 weeks ago. Now the peach tree seems to have the same issue after growing nicely and putting on some healthy foliage. Here is a pic of my tree. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Hello, welcome @Tori . I would expect the leaves to be darker green so it could be N deficiency. Perhaps you could try a folilar spray (for example fish emulsion) in case something is limiting uptake via roots. Very early in the morning, not in direct hot sun.
In similar posts, some have suggested bacterial spot is a possibility as well.
Look like nitrogen deficiency. I would just dissolve urea fertilizer and water it in for quick result.
What do you mean when you said your soil runs on a heavy side? Is it clay or clayish? If clay, it may not allow water to go through much. Peaches, nectarines, cherry do not like their roots sit in wet soil. Moist is fine, not wet.
Depending on how much your soil holds water, you may not want to water it too frequently.
Thanks for the reply. Looking at the photo, it looks rather washed out. The plant is much greener than it appears in the photo. I will try to get a better pic of it tomorrow. I did put about 3 inches thick of compost with chicken manure in it on the soil surrounding it, so I know it has had nitrogen. Will the tree actually absorb nitrogen from the fish fertilizer sprayed directly on the leaves? Interesting. I thought that was only through the roots. I know peaches are sensitive to clay soil and poor drainage, so hopefully the roots are ok.
Does X disease look like the spots on the leaves? I had a nectarine tree get sick and die, its leaves all turned spotty and yellow like that. I did just figure out that the neighbor has 2 chokecherry trees about 50 feet away as well. So far my other stone fruit trees look alright. I just planted all of my baby fruit trees a few months ago, nearly all of them bare root like this peach tree.
Yes, both the nectarine and peach trees were in an area that has heavier clay soil. I have been trying to be careful not to over water them, but to not let them get too dry either as they started out as bare root and are just getting established.
You may want to consider planting your trees on a mound or berm.
Hi @Tori
What I can say is I have 3 year old peaches/nectarines planted in both heavier clay and lighter clay soils. The one in heavier clay soil is not growing as vigorous and some even have those minor burgundy spots as well. None of my trees have outright died. I generally water only when necessary when it doesn’t rain here in East coast.
I’m not very familar with X disease but there’s many threads on this forum you could read up on. I did notice that in many threads discussing X disease here, over watering was often called into question. Even though you said you were careful, perhaps to rule out overwatering, you could use a soil moisture meter if you’re not already doing so, to ensure drier conditions before watering.
Wishing you the best.