Are there to many peaches on this rich may tree?
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About 6-12 inches is recommended between the fruits.
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No.
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Maybe not too many peaches under normal circumstances. But there doesn’t seem to be enough leaves. The tree doesn’t seem to be growing. The peaches are way too visible.
That’s my way of saying there are too many peaches for the number of leaves.
The real issue is why so little growth?
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I’m sad to say that @JesusisLordandChrist 's tree looks better than mine at the moment. That’s not to say either is as lush as they could/should be.
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Agree with @fruitnut . The tree does not look lush and appears to have fewer leaves than it should for those many peaches.
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Well I cant really help the number of leafs. It’s been so wet all winter, spring and it rained the past three days and we are getting more rain here shortly. It’s just way to wet… I cant just pick it up and move it to a better location. So I suppose this year, It’s a swamp peach 
Appreciate the reply.
We are in the less than lush club together.
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I’m all for leaving the club though. My majestic is barely growing. 30ft away an arctic glo nectarine is doing astounding well, but the fruit gets brown rot every year. Shame, the peaches on the majestic are good. Hopefully years of top dressing will improve my lushness.
I hear you on leaving the less than lush club. Its kind of like hair club for men, no one wants to be in the club.
I have another rich may right next to the one pictured and its grown well. Has less peaches but way more leaves. I’m thinking about amending the pictured peach with 12-12-12 in hopes it will begin to grow well. I need to amend before july so the new growth will have sufficient time to harden off before winter, else i’ll have tip die back. It has happened to me before, rookie mistake.
Wow, that’s a lot. Thinning is one of my least favorite orchard activities. Up and down the ladder, reaching and twisting, almost falling off. No fun. Last year my peaches set heavy and I thinned but not enough. This year my peaches range from very light cropping to medium. I only have a few branches that set heavy, so I won’t have to do much peach thinning, might have to thin some plums, though.
I’d let mine go, but I’m a wildcrafter.
I pulled my Saturn out. Could not wildcraft it without thinning.
Saturn is a weird tree it basically fruits like grapes. One branch on the top can easily have 20 peaches if not thinned. Thinning is a must but the taste is worth the effort.
Same goes with most Asian pears and plums.
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I remember reading somewhere that you should thin peaches down to 1 peach per 30-40 leaves. Probably 1 per 40 for such a young tree.
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Way back when I could grow no spray peaches and get a decent crop…
I think this one had too many peaches… bending branches.
Yours seem to be holding the load pretty good.
TNHunter
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I’d say you are right. We have a slightly larger peach tree, which two years ago had so many peaches that we gave up cooking and eating them. Then last year, it had very poor leaf growth and all the peaches shrivelled before they had ripened. This year is is all but dead as you’ll see below, but I’m hoping I can save it.
Developing a large weed/sod free area around the base of the peach tree generally helps more than fertilizer. Peach trees generally don’t compete well with sod. Their roots are fairly close to the surface.
Creating a weed free zone won’t solve the problem of poorly drained soil, but it will remove one more stressor inhibiting growth of the tree.
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