Just wondering …
One of my peach scaffolds broke loose from the espalier wire and then cracked/broke due to the fruit weight.
I know this one is coming off but I was just wondering… will the break in the branch, still attached by about 1/8 of the original wood, act as a choke point resulting in water deficit and sweeter peaches?
Not that I am suggesting such an extreme solution for the future but…
Mike
Do you have a refractometer? Sounds like you have a testable hypothesis on your hands.
Let us know what you find. 
That is what I plan to do this weekend and next when I get up to the orchard.
The only thing I fear is that if the results are positive… I will be breaking branches next year 
as a lazy mans way of improving quality. Sounds perverse doesn’t it?
Actually I remember seeing a guy on Youtube “girdling” branches with thin wire to control vegetative growth. Wonder how it works for water flow control within the branch.
Wonder if this could be an option for those of us who have no control over how much water our trees get.
Hey… @fruitnut this sounds like something on which you may have some insight!
Mike
Girdling the bark is used some on early peaches and grapes to increase fruit size and brix. That cuts off downward flow of sugars and increases retention by fruit.
I doubt you will be successful breaking branches to cut off water. A controlled cut part way thru the branch would be better. I doubt that would work either. But you are welcome to try.
I hope you know I was kidding about actually “breaking” the branches. Partial girdling was a thought.
Mike
Mike,
My peach trees break branches of all sizes all the time. As far as I can tell, it is detrimental to the fruit most of the time.
If the break isn’t too bad, the fruit will be OK, but if the break is very bad at all, it ripens slower and tastes bad. Of course if the fruit touches the ground because of the break, it will rot.
I’ve also read girdling will increase fruit size and brix, but for some reason, as far as I can tell, broken branches don’t operate the same way.
TEST RESULTS ARE IN
I tested the fruits on the broken branch (two weeks broken) and those on the other branches. 12 fruits in all .
The flavor and brix was the SAME for both batches. The fruit looked the same. They were all “tree ripe” and beginning to soften to the point where I felt that another week on the tree would result in too many drops and over ripe fruit on the trees. When these things start to get ready they really go to it
For this Poly White peach the break over two weeks had no effect.
Mike