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Zone 6...did you have peach flowers this season?

keepitlow
9 years ago

I have 4 peach trees that range from 4 to 5 years old. The trees had very few flowers on them, nothing like they have had in the past. Our winter was cold and long in zone 6. Did that have something to do with the peaches not flowering this year?

Comments (23)

  • marc5
    9 years ago

    Same story here--not one bloom on my two peaches, Reliant and Red Haven. We hit -21F in January, and I have noticed that all the new growth from last season is dead. Looks like a very weak apple season, too.

  • JLem
    9 years ago

    I had plenty of flowers on my 5 year old tree...very cold here this winter/spring too, but I didn't notice a difference in the flowering.

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    9 years ago

    I would say yes. I have 4 peach type trees, no flowers on any of them. They are though only 2nd leaf. One lost the central leader. But some nodes were active above the graft. i will have to reform the central leader (which never leafed out). I lost all but 3 canes on my 8 blackberry plants. My raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries were fine. One of 12 currants was also damaged. A lavendar plant over 20 years old died. Leaf(needle) damage on my evergreens. No damage on 4 clematis vines, or on a Magnolia vine (Schisandra chinensis).

  • calliope
    9 years ago

    I have over a dozen peach trees, not one bloom. The only peach blooms I had were a couple of trees overwintered in a cool greenhouse. LOL. No damage to the trees, but the blossom buds were fried to a crisp by the non-relenting frigid temps.

  • mamuang_gw
    9 years ago

    I have 3 trees at bearing age.

    Autumn Star has most fruit buds killed by cold weather. Lost about 80% of the buds.
    PF 1 lost about 50-60%.
    PF 24C lost only about 20%. Did the best.
    There were some young shoot tips died off, too.

    It was very cold for zone 6, with temp in sub zero several times.

  • mjmarco
    9 years ago

    Funny How I'm not hearing anything on the news about a possible peach loss this year here. I only have one tree and last year it was loaded this year 3 blossom is all...at least the tree didn't die.

  • jimmy56_gw (zone 6 PA)
    9 years ago

    I'm in zone6 PA, My 2 trees are about 3 years old so not much too them but they look ok, Sounds like peaches might be rare and expensive this year.

  • olpea
    9 years ago

    Michigan has reported significant crop losses for peaches in some areas. Other areas have peach crops.

    In my zone 6, some areas have good peach crops and some not so good.

    Mamuang,

    I'm not at all surprised to hear about Autumnstar. Autumnstar at the house and the farm both had hardly any flowers this year.

  • tshia6br
    9 years ago

    Belle of Georgia no flowers less than half the leaves, most the smaller shoots are dead. Red Haven no flowers, limbs and leaves look normal. Both stayed dormant almost a month later than normal.

  • mrsg47
    9 years ago

    All of my peach trees bloomed this year. This is wonderful, as last year all of my five peach trees produced one single peach. I am relieved that the trees are producing. They are all between 7 and three years old. Mrs. G

  • franktank232
    9 years ago

    Posted this on the other thread.. in case anyone misses it...MSU has a very good up to date website (weekly posts) on their fruit crops. Take a look at their site, its excellent.

    =======================
    "Peaches moved through bloom quickly last weekend. Bloom is ending with fruit in the shuck in many orchards. There was a good peach bloom in parts of Berrien County and some growers are blossom thinning where bloom is heavy. Areas where the winter lows did not fall much below -13 degrees Fahrenheit have a good crop, -15 F have a light crop of flowers often in the tops of the trees, and areas where the temperatures fell below -17 F have few if any blooms."
    ==================================

    link

  • bencjedi
    9 years ago

    Confirmed! I have 4 peach trees (3 of them dwarf-patio type) and weak blooms\no fruit here in Central Kentucky.

    My cherry tree and apple trees have a very low amount of fruit also. The only fruits doing exceptionally well for me are blueberries and raspberries.. both of which are fruiting record amounts for me!

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    9 years ago

    This year I took a bunch of cuttings from my currant plants. tired of losing fruit. I'm going to grow more fruit I know will be fine. The cuttings from currants take easy. I wish all fruit was as easy to propagate.
    My blueberries and raspberries are going crazy too. I'm really happy about that! Some of my favorite type fruit.

    The blackberry crop in MI was hit hard too, and my crop too. Only a few canes survived. If protected they do survive though, so this fall they all will be protected in some way.

  • mamuang_gw
    9 years ago

    Olpea,

    I don't know if or how much the age of the tree plays into cold hardiness.

    Coincidentally, my peach that has the most flowers/fruit happens to be the oldest (planted 2010). Then, PF-1 (2011) and AS (2012) have fewer and fewer flowers in that order.

    It's a surprise to me that Autum Star which is a late peach, flowers first (a week before PF-1 which is an early peach). AS suffered the most from the cold. I hope the fruit tastes good to make up to it.

  • olpea
    9 years ago

    Frank,

    Hate to hear you giving up on peaches. You're such a big fan of them. I assume you are still going to do container peaches?

    I think many places Michigan had some areas which were hit harder than others. This is what Southeast MI reported today.

    "Peaches continue to look tough, with many varieties not leafing out. I have not seen one peach flower this season. In the last week or so, I have seen a few leaves emerging from the most vigorous shoots in the tops of trees. It is too early to tell if this is a sign of hope that these peach trees might survive the extreme cold winter and be viable to bear a crop of fruit in future years. I need to watch this growth carefully over the next few weeks or so to see if this growth continues or collapses when under the first stress of the season. Trees that were under stress last season or are past their prime-bearing age appear to be dead or dying.

    Cambium tissue in twigs, scaffold branches and even trunks that was damaged from cold temperatures this winter is turning to a darker brown color. This is another bad sign for the potential of longer-term injury in peaches. It appears that there is extensive winter damage in peaches this season, comparable to cold damage that occurred in the winter of 1994."

    Mamuang,

    I know you are going to really like those Autumnstar peaches when the come into production. Good flavor, good texture. They are also a naturally large peach. I agree it is strange they are one of the first to bloom and one of the last to harvest.

  • eboone_gw
    9 years ago

    I reported this in an earlier similar thread but I had two total blossoms on my 3 mature 17-20 y old peaches (Encore, Hale Haven and an unknown white), all the rest of the fruit buds dropped off the tree to touch like they were dried out. There are a lot of dead twigs on all 3 trees also. Pears, apples and my Green Gage plum all normally productive.

  • ediej1209 AL Zn 7
    9 years ago

    Not Zone 6, but Zone 5 here. We have 1 white peach tree we planted a few years ago that we've picked fruit off of the last 2 years. Not one blossom to be seen this year. (Need a Crying emoticon!) At least it does make me feel less "rained upon" to know we aren't the only ones seeing this. We did have quite a few blossoms on the apple trees, though. Maybe it was a timing thing?

  • jethro75
    9 years ago

    I am in zone 5 and have 2 peach trees, 1 Reliance and 1 Contender, both planted in 2011. Both were loaded with flowers this year (also last year which was the first on both). I had in the -20s multiple days this past winter. The Contender is at nearly 100% pedal fall and the Reliance is just starting to drop its pedals (donâÂÂt know if the later blossoming where I am at has anything to do with it or not).

  • Tha Pranksta
    9 years ago

    I have one Redhaven peach tree on its 2nd year of blooming. It was loaded with flowers and plenty of fruitlets this year. But all of the fruitlets except one single one were aborted. And that one that has survived definitely has a worm or two in it.

  • milehighgirl
    9 years ago

    3rd year in a row no peaches. What else can I say?

  • mamuang_gw
    9 years ago

    So sorry to hear that Milehigh. Would you consider trying other cold hardy peach varieties?

    This was the first year for me without any apple. It's quite disappointing. The only good news is that's it's thinning and pruning issues, not the cold temp.

  • ljkewlj
    9 years ago

    I have a dwarf elberta peach that was planted in the spring of '12.
    Last year there were 6 to 8 blooms but all the peaches aborted and fell off the tree. This year there are like 3 or 4 dozen blooms on the tree. Will have to see if any abort and if not I will have some thinning to do here.

  • ravenh2001
    9 years ago

    Even in March this year I saw 14 days that started below 0 f. I didn't count the days in Dec, Jan and Feb because I work outside and we weren't expected to work outside when you could not have water running. I might have a few hundred flowers on my peaches. that might sound good but I have 40 peach trees one that I thinned 400 fruit from last year and it still over produced. This spring it has been to cold and wet for my bees to fly. I might get a few peaches and if I do--- I will take out aunty's china and grams silver, place a white tablecloth on the oak table for my granddaughters (2 and 5) to eat them.