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| We have a small peach tree that's six years old. For the first two years, we took off all the little peaches. Then the third and fourth year we took off the smallest in order to give them more space, and as the peaches grew, they all fell off. This year in the winter, my son pruned the peach tree. Then this summer he's been babying it and watering it every day. He's taken off the smallest and watched them grow. Now the peaches are about 2 inches long and we were getting hopeful, but every day, one or two of them are dropping. Is it time to give up? I can't figure out what we are doing wrong. We could cut it down and try with a couple of apple trees. But, I'm a little frustrated that we've wasted so much time. |
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| Do the peaches have an insect inside? Depending on where you are it could be plum currculio or Oriental fruit moth. Those are the most common reason for peach fruit falling off in summer. Cut open those falling off and see if there is insect damage inside. |
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| Thanks! I'll check. |
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 Here is what the recent drops look like. Seems to be something in there. :( What do you advise for next year? I think my son sprayed them with the organic spray they recommended at the garden center. But he only did it twice after the blooms appeared. |
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- Posted by AgroCoders 6 (My Page) on Sun, Jun 15, 14 at 20:00
| Too much water and fertilizers are causing the fruit to grow faster than the stems can support them and drop from the weight of too heavy peach. You are supposed to fertilize with a slow release fertilizer or a good compost you've made in early spring, once. Although if you forget you can fertilize to June. |
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| It's most certainly not from too much water and fertilizer making the peach too heavy. That's nonsense. If it is insect damage you need to determine which insect. Are there any crescent shaped scars on the exterior of the fruit? That would indicate PC. Can you see worms in the fruit? |
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| You've got worm damage in the peaches. There shouldn't be any brown tracks in those peaches. Water or fertilizer will not cause peaches to drop because of fast growth. That said, I would not water a peach tree every day. Peaches are very susc. to phytophthrora root rot. Watering a peach every day could very easily kill it. I never water peaches, but do mulch and control weeds. |
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| AgroCoders, Why do you make these assertions as though they are fact? I keep wavering between thinking you are a troll, or just an extremely interesting and unusual person who can convince themselves of their own fanciful delusions. Where do you get this stuff? |
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- Posted by scottfsmith 6B-7A-MD (My Page) on Mon, Jun 16, 14 at 8:04
| Those peaches are damaged by plum curculio. Read up on sprays to prevent them. I use Surround, its a clay powder that irritates the bugs. If you don't spray you will never get any peaches. Scott |
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