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| I followed advice this spring from some of my friends here and cut my peach trees down that had just a few leaves on account of our -30F temps this winter. This was done with hope that I would get the tree to grow back from the base of the trunk. Reliance did not grow at all -- it is dead. Contender has about 8-stems growing, all about equal size. These are now about 2-feet tall, and about the diameter of an refill for a ball point pen. So now what do you recommend? Do I trim down to one, or leave it go over the winter? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| My advice, buy a new tree. You can let those skinny shoots grow another year and try budding or grafting. But you'll likely get fruit sooner on a new tree. I won't do anything to your current tree until next spring. Are the shoots rootstock or Contender? |
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- Posted by franktank232 z5 WI (My Page) on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 23:31
| yeah..depends on if the scion got it...if it did, new trees... that doesn't sound like much growth...i've got peaches that were dead to the ground this spring that are 6+ feet tall right now. Wonder if the roots also got hit? |
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- Posted by Appleseed70 6 MD (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 0:23
| Yep..I'm with fruitnut and frank..new tree. I would keep the Contender going though, pruning off all but 1 or maybe 2 of the new shoots this winter when dormant. In the spring, if they both showed signs of life I'd keep the best of the two and cut the other one. It will grow more rapidly with just one shoot of course. Let that go for a season and graft the next. |
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- Posted by mark_roeder 4B IA (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 1:18
| There are two groups of 4 on Contender. I believe it to be Conter, and not rootstock because I bury the graft and on one side 4 are growing from the trunk. On the other side it is growing from underneath the soil. They are the same color (red leaves), and same leaves. |
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| I had three trees damaged last winter. All three have different problems. One is dead, rootstock and all, one has so much damage it cannot produce a decent limb. The other recovered and put out huge limbs. You never want to bury the graft, that is planting the tree way too deep! The flare of the roots even should be exposed. You barely want to cover the roots. I planted some of mine too deep, or they sunk in. Now I mound the trees, so if they settle they are not so low in the ground. I'm going to dig one up this fall and mound it. it may set it back, but the deep plant will kill the tree eventually.The roots need oxygen, and buried deep they struggle. Bark is not meant to be buried and you are inviting fungal and insect problems by burying bark underground. |
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- Posted by franktank232 z5 WI (My Page) on Tue, Sep 9, 14 at 0:17
| I pulled all my Reliance years ago. A review from Clemson U for this years crop on Reliance: "Hideous fruit, horrible shape, extremely uneven halves, tips, splits, suture bulges, bruises easily, softens too fast, sutures get soft before rest of fruit is soft. (SSC/TA: 12.35)" I didn't care much for it either and by the sounds of it, it might not be as hardy as i thought. |
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